Golden Cockerel Press
Encyclopedia
Golden Cockerel Press was a major English
private press
operating between 1920 and 1961.
The Press was founded by Harold (Hal) Midgley Taylor (1893–1925) in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire
where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming. Taylor bought an army surplus hut and assembled it in Waltham St Lawrence as a combined workshop and living quarters: it was cold and damp; money and food were short; the inexperience of the novice printers meant that work was slow and the results poor; and the authors who came to help mostly sat around drinking tea and chatting. Taylor had tuberculosis
of which he died in 1925.
The press soon found the formula for which it became famous — beautiful handmade limited editions of classic works produced to the very highest of standards. The books were typeset by hand, often using specially designed typefaces, notably those designed by Eric Gill
especially for the press. A major feature of Golden Cockerel books were the original illustrations, usually wood engraving
s, contributed by, among others, Eric Gill, Robert Gibbings
, John Buckland Wright
, Blair Hughes-Stanton, Agnes Miller Parker
, David Jones
, Mark Severin
and Eric Ravilious
. The press was credited with having revived the British tradition of wood engraving.
and cycled daily to the hut in Waltham St Lawrence. It was Hal who persuaded his family trust to provide most of the capital (approximately £2,800) for printing presses etc, and the premises at his fruit farm at Little Waltham.
Their first publications were The Voices a literary review and Adam & Eve & Pinch Me, short stories by a new author, A. E. Coppard
, which was a critical success and sold well.
By summer 1921 Bee and Pran had left for more conventional employment and between then and the autumn of 1922 the cooperative transitioned to a more conventional private press.
When Hal Taylor suffered a recurrent bout of tuberculosis, Coppard took charge as a temporary manager. But then with Hal's continued decline the business was put up for sale, early in 1924.
had become a wood engraver and was struggling to make a living from it when he started to receive commissions to illustrate the Press's publications. Gibbings was working on the designs for Gallant Ladies at the time the Press was put up for sale, and in order to secure publication of this work, he sought a loan from a friend, Hubert Pike, a director of Bentley Motors
, to buy the Press. He took over the press in February 1924, paying £850 for the huts housing the business, the plant and goodwill. For the partially completed Lives of Gallant Ladies a further sum of £200 was paid. He also leased the house and 11 acres (44,515.5 m²) of land for £40 per annum. Gallant Ladies sold well with receipts of over £1,800, and saw the start of the growth of the Press as a successful publisher of usually limited editions of beautifully produced books.
Moira Gibbings joined her husband in the business not only doing all the secretarial work but also in selecting works for publication. They published work of their friend Edward Powys Mathers
and angled unsuccessfully with George Bernard Shaw
to publish a folio edition of his works.
At the end of the 1920s the business climate changed, and as American sales faltered it became hard to keep up bank payments on the necessary borrowings to finance publications. They struggled on as the depression got more severe, seeking partners but eventually sold up in 1933. About 70 works were published during the Gibbings' period at the helm.
, Christopher Sandford
, and Francis J. Newbery. Together they paid only some £1000 for the then almost moribund business.
The first thing the new partners did was to move the press and production was carried out at the Chiswick Press
works in North London, and they used the Chiswick Press's London office, where the stocks of unsold Golden Cockerel Press books were held. Sandford worked long hours on management, editing and design. Rutter solicited new books and edited some of them. Newberry's role as the printer was to oversee the production work at the Chiswick Press.
About 120 works were published during the Sandford era.
. Yoseloff completed the publication of two titles in 1960 that had been previously commissioned by Sandford—a collection of Shakespearean poems edited by G. Jones and illustrated by Buckland-Wright, and a translation of the poem "In Defense of Woman" (O Blaid Y Gwragedd) by the 16th-century Welsh poet William Cynwal, illustrated by John Petts. The following year two more titles were issued under Yoseloff's direction, Folk Tales and Fairy Stories from India by Shrimati E. Carlile, and Moncrif's Cats, a translation by Reginald Bretnor
of the 18th-century French writer François-Augustin Paradis de Moncrif's 1727 work, Histoire des chats.
These were to be the last two Golden Cockerel Press titles to be published, however, as the continuation of the business soon proved impractical. By the end of 1961 Yoseloff wound up the press' operations, as the resources and fine bookcraft skills necessary for production of Golden Cockerel titles had become too difficult and costly to obtain.
