FARLEIGH, John. MASON, John. ~ The Man Who Died.
10 wood engravings by John Farleigh printed in red and black. Type format in red and black arranged by John Mason and printed by W. Lewis at Cambridge University Press. 4to., original quarter beige cloth, marbled paper covered sides, gilt titling on spine, lacking the dust jacket. Very mild bowing to top board, otherwise very good.
A fine association copy between two artistic collaborators and friends who believed in bringing the best in hand-press production values to the machine age. With the gold and white name label of John Mason and his ownership inscription and with an extraordinary presentation inscription from Farleigh: “This book is the result of my long friendship with Mason. I have put in it all that he has taught me. John Farleigh, Dec. 1935”.
Farleigh and Mason were friends and, as practioners of the book arts, were both members of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and both taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. They were part of a group of reformers who thought that industry and art were inevitably going to crash and merge and that all involved in the design of hand press books should adapt their skills to designing for mass production.