The Golden Cockerel Press Collection

From the second Golden Cockerel Press bibliography, Pertelote.

November, 1936.  THE TALE OF THE GOLDEN COCKEREL.  By Alexander Sergeyevitch Pushkin.  Translated by Hannah Walker.  With a Note on Pushkiïn and the Tale by Raïssa Lomonossova.  4 wood-engravings by Robert Gibbings.  11pt. Caslon's Old Face type.  23pp. 5 ¼ in. x 4 in.  100 numbered copies printed in gold and black on hand-made paper, full bound in cloth of gold.  Price 1 ½ Gns.  

The binding in 'cloth of gold' was a very happy experiment.  Collectors did not hesitate over the high price, for such a tiny book, necessitated by the use of this very expensive material.  The title-page 'printed in gold' was not a success.  The process adopted was to print in a coloured ink, then dust this over with powdered gold, which sticks to the ink.  (A much better, though more expensive, process is to block the title in gold leaf....This diverting little book had considerable success and the translation was hailed as one of the best renderings of Pushkin ever made.