, and the Deluxe Edition would consist of only 25 to 100 copies. Occasionally, the press would also print a "Super Deluxe" edition consisting of only five or ten copies on full vellum
. Copies of the Deluxe Edition were sold at the time for up to five times the price of the Standard Edition, which was already well out of reach of the average book buyer.
Golden Cockerel titles have remained sought-after items by book collectors, owing to their craftmanship, limited print runs and the significance of the publishing company in the 20th-century book trade. For example, in 2007 a complete set of all 200+ Golden Cockerel books issued over its 40 years of publishing history sold for US$
397,000.
The illustrations in Canterbury Tales and other Golden Cockerel titles issued in the 1920s and 1930s are noted for the elements of eroticism
they contained that, although tame by modern standards, were considered risqué for the time and necessitated the press taking precautionary measures against possible prosecutions for obscenity or provocation, such as disguising the names of translators and illustrators.
was published with an Introduction by Phyllis Hartnoll
and eight black and white wood Engravings by Cecil Keeling in a limited run of 200 bound in quarter black leather with red and black marbled paper boards, printed in Bell type on Japanese vellum, housed in a marbled slipcase.
especially for the Golden Cockerel Press. The typeface's first appearance was in A. E. Coppard
's The Hundredth Story in 1931. http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/OtherArticles/GillCockerel.htm
ITC
Golden Cockerel is a revival by Richard Dawson of Eric Gill's original design. The family includes ITC Golden Cockerel Roman, ITC Golden Cockerel Italic, ITC Golden Cockerel Titling, ITC Golden Cockerel Initials and Ornaments. The titling font is based on 24 and 36-point samples. http://www.itcfonts.com/Fonts/Detail.htm?pid=204292
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
private press
Private press
Private press is a term used in the field of book collecting to describe a printing press operated as an artistic or craft-based endeavor, rather than as a purely commercial venture...
operating between 1920 and 1961.
The Press was founded by Harold (Hal) Midgley Taylor (1893–1925) in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming. Taylor bought an army surplus hut and assembled it in Waltham St Lawrence as a combined workshop and living quarters: it was cold and damp; money and food were short; the inexperience of the novice printers meant that work was slow and the results poor; and the authors who came to help mostly sat around drinking tea and chatting. Taylor had tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
of which he died in 1925.
The press soon found the formula for which it became famous — beautiful handmade limited editions of classic works produced to the very highest of standards. The books were typeset by hand, often using specially designed typefaces, notably those designed by Eric Gill
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
especially for the press. A major feature of Golden Cockerel books were the original illustrations, usually wood engraving
Wood engraving
Wood engraving is a technique in printmaking where the "matrix" worked by the artist is a block of wood. It is a variety of woodcut and so a relief printing technique, where ink is applied to the face of the block and printed by using relatively low pressure. A normal engraving, like an etching,...
s, contributed by, among others, Eric Gill, Robert Gibbings
Robert Gibbings
Robert Gibbings was an Irish artist and author who was most noted for his work as a wood carver and engraver and for his books on travel and natural history.-Life:...
, John Buckland Wright
John Buckland Wright
John Buckland Wright was an illustrator and engraver from Dunedin, New Zealand.-External links:** — University of Otago Library-References:* A check-list of the book illustrations of John Buckland Wright by Anthony Reid,...
, Blair Hughes-Stanton, Agnes Miller Parker
Agnes Miller Parker
Agnes Miller Parker was a Scottish engraver and illustrator.Halsby and Harris, in The Dictionary of Scottish Painters suggest that Parker's early paintings, as well as those of her husband, reflect the short-lived group of artists known as Vorticists, active in London in the 1920s. The main body...
, David Jones
David Jones (poet)
David Jones CH was both a painter and one of the first generation British modernist poets. As a painter he worked chiefly in watercolor, painting portraits and animal, landscape, legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and designer of inscriptions. As a writer he was...
, Mark Severin
Mark Severin
Mark Fernand Severin was a Belgian-born artist and graphic designer who lived in England for most of his life.-Life:...
and Eric Ravilious
Eric Ravilious
Eric William Ravilious was an English painter, designer, book illustrator and wood engraver.-Career:Ravilious studied at Eastbourne School of Art, and at the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Paul Nash and became close friends with Edward Bawden.He began his working life as a muralist,...
. The press was credited with having revived the British tradition of wood engraving.
