The Prophet

First published in 1923, this prose-poem sequence is set in the city of Orphalese, where Almustafa, a prophet who has waited twelve years for a ship home, is asked by townspeople to speak before he sails. In short addresses he answers questions on love, marriage, children, work, joy and sorrow, crime and punishment, reason and passion, time, death, and other conditions of life. The form is oracular statement rather than story; there is almost no incident beyond the departure. The book is a cycle of spiritual counsel in poetic prose, not a novel and not a scripture of a historical faith.

Bound in blocked maroon leather with typography. Frontispiece and 10 integrated colour illustrations and 2 b&w illustrations. 2 ribbon markers. 3 coloured edges. Image blocked dark blue slipcase.