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How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About The Merry Adventures Of Robinhood by Howard Pyle The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Consisting of a series of episodes in the story of the English outlaw Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, the novel compiles traditional material into a coherent narrative in a colorful, invented "old English" idiom that preserves some flavor of the ballads, and adapts it for children. The novel is notable for taking the subject of Robin Hood, which had been increasingly popular through the 19th century, in a new direction that influenced later writers, artists, and filmmakers through the next century.

In Merry England, in the time of old when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest near Nottingham Town a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood. No archer ever lived that could speed a gray goose shaft with such skill and cunning as his, nor were there ever such yeomen as the sevenscore merry men that roamed with him through the greenwood shades. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and in so doing became an undying symbol of virtue. But most important, Robin Hood and his band of merry men offer young audiences more than enough adventure and thrills to keep them listening intently. Filled with action, villains, and surprises, who could resist the arrows flying, danger lurking, and medieval intrigue?

When Robin Hood became an outlaw, he decided to resist the authorities and aid his fellow man. Recruiting the help of Friar Tuck, Little John and Will Scarlet, Robin Hood fights to maintain justice until the return of King Richard the Lionheart. In the company of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, there is never a lack of action, adventure or for that matter - ale, as they outsmart the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in Sherwood Forest.Written and illustrated by Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood solidified the image of a heroic outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Having taken his material from old ballads, Pyle wove them into a cohesive story, in a colourful, invented old English idiom which preserves the flavour of the original ballads. The novel is responsible for turning Robin Hood into a staunch philanthropist, influencing writers, artists, and filmmakers ever since.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

There are few characters in the English language more iconic than Robin Hood. Emerging out of the ballads of the High Middle Ages and surviving through numerous permutations to the present day, the green-clad archer has become an icon. Today he represents a playful, irreverent and cunning resistance to corruption and injustice, associated primarily with stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Robin Hood’s selfless acts of helping the masses at the expense of himself (by not keeping his treasure) have led to contemporary figures like Bill Gates being called “Modern Day Robin Hoods”, and when a British man robbed a bank in 2013 and handed out the money to homeless people before he was arrested and imprisoned, the name Robin Hood was naturally in the news once more. Robin Hood is a celebrated folk hero and a kind of good thief, but the earliest stories about Robin Hood depict a far different character. The first Robin Hood was often a brutal and selfish yet also honorable figure, an anti-hero loved (perhaps paradoxically) by many social classes and loathed by authorities. When the notorious Gunpowder Plot was discovered at the beginning of the 17th century, the Earl of Salisbury condemned Guy Fawkes and the conspirators for being “Robin Hoods”. The transformation of Robin Hood over the centuries has left many scholars attempting to find the origins behind the original story. Like King Arthur, some have even sought a historical figure that might serve as the basis for Robin Hood, while others have sought out mythological origins to see if Robin Hood’s character evolved out of a mythological figure.

Up rose Robin Hood one merry morn when all the birds were singing blithely among the leaves, and up rose all his merry men, each fellow washing his head and hands in the cold brown brook that leaped laughing from stone to stone. Then said Robin, "For fourteen days have we seen no sport, so now I will go abroad to seek adventures forthwith. But tarry ye, my merry men all, here in the greenwood; only see that ye mind well my call. Three blasts upon the bugle horn I will blow in my hour of need; then come quickly, for I shall want your aid." So saying, he strode away through the leafy forest glades until he had come to the verge of Sherwood. There he wandered for a long time, through highway and byway, through dingly dell and forest skirts. Now he met a fair buxom lass in a shady lane, and each gave the other a merry word and passed their way; now he saw a fair lady upon an ambling pad, to whom he doffed his cap, and who bowed sedately in return to the fair youth; now he saw a fat monk on a pannier-laden ass; now a gallant knight, with spear and shield and armor that flashed brightly in the sunlight; now a page clad in crimson; and now a stout burgher from good Nottingham Town, pacing along with serious footsteps; all these sights he saw, but adventure found he none. At last he took a road by the forest skirts, a bypath that dipped toward a broad, pebbly stream spanned by a narrow bridge made of a log of wood. As he drew nigh this bridge he saw a tall stranger coming from the other side. Thereupon Robin quickened his pace, as did the stranger likewise, each thinking to cross first. "Now stand thou back," quoth Robin, "and let the better man cross first." "Nay," answered the stranger, "then stand back shine own self, for the better man, I wet, am I." "That will we presently see," quoth Robin, "and meanwhile stand thou where thou art, or else, by the bright brow of Saint AElfrida, I will show thee right good Nottingham play with a clothyard shaft betwixt thy ribs." "Now," quoth the stranger, "I will tan thy hide till it be as many colors as a beggar's cloak, if thou darest so much as touch a string of that same bow that thou holdest in thy hands." "Thou pratest like an ass," said Robin, "for I could send this shaft clean through thy proud heart before a curtal friar could say grace over a roast goose at Michaelmastide." "And thou pratest like a coward," answered the stranger, "for thou standest there with a good yew bow to shoot at my heart, while I have nought in my hand but a plain blackthorn staff wherewith to meet thee." "Now," quoth Robin, "by the faith of my heart, never have I had a coward's name in all my life before. I will lay by my trusty bow and eke my arrows, and if thou darest abide my coming, I will go and cut a cudgel to test thy manhood withal." "Ay, marry, that will I abide thy coming, and joyously, too," quoth the stranger; whereupon he leaned sturdily upon his staff to await Robin. Then Robin Hood stepped quickly to the coverside and cut a good staff of ground oak, straight, without new, and six feet in length, and came back trimming away the tender stems from it, while the stranger waited for him, leaning upon his staff, and whistling as he gazed round about. Robin observed him furtively as he trimmed his staff, measuring him from top to toe from out the corner of his eye, and thought that he had never seen a lustier or a stouter man. Tall was Robin, but taller was the stranger by a head and a neck, for he was seven feet in height. Broad was Robin across the shoulders, but broader was the stranger by twice the breadth of a palm, while he measured at least an ell around the waist.

When Robin Hood became an outlaw, he decided to resist the authorities and aid his fellow man. Recruiting the help of Friar Tuck, Little John and Will Scarlet, Robin Hood fights to maintain justice until the return of King Richard the Lionheart. In the company of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, there is never a lack of action, adventure or for that matter - ale, as they outsmart the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in Sherwood Forest.Written and illustrated by Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood solidified the image of a heroic outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Having taken his material from old ballads, Pyle wove them into a cohesive story, in a colourful, invented old English idiom which preserves the flavour of the original ballads. The novel is responsible for turning Robin Hood into a staunch philanthropist, influencing writers, artists, and filmmakers ever since.This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

"The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" book has a beautiful glossy cover and a blank page for the dedication. "IN MERRY ENGLAND in the time of old, when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham Town, a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood. No archer ever lived that could speed a gray goose shaft with such skill and cunning as his, nor were there ever such yeomen as the sevenscore merry men that roamed with him through the greenwood shades. Right merrily they dwelled within the depths of Sherwood Forest, suffering neither care nor want, but passing the time in merry games of archery or bouts of cudgel play, living upon the King's venison, washed down with draughts of ale of October brewing. Not only Robin himself but all the band were outlaws and dwelled apart from other men, yet they were beloved by the country people round about, for no one ever came to jolly Robin for help in time of need and went away again with an empty fist. And now I will tell how it came about that Robin Hood fell afoul of the law."