Hal Taylor's foundation (1920–1924)
The Golden Cockerel Press was set up as a cooperative with four partners, Hal Taylor, Bee Blackburn, Pran Pyper, and Ethelwynne (Gay) Stewart McDowell. In April 1920 Hal and Gay had married. The four initially lived at Hal's mother's house in BeaconsfieldBeaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...
and cycled daily to the hut in Waltham St Lawrence. It was Hal who persuaded his family trust to provide most of the capital (approximately £2,800) for printing presses etc, and the premises at his fruit farm at Little Waltham.
Their first publications were The Voices a literary review and Adam & Eve & Pinch Me, short stories by a new author, A. E. Coppard
A. E. Coppard
Alfred Edgar Coppard was an English writer, noted for his influence on the short story form, and poet.-Life:He was born, the son of a tailor and a housemaid, in Folkestone, and had little formal education...
, which was a critical success and sold well.
By summer 1921 Bee and Pran had left for more conventional employment and between then and the autumn of 1922 the cooperative transitioned to a more conventional private press.
When Hal Taylor suffered a recurrent bout of tuberculosis, Coppard took charge as a temporary manager. But then with Hal's continued decline the business was put up for sale, early in 1924.
Robert Gibbings period (1924–1933)
Robert GibbingsRobert Gibbings
Robert Gibbings was an Irish artist and author who was most noted for his work as a wood carver and engraver and for his books on travel and natural history.-Life:...
had become a wood engraver and was struggling to make a living from it when he started to receive commissions to illustrate the Press's publications. Gibbings was working on the designs for Gallant Ladies at the time the Press was put up for sale, and in order to secure publication of this work, he sought a loan from a friend, Hubert Pike, a director of Bentley Motors
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
, to buy the Press. He took over the press in February 1924, paying £850 for the huts housing the business, the plant and goodwill. For the partially completed Lives of Gallant Ladies a further sum of £200 was paid. He also leased the house and 11 acres (44,515.5 m²) of land for £40 per annum. Gallant Ladies sold well with receipts of over £1,800, and saw the start of the growth of the Press as a successful publisher of usually limited editions of beautifully produced books.
Moira Gibbings joined her husband in the business not only doing all the secretarial work but also in selecting works for publication. They published work of their friend Edward Powys Mathers
Edward Powys Mathers
Edward Powys Mathers was an English translator and poet, and also a pioneer of compiling advanced cryptic crosswords....
and angled unsuccessfully with George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
to publish a folio edition of his works.
At the end of the 1920s the business climate changed, and as American sales faltered it became hard to keep up bank payments on the necessary borrowings to finance publications. They struggled on as the depression got more severe, seeking partners but eventually sold up in 1933. About 70 works were published during the Gibbings' period at the helm.
Christopher Sandford period (1933–1959)
The next owning partners were Owen RutterOwen Rutter
Edward Owen Rutter was an English historian, novelist and travel writer.After serving with the North Borneo Civil Service from 1910 to 1915, Rutter returned to Britain during World War I and was commissioned. Rutter served with the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment in France and on the...
, Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice Sandford, née Mackintosh Rate.-Biography:He was born in Cork,...
, and Francis J. Newbery. Together they paid only some £1000 for the then almost moribund business.
The first thing the new partners did was to move the press and production was carried out at the Chiswick Press
Chiswick Press
The Chiswick Press was founded by Charles Whittingham I in 1811. The management of the Press was taken over in 1840 by the founder's nephew Charles Whittingham II . The name was first used in 1811, and the Press continued to operate until 1962. C...
works in North London, and they used the Chiswick Press's London office, where the stocks of unsold Golden Cockerel Press books were held. Sandford worked long hours on management, editing and design. Rutter solicited new books and edited some of them. Newberry's role as the printer was to oversee the production work at the Chiswick Press.
About 120 works were published during the Sandford era.
