Gill, Eric - The Four Gospels Limited Edition - ( Item 138965 )
Published in London by Folio Society. 2007. First Thus. Fine Hardback. No inscriptions or bookplates. Near Fine solander box. Slight bumps to the edge of one panel of solander box. Limited edition of 2750 of which this is number 1228. Facsimile copy of The Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ According to the Authorized Version of King James I With Decorations by Eric Gill, Printed and Published at the Golden Cockerel Press MCMXXXI. Full black goatskin with gilt titling and decoration; all edges gilt., decorations by Eric Gill. Also The Four Gospels: Eric Gill and the Golden Cockerel Type: Essays by John Dreyfus & Robert Gittings. Blocked in 24-carat gold with a design featuring Eric Gill's four symbols for Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, supported in a blind-blocked frame. Enthusiasts of fine printing have their favourites, but almost all would agree that The Four Gospels, designed by The Golden Cockerel Press and with engravings by Eric Gill, was the culminating achievement of the private press movement. Sebastian Carter, a leading authority on 20th-century typography and one of the finest letterpress printers working today, lyrically described it as 'both the solstice and the sunset of Golden Cockerel under Robert Gibbings'. The 500 copies from the original printing are to be found in pre-eminent institutions and private collections around the world, including the Royal Collection (a copy was purchased by King George V), Boston University's Silver Collection and the British Library. The Grolier Club, the shrine for bibliophiles in America, called The Four Gospels Gill's 'greatest achievement in bookmaking', and their copy, number 62, holds a treasured position in their collection of rare and fine printed books. Unsurprisingly, these almost never reach the open market, and when they do, they command prices of around £10,000. Robert Gibbings, the owner of The Golden Cockerel Press and a wonderful wood-engraver himself, had already collaborated with Eric Gill on several beautiful books when he decided to create his finest book yet: an ambitious decorated edition of the four Gospels. The two men decided jointly on where illustrations would occur, and whether each subject merited full page, half page or a smaller ornament. The type was then set under Gibbings's direction, leaving appropriate spaces for which Gill designed his exquisite, dramatic and imaginative initial letters and words. Leaves curl into the space between paragraphs, swords hang down into the margin, and the symbols of the evangelists each hold up the title of their gospel. It was a marriage of image and text that recalls the best of medieval illuminated manuscripts, yet is suited perfectly to the modern age and flawless in its execution.
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