iii + 148 pp. + 6 unnumbered leaves for plates. A reuse of the verse translation of William Ellery Leonard (1923) in deluxe folio format, illustrated with 8 lithographs by Rockwell Kent that were originally issued as limited edition prints in 1931, and are reproduced for the book in mirror-image offsets: hand and sword (title page); family trees of Danes, Swedes, and Geats (opp. p. 8); Beowulf with Grendel's severed arm (opp. p. 38); map of Scandinavia (opp. p. 54); Beowulf fighting Grendel's mother (opp. p. 70); Beowulf fighting the dragon (opp. p. 112); Beowulf enthroned on his funeral bier (opp. p. 136); a Valkyrie (colophon page [148]). Printed in black uncial-style type with Leonard's prose section introductions in orangish-red and with large capitals decorated in that tone and blue. In addition to providing the lithographs, Kent designed the decorative capitals and the book's binding.

Limitation colophon:

of this book, there were made for random house, new york
nine hundred and fifty numbered copies, with
eight lithographs by rockwell kent
the book set by hand in hammer uncial, designed and made
in the city of new york at the shop of pynson printers
rockwell kent [thumbprint] his thumb print
this being number
[hand-inscribed numeral]

The translation begins:

Before chanting the deeds of the geatman beowulf, so brave and so strong, the 'scop' (that is, the bard) chants the story of the ancestry of hrothgar, the king of danishmen (whose grandfather happened to be called beowulf also), especially the strange story of the coming and the burial of scyld, founder of the royal line. but why should the story of beowulf, the geat, begin with hrothgar, the dane? the scop will strike his harp again and again and make all clear.

What ho! we've heard the glory     of spear-danes, clansmen-kings,
their deeds of olden story,—     how fought the aethelings!
often scyld scefing     reft his foemen all,
reft the tribes at wassail     of bench and mead in hall.
smote the jarls with terror;     gat good recompense
for that he came a foundling,     a child with no defense:
he waxed beneath the welkin,     grew in honors great,
till each and every people,     of those around who sate
off beyond the whale-road,     to him was underling,
to him must tender toll-fee.     that was a goodly king!

And ends:

then around the mound rode,     with cry and call,
bairns of the aethelings,     twelve of all,
to mourn for their master,     their sorrow to sing,
framing a word-chant,     speaking of the king:
they vaunted his earlship,     they honored doughtily
his wonder-works of glory.     let it ever be,
that heart of man shall cherish     and word of man shall praise
the master-friend, when in the end     his spirit goes its ways.
so the geatish clansmen     bemoanèd their dearth,
the passing-forth of beowulf,     these comrades of his hearth,
calling him a world-king,     the mildest under crown,
and to his kin the kindest,     and keenest for renown. (146)

• Elmer Adler, "The Making of a Book," The Dolphin 2 (1935): 144-53.

Both Fry and GR give the book's title as The Random House Beowulf.

GR's pagination does not account for the short sequence preceding the arabic numeral series or the unnumbered leaves containing Kent's lithographs.

BAM (copies seen are 174, 420, and 626 of edition of 950). Detail of Kent's design of decorative initials and binding from Adler in Scholarship, above.