TROILUS AND CRISEYDE

Item Details

Waltham Saint Lawrence, Golden Cockerel Press, 1927, quarter niger over patterned paper boards gilt, with paneled spine with raised bands, lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, fore and lower edges uncut, publisher's slipcase.

limited to 225 numbered copies, Near fine

 

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Considered the Most Scarce of all Golden Cockerel Press Titles

Printed in an edition limited to 225 numbered copies (Chanticleer no.50; Gill 279). The slightest hint of rubbing to the corners of the boards. Publisher's slipcase with some rubbing and minor splitting along the edges, else a pristine copy. 

Printed in Caslon with black, red, and blue ink on Kelmscott hand-made paper. The margin of every page is decorated with a wood-engraving by Eric Gill. This volume shows Gill's remarkable affinity for Chaucer's works as well as his instinctive interpretation of the illuminated book. Of the three masterpieces (the others being The Four Gospels and The Canterbury Tales) Gill designed for the Golden Cockerel Press, this one is the most difficult to find, since it has the smallest limitation. Chaucer's epic poem is here printed in Middle English and tells the story of the ill-fated lovers against the backdrop of the Trojan War, Troilus being the youngest son of Priam, King of Troy, and Criseyde being the daughter of the Trojan Priest Calchas who joined the Greeks having foreseen the defeat of Troy. Gill clearly enjoys the theme and the flowing Greek and Trojan robes and tunics - his image of Chaucer at the end is particularly charming.

 

Waltham Saint Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1927; 4to., quarter niger over patterned paper boards gilt, with paneled spine with raised bands, lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, fore and lower edges uncut, publisher's slipcase; (xi), 312 pages. Book # 46755

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