For a collector of Golden Cockerel Press volumes, the three most sought after are probably The Four Gospels (1931), The Canterbury Tales (1929-1931) and Troilus and Criseyde (1927). Davidson is fortunate to own two of the three, The Four Gospels and The Canterbury Tales.
The volumes can best be described by the entries from the Golden Cockerel Press bibliographies themselves.
From the first Golden Cockerel Press bibliography, Chanticleer.
November, 1931. THE FOUR GOSPELS. With 65 wood-engravings by Eric Gill. 18 pt. Golden Cockerel Face type. 269 pp. 13 ½ in. x 9 in. 500 copies. Nos. 1-12 on vellum, full bound in white pigskin. Price 80 Gns. Nos. 13-500 on Batchelor hand-made paper, special watermark, ¼ bound in white pigskin and buckram boards.
Conceived in the fruitful mind of Robert Gibbings, this is the Golden Cockerel Book usually compared with the Doves Bible and the Kelmscott Chaucer. A flower among the best products of English romantic genius, it is also surely, thanks to its illustrator, Eric Gill, the book among all books in which Roman type has been best mated with any kind of illustration. To have produced in their life-time one or two books of equal excellence is the ever-fond ambition of the present Partners.
From the first Golden Cockerel Press bibliography, Chanticleer.
February, 1929. THE CANTERBURY TALES. By Geoffrey Chaucer. Volume I. Wood-engravings by Eric Gill. Printed in black, red, and blue. 18pt. Caslon O.F. type, 152 pp. 12 ½ in. x 7 ½ in. 500 copies. 15 copies on vellum, full bound in niger, price £30 5s. 485 on Batchelor hand-made paper with Cockerel watermark.
November, 1929. Volume II. 190 pp. Uniform with Volume I.
August, 1930. Volume III. 198 pp. Uniform with Volumes I & II.
March, 1931. Volume IV (final). 200 pp. Uniform with Volumes I, II, & III.
Beautiful books! Owing to the large number of sets printed, it is possible for any book-lover to purchase one without undue outlay. It should not worry anyone if he finds that the native-dyed niger bindings vary in hue. Variation is a feature of all native art.
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