The Amazons; A Novel..

[London]: The Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Webb, Clifford. One of 500 copies, quarto size, 253 pp., with prospectus. The Golden Cockerel Press came together in autumn of 1920, at a time when post-World War I society was ushering in a renaissance of creative minds, including another renaissance of the printing press as the artist's tool similar to that of William Morris and the arts and crafts printers of the previous century. The press worked with many notable artists including Eric Gill, Blair Hughes-Stanton, Robert Gibbings, and the artist for this work, Clifford Webb.

Clifford Cyril Webb (1895-1972) studied art and is best known today for his wood engravings. He was a founder-member of the Society of Wood Engravers, and "was a prominent figure in the group of engravers whobrought about the revival of wood engraving in the 1920s, and benefited from the encouragement of Robert Gibbings and the Golden Cockerel Press" (n.b., quote from Webb's entry in Horne, "The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators", p. 437).

The engravings for this work, "The Amazons", are deemed "the finest yet produced by this master of black and white. He [Webb] made a brilliant contrast between the scenes of warfare - as at Phaselis and near Argos - and the interludes of peace - as in the cave of Cronos and the garden of the Hesperides" (n.b, Cockalorum, p. 55). While this writer agrees whole-heartedly with this assessment, she would like to point out that Webb also had a sense of humour, as can be seen in the press device at the colophon.

With the Ex-Libris of Lee Lawrence Stopple, who in addition to being a newspaper publisher in the city of Santa Rosa for many years was a collector of Californiana and Mountaineering books, and a member of several San Francisco area book clubs, including the Roxburghe Club (SF) from 1935-1960.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in half brown leather over marbled paper boards, the leather down the spine and vertically down the fore-edge of each board, gilt lettering and the Press device on the shelfback, top edge gilt, Ex-Libris on the front pastedown as set forth above, the frontis ("The Amazon Fleet sails") one of twelve wood engravings bound in thoughout, the text opens on p. 18 with one of three maps (reproduced from pen and ink drawings) opposite; Poliphilus and Centaur types on mould-made paper, quarto size, pagination: [1-8] 9-253, limited edition of 500 copies, this no. 357. Loosely laid in is the prospectus, a single sheet folded to four pages, the cover page a mirror of the title page, the second page the frontis illustration, the third a sample page of text, the usual prospectus information on the back page; measuring 10 7/8" by 7 1/2" when closed.

___CONDITION: Near fine, the leather binding smooth and supple, the marbled boards unrubbed, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and other than the Ex-Libris entirely free of prior owner markings; the spine slightly sunned and with a few dark spots, some light foxing and light dustiness to the marbled boards, and light offsetting to the endpapers. The prospectus very good, with overall sunning, light edgewear, and a few stains at the top margin of the cover page.

___CITATION: Cockalorum, no. 181.

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