Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T06:07:48.928Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Golden Cockerel Press 1921~1961: a history, bibliography and index

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Nancy Pike
Get access

Abstract

This paper provides a history of the Golden Cockerel Press, an English private press active between 1921 and 1961. There were three major periods in the Press’s development. Under Harold Taylor the Press was an idealistic attempt to provide an opportunity for the publication of new writers not yet well-enough known for the larger publishing market. The second owner was Robert Gibbings who had helped found the Society of Wood-Engravers and used the Press as a showcase for his own and fellow engravers’ work. Finally, during the longest period in the Press’s history, Christopher Sandford continued both the innovative approach to text and the interest in wood engraving for illustrations. He produced 122 books, most on handmade paper in limited editions, and contrived to keep the cost within the price range of the average book collector by using mechanical typesetting at a commercial press while yet overseeing and revising the work at every stage of its design. Sandford sold the Press to Thomas Toseloff, an American, in 1959.

The work of the Press is exceptionally fine and contains a unique record of British wood engraving over a period of forty years. Following the history of the Press are three appendices: a chronological list of the Press books, an index to authors, and an index to illustrators.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , Summer 1984 , pp. 9 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

(1) Turner, Gilbert. The private press: its achievement and influence Birmingham, (England): Association of Assistant librarians, Midland Division, 1954, p. 13.Google Scholar
(2) “The Golden Cockerel Press”. Waltham Saint Lawrence (Berkshire, England): Golden Cockerel Press, 1920, p. 1.Google Scholar
(3) Coppard, A.E. It’s me, O Lord! London: Methuen, 1957, p. 236.Google Scholar
(4) Brady, Elizabeth. Eric Gill: twentieth century book designer. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974, p. 103.Google Scholar
(5) Gibbings, Robert. “The Golden Cockerel Press,” The Woodcut: an annual, no. 1 (1927), pp. 15–16.Google Scholar
(6) Gibbings, , Woodcut, op. cit., p. 22.Google Scholar
(7) 4 aspects of the work of Robert Gibbings. Reading: University of Reading, 1975, p. 11.Google Scholar
(8) Gibbings, Robert. “Memories of Eric Gill”, The Book Collector, 2 (1953), p. 95.Google Scholar
(9) Garrett, Albert. A history of British wood engraving. Tunbridge Wells: Midas, 1978, pp. 4344.Google Scholar
(10) Sandford, Christopher. “A Note on the Golden Cockerel Type,” Matrix, 2, Winter 1982, p. 24.Google Scholar
(11) Sandford, , Matrix, op. cit., pp. 24–25.Google Scholar
(12) Cockalorum. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1950, p. 49.Google Scholar
(13) Letter received from Thomas Yoseloff, 20 September 1983.Google Scholar
(14) Yoseloff.Google Scholar
(15) Cave, Roderick. The private press. London: Faber and Faber, 1971, p. 231.Google Scholar
(16) Sandford, Christopher. Foreword to Chanticleer. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1936, p. 8.Google Scholar
(17) The page right printed. Glasgow: Glasgow School of Art, 1973, p. 15.Google Scholar

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Chambers, David, and Sandford, Christopher, (comps.) Cock-a-hoop: a sequel to Chanticleer, Pertelote, and Cockalorum, being a bibliography of the Golden Cockerel Press, September 1949-December 1961. Pinner, (Middlesex): The Private Libraries Association for the Golden Cockerel Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Chanticleer: a bibliography of the Golden Cockerel Press, April 1921-1936 August. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1936.Google Scholar
Cockalorum: a sequel to Chanticleer and Pertelote, being a bibliography of the Golden Cockerel Press, June 1943-December 1948. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1950.Google Scholar
Cooper, A.C. Notes on the printing methods of the Golden Cockerel Press. The Private Library, vol. 4, no. 3, (July 1962), pp. 38–40.Google Scholar
Coppard, A.E. It’s me, O Lord! London: Methuen, 1957.Google Scholar
Coppard, A.E. On first getting into print. The Colophon, Part 6, (1931), n.p.Google Scholar
Gibbings, Robert. A Short biography of the Golden Cockerel Press. The London Mercury, vol. XXV, no. 145, (November 1931 Supplement), 8 pp.Google Scholar
Gibbings, Robert. The art of the book: The Golden Cockerel Press. The Studio, vol. XCVII, (February 1929), pp. 98–101.Google Scholar
Gibbings, Robert. The Golden Cockerel Press. The Colophon, Part 7, (July 1931), n.p.Google Scholar
Gibbings, Robert. The Golden Cockerel Press. The Woodcut: an annual, vol. 1, (February 1927), pp. 13–26.Google Scholar
Gibbings, Robert. Memories of Eric Gill. The Book Collector, vol. 2 (1953), pp. 95–103.Google Scholar
Gill, Eric. The artist and book production. Fine Printing, vol. VIII, no. 3,(July 1982), pp. 96–97, 111.Google Scholar
The Golden Cockerel Press. Waltham Saint Lawrence, (Berkshire): Golden Cockerel Press, August 1920.Google Scholar
Golden Cockerel Private Press 1955-56. British hand-made books. Prospectus no. XC. 1955(7).Google Scholar
Hurnscot, Loran (pseud. Gay Taylor). A prison, a paradise. New York: Viking, 1959.Google Scholar
Pertelote: a sequel to Chanticleer, being a bibliography of the Golden Cockerel Press, October 1936-April 1943. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1943.Google Scholar
Sandford, Christopher. The aesthetics of the illustrated book. The Dolphin, no. 2, (1935), pp. 82–93.Google Scholar
Sandford, Christopher. A note on the Golden Cockerel Type. Matrix, no. 2, (Winter 1982), pp. 23–25.Google Scholar
Voices, vol. 5, no. 1, (January 1921).Google Scholar
Yoseloff, Thomas. Letter to author. 20 September 1983.Google Scholar

