Welfare Handbook No. 1: Health.
Ditchling, Sussex: St. Dominic's Press, 1919. 24mo. 30pp. Eric Gill's own copy, with his bookplate inside the front cover. Four head- and tail-pieces by Gill, whose stylistic knack for negative space and stark linework mimics to great effect the woodcuts found in earlier chapbooks. The two remaining illustrations are by John Beedham and Desmond Chute. The accompanying treatise by Hilary Pepler—one of a series of ten "handbooks'—provides, in this case, a litany of satirical recommendations toward personal health and the bureaucracy that manages it. Bound in natural wrappers with titling printed in black on upper cover, which has "Spoilt Copy" pencilled at top right. We cannot discern what about this copy is "spoilt" - to us, other than trace sunning, it is a fine exemplar. Item #32007
(Taylor & Sewell A48).
Price: $650.00