L’ Apres-Midi d’un Faune. Eglogue : One Of 25 Lettered Copies With An Additional Suite Of 5 Experimental Plates : With The Publisher’s Prospectus

Published by The Hague and London: J.BW. [John Buckland Wright] Editions in 1935 [but issued 1956 by the Golden Cockerel Press]. Letter 'E' of 25 copies (with a neat penned date of '1972' next to the letter) with an extra suite of 5 experimental engravings and a letterpress note on the edition by Mary Buckland Wright. This edition is the only one to have the complete 5 experimental engravings (other editions had 4 or less). The BOOK is in Fine condition. Although 50 copies of the text were printed (of which 40 were for sale), only 25 copies were ever bound and issued. Text in French, 4 collotype plates reproducing wash drawings by John Buckland Wright, with a suite of 5 experimental engravings and etchings for the work by Buckland Wright, together with a letterpress 'Note on the John Buckland Wright Edition of L'Apres-midi d'un Faune' by the artist's wife Mary Buckland Wright. Publisher's original morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, upper cover with gilt design after Buckland Wright, top edge gilt. Original green cloth slipcase with matching folder for the experimental prints. All in Fine condition. Developed from Buckland Wright's drawings executed in 1935 but not published until 1956. 'The printed sheets remained in Holland throughout the war. In 1947 they reached us in London'. 'Always fascinated by the classical Pan or faun figure, the artist experimented with different media for the illustrations but was never satisfied; the drawings reproduced in the book would probably have been turned into line engravings or etchings'. (Note on the edition by Mary Buckland Wright).[Reid A73]. A posthumous publication on which Buckland Wright had been working for twenty years, the work was intended to be the third publication by J.B.W. Editions and the text was printed by Mouton & Co. of the Hague in 1936. The Golden Cockerel Press also issued an English version translated by Aldous Huxley in 1956, in an edition of 200 copies with 100 special copies (The accompanying additional suite for the latter had only 4 experimental engravings). In this edition the images are not quite as sharp as in this French text JBW edition. In the prospectus for the Huxley edition, they also refer to this JBW edition in French text. This prospectus is loosely laid in here. 'Mary Buckland- Wright showed disappointment with Christopher Sandford at the Golden Cockerel Press with the way he had designed the Huxley translation edition.'. The project had turned sour for him when Mary Buckland-Wright accused him of treating as a Cinderella another version of the book he was publishing for her (this other version being the French text edition listed here, which Sandford had published for her under her late husband's old 'Editions JBW' imprint ( Roderick Cave & Sarah Manson : A History of The Golden Cockerel Press 1920-1960). A very handsome production. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.