Imperial Purple - first US edition
by Gillian Bradshaw
The fascinating theme throughout this tale is the manufacture of purple dye
from murex shellfish and the weaving of sumptuous gowns with the purple cloth
valued above gold and worn only by emperors. Demetrias, a state slave and silk
weaver in Tyre, is ordered by her supervisor to weave secretly a purple cloak as
part of a scheme to overthrow Emperor Theodosius II. She and her husband, a
murex fisherman, are drawn into a treacherous plot which gives drama to the
lives of slaves, eunuchs, and rulers. Endpaper maps show Tyre and Constantinople
in the 5th Century AD.
Tiny previous owner label on internal blank page, otherwise unmarked; book has
brown boards quarter bound with tan cloth, title in gold on the spine, maps
decorate end papers. Nice clean copy.
The dust jacket price has not been clipped and would be fine except for a some
very faint rubbing on the rear panel and at extreme edges.