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THE FOUR GOSPELS.
(Waltham St. Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1931). 343 x 241 mm. (13 1/2 x 9 1/2"). 1 p.l., 268, [2] pp, [1] leaf (colophon). No. 352 OF 500 COPIES (the first 12 on vellum).
Original white half pigskin and buckram sides by Sangorski & Sutcliffe (stamp-signed on front pastedown), raised bands, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. ILLUSTRATED THROUGHOUT, with four large wood engravings on section titles and scores of striking large and small woodcut illustrations, decorative elements, and initials BY ERIC GILL. Printed on Batchelor handmade paper. The front pastedown with the engraved armorial bookplate of Albert and Constance Ramsay-Cohn, the bookplate of Louis W. Black, and the bookplate of "Downsland Court, Ditchling, Sussex." Chanticleer 78; A Century for the Century 26. Buckram boards somewhat freckled (as usual), very faint (printer's?) smudges in one margin, otherwise A VERY FINE COPY, the pigskin--almost always found soiled and/or damaged--quite clean and pleasing, and virtually pristine internally.
This is an especially appealing copy of the chief work produced by one of the foremost English private presses. One of Eric Gill's outstanding achievements as an illustrator, and one of the Golden Cockerel Press' great books, the "Four Gospels" has been called by Franklin the finest of all private press books printed between the wars. The success of the work has much to do with Gill's ability to create a harmonious integration of woodcut illustration and typography (his Golden Cockerel typeface, one of the most important ever cut specifically for private use, is introduced here). At the same time that the work achieves an aesthetic balance, it also takes risks with the emotional nature of the woodcuts and with its unjustified page layout. As Franklin observes, Gill's "pictures beautifully explain their letters, as leaves spring from branches. This work is a wonderful extension of typography." Founded in 1920 with the intention to print fine editions of important well-known books as well as new literary works of merit from young authors, the Golden Cockerel Press was purchased in 1924 by the illustrator and wood-engraver Robert Gibbings. "Under his direction," says Cave, the Press was "transformed into the principal vehicle for the renaissance of wood-engraved book illustration" up until the beginning of World War II. In addition to doing wood engravings himself, Gibbings employed a stable of eminent artists including, among others, Gill, John Nash, John Farleigh, David Jones, Eric Ravilious, and Blair Hughes-Stanton. Our copy has been owned by two notable collectors and scholars of illustrated books. An early owner was British art historian Albert Mayer Cohn, who wrote the catalogue raisonné of George Cruikshank's work. Later, the volume passed into the hands of Boston collector Louis W. Black, whose Aldine-related bookplate was designed by celebrated wood-engraver Leonard Baskin (1922-2000). Regarding the other bookplate here, we have been unable to trace exactly who resided at Downsland Court in Ditchling, but it is worth noting that Gill's Sussex artist's community was centered in Ditchling, where he lived from 1907-24; it is certainly possible that our copy belonged to someone associated with this group. (ST20201)
Price: $17,500.00