Thomas Yoseloff period (1959–1961)
In 1959 Sandford sold the publishing business to Thomas Yoseloff, an American publisher and at the time director of University of Pennsylvania PressUniversity of Pennsylvania Press
The University of Pennsylvania Press is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. Yoseloff completed the publication of two titles in 1960 that had been previously commissioned by Sandford—a collection of Shakespearean poems edited by G. Jones and illustrated by Buckland-Wright, and a translation of the poem "In Defense of Woman" (O Blaid Y Gwragedd) by the 16th-century Welsh poet William Cynwal, illustrated by John Petts. The following year two more titles were issued under Yoseloff's direction, Folk Tales and Fairy Stories from India by Shrimati E. Carlile, and Moncrif's Cats, a translation by Reginald Bretnor
Reginald Bretnor
Reginald Bretnor was a science fiction author who flourished between the 1950s and 1980s. Most of his fiction was in short story form, and usually featured a whimsical story line or ironic plot twist...
of the 18th-century French writer François-Augustin Paradis de Moncrif's 1727 work, Histoire des chats.
These were to be the last two Golden Cockerel Press titles to be published, however, as the continuation of the business soon proved impractical. By the end of 1961 Yoseloff wound up the press' operations, as the resources and fine bookcraft skills necessary for production of Golden Cockerel titles had become too difficult and costly to obtain.
Editions and titles
The size of a run would vary according to expectations, but was normally between 250 and 750. Though both the paper and the bindings were handmade even on the Standard Edition, there was often also a smaller Deluxe Edition. The difference was usually that the bindings, instead of being 1/4 leather, were executed in full leather by bookbinders Sangorski & SutcliffeSangorski & Sutcliffe
Sangorski & Sutcliffe is a firm of bookbinders established in London in 1901. It is considered to be one of the most important bookbinding companies of the 20th century, famous for its luxurious jeweled bindings that used real gold and precious stones in their book covers.Sangorski & Sutcliffe...
, and the Deluxe Edition would consist of only 25 to 100 copies. Occasionally, the press would also print a "Super Deluxe" edition consisting of only five or ten copies on full vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
. Copies of the Deluxe Edition were sold at the time for up to five times the price of the Standard Edition, which was already well out of reach of the average book buyer.
Golden Cockerel titles have remained sought-after items by book collectors, owing to their craftmanship, limited print runs and the significance of the publishing company in the 20th-century book trade. For example, in 2007 a complete set of all 200+ Golden Cockerel books issued over its 40 years of publishing history sold for US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
397,000.
Canterbury Tales
One of the most sought-after of the Golden Cockerel books is the four-volume Canterbury Tales, produced by Eric Gill and issued in 1931. Lavishly illustrated throughout and with decorative borders on almost every page, it took two and a half years to produce. Four hundred and eighty-five copies were printed on paper, and a further fifteen on vellum. The former can be found selling for between $US 6,000 and 10,000 depending on condition, while the latter sell for up to $US 80,000 owing to their rarity.The illustrations in Canterbury Tales and other Golden Cockerel titles issued in the 1920s and 1930s are noted for the elements of eroticism
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
they contained that, although tame by modern standards, were considered risqué for the time and necessitated the press taking precautionary measures against possible prosecutions for obscenity or provocation, such as disguising the names of translators and illustrators.
Zastrozzi
In 1955, Zastrozzi: A Romance by Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
was published with an Introduction by Phyllis Hartnoll
Phyllis Hartnoll
Phyllis Hartnoll was a British poet, author and editor.Hartnoll studied at the University of Oxford, where she won the Newdigate Prize for poetry in 1929. Later she worked as an editor on many Oxford University Press publications, including the Oxford Companion to the Theatre...
and eight black and white wood Engravings by Cecil Keeling in a limited run of 200 bound in quarter black leather with red and black marbled paper boards, printed in Bell type on Japanese vellum, housed in a marbled slipcase.
Golden Cockerel typeface
Golden Cockerel is a typeface that was designed by Eric GillEric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
especially for the Golden Cockerel Press. The typeface's first appearance was in A. E. Coppard
A. E. Coppard
Alfred Edgar Coppard was an English writer, noted for his influence on the short story form, and poet.-Life:He was born, the son of a tailor and a housemaid, in Folkestone, and had little formal education...
's The Hundredth Story in 1931. http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/OtherArticles/GillCockerel.htm
ITC
International Typeface Corporation
The International Typeface Corporation was a type manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin, and Edward Rondthaler. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of metal type...
Golden Cockerel is a revival by Richard Dawson of Eric Gill's original design. The family includes ITC Golden Cockerel Roman, ITC Golden Cockerel Italic, ITC Golden Cockerel Titling, ITC Golden Cockerel Initials and Ornaments. The titling font is based on 24 and 36-point samples. http://www.itcfonts.com/Fonts/Detail.htm?pid=204292