Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Enid Clay. The Constant Mistress. The Golden Cockerel Press, London, 1934.
Price: US$315.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: With six engravings by Eric Gill. Each engraving is protected by original loose tissue paper. In orignal boards with cloth spine. Boards are green in color with fading from the edges towards the center. Cloth spine is somewhat soiled. Paper label fully attached on spine with title an author. The interior is clean and clear with rough cut edges to pages. This is number 51 of 300 and signed by the author and engraver at the back with the golden cockerel stamp. Pages:41 (plus enpapers) Dimensions:8â x 6 x â .
Seller: John and Tabitha's Kerriosity Bookshop, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardcover. Number 64 of 300 copies, signed by both Enid Clay and Eric Gill. This book was published to be uniform with Clay's Sonnets and Verses, published by the press in 1925. From Roderick Cave's History of The Golden Cockerel Press: "Were it not for his sister Enid Clay, Eric Gill might not ever have been tempted to work with Robert Gibbings. Gibbings had approached Gill in late 1924 with an offer of work as an artist for his newly procured Golden Cockerel Press, but Gill refused on the ground that the press was not Catholic. Their acquaintance might have ended there, but as it happened Gill's sister was in want of a publisher for her first book. Gibbings volunteered to take her on, and Gill was induced to be her illustrator. Following Gill's temporary refusal, Enid Clay's Sonnets and Verses (1925) became the first Golden Cockerel publication he was to illustrate. It was the beginning of a prolific seven-year partnership." This second book of Enid Clay's poetry is elegantly printed in Caslon O.F. type on Batchelor handmade paper with a hammer and anvil watermark. There are six wood engravings by Gill including the title page. Bound in green paper boards with a cream linen spine and paper spine label. Boards are faded along edges, as is frequently the case. Interior pages are clean and bright, with evidence of a bookseller ticket having been removed from the rear pastedown. The top edge is trimmed with the other edges untrimmed. A nice copy in very good condition. Measures 6 x 8.5 inches. 44 pages. See Gill Bibliography 293. PRI/090123.
Seller: The Kelmscott Bookshop, ABAA, Savage, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Description: Hardcover. 8vo (8.75" x 6"), green paper boards in half tan cloth with title-author leather stamped on spine. Previous owner bookplate on front paste-down. b&w woodcut engravings throughout. Author and illus. autograph on colophon. 40 pp. CONDITION: Very good, front and back covers faded and spine sunned but text-block fine. Edition 191 of 300. "Uniform with Enid Clay's Sonnets & Verses, also illustrated by Gill [his first collaboration with Golden Cockerel]." "This is no. 101 of the Golden Cockerel Press publications" (Gill). Signed by both Eric Gill and Enid Clay (Gill's sister) on the colophon. REFERENCES: Gill 293; Chanticleer 101; Skelton 38.
Seller: James Arsenault & Company, ABAA, Arrowsic, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$440.11 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition, signed, limited to 250 copies of the regular edition, of which this is No. 141 (250 were bound in canvas with paper sides and 50 in full leather). With 6 wood-engravings by Eric Gill. Signed by Eric Gill and Enid Clay on the colophon. The book is accompanied by the prospectus containing 2 engravings of the book edition. ¶ Description: Quarter cloth over light green paper boards, printed paper label to spine. Octavo: 22.5 × 15 cm, pp. 40 [1 (colophon)]. With 6 wood-engravings (1 to title and 5 within text). Printed from Caslon Old Face on unbleached hand-made paper. ¶ Inserted: Golden Cockerel Press Prospectus for 'The Constant Mistress': folded leaf, pp. 4. With 2 wood-engravings by Eric Gill. The specimen page displays the poem 'The Young Girl's Room' with its accompanying engraving. ¶ Ref.: Cave/Manson 101; Chanticleer 101 ¶ Condition: Some fading (as usual) and marks to boards, slight loss to edge of title label at spine. Internally, clean and free of marks. Prospectus clean with just a bare trace of toning at edges. A very attractive and well illustrated set. ¶ Notes: 'The Constant Mistress' was published as a companion volume to Clay's 'Sonnets & Verses', in a similar format, with new engravings by her brother Eric Gill. ¶
Seller: Georg Schneebeli :: Rare Books & Prints, Zürich, Switzerland
Price: US$445.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 8vo. Original green boards (slightly discolored, as is always the case) with linen spine, in a custom made clamshell box with lettering. in fine condition. Limited to 300 copies, of which this is no. 226, signed by the artist and author on the colophon. Illustrated with 6 wood-engravings (Physick, 867, 872-876) by Eric Gill. Evan Gill Bibliography, 293; Chanticleer, 101; Skelton, 38.
Seller: Wittenborn Art Books, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS. ; CLAY Enid. The Constant Mistress. , 1934.
Price: US$452.18 + shipping
Description: With 6 wood-engravings by Eric Gill, gilt cockerel device at end. One of 300 copies, signed by author and the illustrator. 8vo., original 1/4 canvas backed boards, paper label along spine, uncut. London, The Golden Cockerel Press. A very good copy indeed, with the Golden Cockerel compliments slip, which bears a fine engraving by Eric Gill, loosely inserted.
