TITLE: The Canterbury Tales [with] The Golden Cockerel Press, The Canterbury Tales and Eric Gill
AUTHOR: Geoffrey Chaucer
PUBLISHER: The Folio Society
PLACE: London
YEAR: 2010
NUMBERED: This edition was limited to 1980 numbered copiesfor sale to members of The Folio Society, and 25 lettered copies which were not for sale. This copy number is 549
BINDING: Nigerian goatskin leather in Solander Box, Printed on felt-marked, laid paper, in a special shade matched to the original,made at the Favini mill near Venice. Endpapers of Merida Graphite from the Varona mill, Riva del Garda. Blocked in 24-carat gold with a design featuring Eric Gill's engravings around a blind-blocked frame. Gilding on all three book edges. Black satinribbon marker Presented in a buckram-bound solander box with gold blocking on the spine
NO.OF PAGES: 768
SIZE OF SOLANDER BOX:
Height: 31.5 cm
Width: 20.5 cm
Depth: 7.5 cm
This book comes along with a small booklet titled "The Golden Press, The Canterbury tales and Eric Gill" with a commentary essay by Peter Holliday , quarter-bound (31.6 x 20.7 x 0.5 cm) in buckram and Merida Graphite published by The Folio Society, London, MMX with 48 pages.

THIS IS AN FACSIMILE OF THE GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS EDITION

A landmark of English poetry, The Canterbury Tales has appeared in many illustrated editions. This one, illustrated by Eric Gill, is among the most remarkable.

The Canterbury Tales is a glorious expression of Eric Gill's genius. In this varied, vibrant work, Gill displayed his artistic versatility, and succeeded in marrying the illuminated manuscript tradition with a Modernist aesthetic. For this facsimile edition, The Folio Society created an exquisite binding based on Gill's own designs for the Physician's and the Summoner's tales. The work itself is represented in a meticulously exact facsimile, created directly from an original copy. Copies of the original print run of 500 very rarely reached the open market, and one of the few examples in recent years sold for $9,000. This beautifully produced facsimile represents an outstanding opportunity to own this work.

In their collaboration for the Golden Cockerel Press, Eric Gill and Robert Gibbings created a sublime marriage of type and illustration that became a golden standard for designers. Their great editions, from Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury Tales to The Four Gospels, were created through a meticulous process. Thetype was set with space left for Gill's borders or initial letters and illustrations; proofs were then sent to Gill, who drew his design on the proof sheet itself before transferring the illustration to the engraving block.

Gill frequently revised his designs during the engraving process, which for critic Glenn Storhaug, 'contributes to the sense of immediacy and spirited invention'. Lively figures face one another across the pages, while for the beginning or end of each tale, half-pageillustrations merge with the text. As Gill himself wrote, 'the engraving is part of the typography', and The Canterbury Tales is a glorious realisation of that ideal.

Gill's illustrations for The Canterbury Tales were rich indeed: half-page illustrations, tail pieces and initial letters for each of the tales, and copious borders which he designed as pairs throughout the book. Blue and red initial letters are used at intervals to add variety - an inspired, thoroughly modern response to themedieval manuscripts Gill admired.