Aristophanes is considered the greatest poet of the Old Attic Comedy in ancient Greece. Unfortunately, only 11 of his plays survive. True to form, The Birds is an uproarious comedy. Aristophanes rolled his audiences into the aisles, embellishing his plays with boisterous and comic choruses. The Birds, moreover, is a literary satire and probably, along with The Frogs of Aristophanes, one of the oldest literary satires known to our time. But it is also a comic masterpiece, a comic masterpiece which is deathless.  No class, age group or profession was wholly exempt from Aristophanes' satire, nor was the citizen body as a whole. The fact that Aristophanes survived two oligarchic revolutions and two democratic restorations should not be forgotten. In a nutshell, The Birds is a fantasy about an ingenious Athenian who persuades the birds to build a city in the clouds and compels the gods to accept humiliating terms. It has been said that Aristophanes is more topical than Shakespeare, his poetry is full of local allusions, many of them impenetrable to a modern audience; but the humor flashes and burns even in the most desperate obscurities, and though we may often be confused, we are not bored. As Dudley Fitts notes in his brilliant introduction to our edition of The Birds, "It is a victory of poetry over matter." Fashioning witty pen-and-ink drawings for our book, Marian Perry worked closely with the book's designer, Bert Clarke, in what can best be described as a massive illustrative-typographical endeavor. Marian Perry's charming ornithological poems-in-line, which remind us of Athenian pottery art, are printed in red (tanager red or cardinal red-take your choice) on nearly every page of the book. Bert Clarke selected the Bembo type, and our edition was printed at The Thistle Press, a co-venture of Bert Clarke and David Way. The pages are what one would call Japanese fold or French fold, double-fold- that is, of every four pages, only pages one and four are printed on. For the paper, Mr. Clarke selected one that is deliberately light in weight, one which might be viewed as having the airy quality of birds in flight; and it was made especially for our book by the Curtis Paper Company of Newark, Delaware. The spine is of a silky-smooth, polished black calf leather; and the sides are of classic parchment, with decorations in ochre and blue from the pen of Ms. Perry. The binding was performed by the legendary Frank D. Fortney. The book is enclosed in a modified solander case, which consists of a regulation case plus an additional slide within the case folded around the book itself. The inner slide of the solander has a parchment spine and ethereal blue paper sides with decorations by the artist, and the outer case is covered in the same ethereal blue. Altogether, this is a remarkable book by a comic genius, fashioned for us by numerous skilled artisans. It is copy 657 of 1500, and is signed by Marian Perry. The offer includes both the four page Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter and the pre-publication announcement. This edition should appeal to any serious reader/student of the Greek classics and especially to anyone who enjoys something in print that is down right funny. Thank you for reading this presentation, and good luck in your searches. Feel free to contact me with any questions.