Seller: Maggs Bros. Ltd ABA, ILAB, PBFA, BA, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$453.75 + shipping
Description: Limited edition, number 186 of 300 copies, signed by the author and illustrator; 8vo; 6 wood engravings by Eric Gill, tissue guards, light toning to endpapers, otherwise unmarked internally; original cloth-backed green boards, paper label to spine, boards slightly faded, edges partly unopened, others uncut, overall a very good copy. The Constant Mistress was issued as a sister volume to Clay's Sonnets & Verses, in similar format, with new engravings by her brother Eric Gill. This is number 186 of the regular edition (250 were bound in cloth-backed paper boards and 50 in full morocco), and is signed by both Eric Gill and Enid Clay on the colophon. Gill 293.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
ERIC GILL. The Constant Mistress Signed and numbered.. Self Published, 1934.
Price: US$515.31 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Eric Gill original proof wood engraving printed on fine hand-made wove paper. Signed by the artist in pencil and numbered 3/20. Image size 7.4 x 3.1cms, (3 x 2 inches) Sheet size 22 x 14cms (8.75 x 5.75 inches)Felix Dennis (1949-2014) Collection: Felix Dennis was an English publisher, poet, spoken-word performer and philanthropist. His company, Dennis Publishing, pioneered computer and hobbyist magazine publishing in the United Kingdom. One of the three editors of Oz Magazine. Reference: Physick 867: (557) Wood engraving which was used on the title-page of The Constant Mistress, by Enid Clay, Gill s sister, published by the Golden Cockerel Press in 1934. Physick also states that the edition was 20 copies only and were sold for £1.10 by the artist.
Seller: Roe and Moore, London, United Kingdom
CLAY, Enid. The Constant Mistress. Golden Cockerel, London, 1934.
Price: US$550.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 6 woodcut engravings by Eric Gill with tissue guards. 41 pages, untrimmed, slim 8vo, cloth backed green boards, paper spine label. (London): Golden Cockerel Press, 1934. Limited Edition. Near Fine. Number 102 of 300 numbered copies signed by the author and illustrator.
Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$579.72 + shipping
Description: 93/250 COPIES (of an edition of 300 copies) printed on Batchelor handmade paper and signed by the author and artist, with 6 wood-engravings by Eric Gill, the 'Cockerel' press-mark at the tail of the colophon-page printed in gold, pp. 40, crown 8vo, original quarter natural linen with green boards, backstrip with printed label, hint of fading to board edges, edges untrimmed, Sotheran ticket at foot of front pastedown, very good. The second of the sibling collaborations by poet and artist published at The Golden Cockerel Press, signed by both. (Chanticleer 101: Gill, Corey & Mackenzie 293)
Seller: Blackwell's Rare Books ABA ILAB BA, Oxford, United Kingdom
GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS. CLAY, Enid.. The Constant Mistress.. , 1934.
Price: US$770.38 + shipping
Description: London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1934. 8vo. Original canvas-backed green boards, printed paper spine label, edges untrimmed; 6 wood-engravings by Eric Gill behind loose tissue guards; pp. [x], 9-40, [vi]; boards sunned to edges, with larger portion to lower also discoloured; paper label rubbed, with slight loss to one letter; one or two pages roughly opened; internally near-fine. Limited to 300 numbered copies and signed by Eric Gill ("Eric G.") and Enid Clay. This copy no. 222. Also included is the original prospectus (one folding sheet), duplicating an engraving and a specimen page of text. Seldom found together. Eric Gill wonderfully illustrates a collection of his sister's poetry. Included here are odes to the Norfolk Dunes, as well as a cocktail bar in Piccadilly.
Seller: Henry Sotheran Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Gill, Eric. The empty bed. [London, 1934.
Price: US$1562.50 + shipping
Description: Wood engraving, being number 2 of 20 proofs, numbered and signed "Eric G" in pencil along lower edge of image; single off-white sheet measuring 9.1 x 5.5 inches, printed in black and showing an unmade bed, bookcase, window, small table, and rug from a variety of perspectives, making for an Escher-esque viewing experience; a few small brown spots in the generous lower margin, not affecting image, otherwise very good. "The Empty Bed" appears on page 39 of The Constant Mistress (Golden Cockerel Press, 1934) by Gill's sister, Enid Clay, illustrating the poem, "The Young Girl's Room." Gill Bibliography 293.
Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Clay, Enid. THE CONSTANT MISTRESS. The Golden Cockerel Press, London, 1934.
Price: US$2300.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Limited Edition. This being number 8 of 300 copies. 1 of 50 copies specially bound and containing an extra 6 engravings which are in a pocket at the back of the book. Signed by Author and Signed by Illustrator. 6 beautiful engravings by Eric Gill. 40 pages. Inside pages are clean and white. Top Edge Gilt. Original full black morocco leather, gilt titles on spine. Corners blumped. Front and back endpapers show darkening along edges. One small stain on side edge of page 14 and 15, also affecting the edge of a few more pages to a much lesser degree. My copy US$2,000.00. VG.
Seller: J. Wyatt Books, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Price: US$3220.66 + shipping
Description: 41/50 COPIES (from an edition of 300 copies) printed on Batchelor's handmade paper and signed by the author and artist, 6 wood-engravings by Eric Gill, a set of proof pulls on Japanese paper of the engravings in a pocket to rear pastedown, the 'Cockerel' press-mark at the foot of colophon-page printed in gold, pp. 40, [i], crown 8vo, original tan morocco, backstrip gilt lettered and very gently faded, a little rubbed at extremities, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, good. The special issue, with the extra suite of Gill's superb engravings; seen in both tan (as here) and black morocco. (Chanticleer 101: Gill, Corey & Mackenzie 293)
Seller: Blackwell's Rare Books ABA ILAB BA, Oxford, United Kingdom