GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS. BUCKLAND WRIGHT, John. BEAUMONT, Francis. JONES, Gwyn. ~ Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. A Poem.
Transcribed and introduced by Gwyn Jones. One of 80 specials, this no. 12 and one of only 30 bound in full blue morocco with an extra engraving at the end, signed by the editor Gwyn Jones and John Buckland Wright. 11 colour wood engravings by John Buckland Wright (one engraving of flowers is repeated twice). Tall thin sm. folio, original full blue morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe with gilt waterlily decoration by Buckland Wright on upper cover and gilt lettering on the spine, fore and lower edges untrimmed. An excellent copy in the original green cloth slipcase.
Only 30 of the 80 specials were bound in full morocco especially for the US market which Sandford believed would not appreciate his half-bound specials.
The colour wood-engravings which appeared in Salmacis were a remarkable new departure for the Press and turned out to be highly successful. Buckland-Wright used three colours - golden yellow, blue and grey and put them together so skilfully that the palate seems to be much wider with greens and varying blues and yellows. His amazing ability to engrave water and its effects on the bodies beneath it, is much in evidence and this is one of the most successful Golden Cockerel Press books of this era.