|
(Click image for full-size photo)
|
18 Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales
Berkshire, England: Golden Cockerel Press, 1929-31.
Stk. ++ Z 250 GL33.
In 1946 the English writer and artist Robert Gibbings visited the South
Pacific. Part of his journey included a stop-over at Dunedin where
he met John Harris, the then University of Otago Librarian. Later
as a gift, Gibbings gave the University five vellum sheets containing
various sample printings that he had undertaken as owner/operator
of the Golden Cockerel Press, one of the most influential of English
private presses. The sheet displayed is from Chaucer’s Canterbury
Tales, which was printed between February 1929 and March 1931. The
presswork Gibbing demanded matches the fine illustration and decoration
by Eric Gill, who was also an exceptional artist. |