Secondary Sources

Balston, Thomas. The wood engravings of Robert Gibbings. London: Art & Technics, 1949.Google Scholar
Bellamy, B.E. Private presses and publishing in England since 1945. London: Clive Bingley, 1980.Google Scholar
Brady, Elizabeth. Eric Gill: twentieth century book designer. Metuchen, (N.J.): Scarecrow Press, 1974.Google Scholar
Cave, Roderick. The lost years of the Golden Cockerel Press. Printing History, vol. 4, no. 7-8, (1982), pp. 3–15.Google Scholar
Cave, Roderick. The private press. London: Faber and Faber, 1971.Google Scholar
Cleverdon, Douglas. Stanley Morison and Eric Gill, 1925-1933. The Book Collector, vol. 32, no. 1, (Spring 1983), pp. 23–40.Google Scholar
Cleverdon, Douglas. A survey of contemporary bookmaking: England. The Dolphin, no. 2, (1935), pp. 268–277.Google Scholar
Empson, Patience, (ed.) The wood engravings of Robert Gibbings with some recollections by the artist. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1959.Google Scholar
4 aspects of the work of Robert Gibbings: catalogue of an exhibition held in the Library, University of Reading, November 1975 to January 1976. Reading: University of Reading, 1975.Google Scholar
Franklin, Colin. The private presses. London: Studio Vista, 1969.Google Scholar
Garrett, Albert. British wood engraving of the 20th century, a personal view. London: Scolar Press, 1980.Google Scholar
Garrett, Albert. A history of British wood engraving. Tunbridge Wells: Midas, 1978.Google Scholar
Jacobi, Charles Thomas. The work of the private presses VII: The Golden Cockerel Press. Penrose’s Annual, vol. 30, (1928), pp. 17–22.Google Scholar
Kirkus, A. Mary. Robert Gibbings; a bibliography. London: J.M. Dent, 1962.Google Scholar
McLean, Ruari. Modern book design from William Morris to the present day. London: Faber and Faber, 1958. Modern British and American private presses (1850-1965): Holdings of the British Library. London: British Museum Publications, 1976, pp. 76–89.Google Scholar
Moseley, James. Eric Gill and the Golden Cockerel Type. Matrix, no. 2, (Winter 1982), pp. 17–22.Google Scholar
The page right printed: an exhibition of the work of the private presses from William Morris to the present day. Glasgow: Glasgow School of Art, 1973.Google Scholar
Ransom, Will. Private presses and their books. New York: Bowker, 1929.Google Scholar
Ransom, Will. Selective check lists of private press books, Part ten. New York: Philip C. Duschnes, 1949.Google Scholar
Ridler, William, British modern press books: a descriptive check list of unrecorded items. London: Covent Garden Press, 1971.Google Scholar
Sandford, Jeremy. ‘Gay colours, brave crow’: The Golden Cockerel Private Press. Country Life, vol. 170, (October 29, 1981), pp. 1466–1467.Google Scholar
Saul, George Brandon. A.E. Coppard: his life and his poetry to the publication of the bibliography. Philadelphia: n.p., 1932.Google Scholar
Turner, Gilbert. The private press: its achievement and influence. Birmingham, (England): The Association of Assistant Librarians, Midland Division, 1954.Google Scholar