As Choice as Could Be:
Eric Gill, Harry Graf Kessler,
and The Cranach Press’s
Canticum canticorum Salomonis
Tracy C. Bergstrom
The Cranach Press’s Canticum canticorum Salomonis represents a high-
light in the history of modern book design and fine press printing;
the volume’s unusual format, combined with Eric Gill’s illustrations
and the use of Jenson antiqua type, create a striking and memo-
rable work. The publication of Canticum canticorum Salomonis also
marked a turning point in the working relationship between Gil
and the publisher of the Cranach Press, Harry Graf Kessler. Although
Kessler has been previously portrayed in scholarly publication as
the dominating force behind Canticum canticorum Salomonis, a close
examination of their personal correspondence and interactions
reveals that Gill increasingly began to assert artistic independence
in their collaboration and determined many significant aspects of the
volume’s style. Gill’s long-standing interest in the text of the “Song
of Songs” and its mixture of eroticism and spirituality, combined
with his desire to experiment with method and technique, resulted
in a project for which Gill guided the selection of text, illustration
program, and salient aspects of the book’s production.
The perception that Kessler firmly directed all creative
production of his Press artists and coaxed them into producing supe-
rior work originates with Weimar-era publications—most notably,
Rudolph Alexander Schröder’s influential 1931 assessment of the
Press’s output, “Die Cranach-Presse in Weimar.”1 Schröder claims
that Kessler’s varied intellectual ventures prepared him to guide
the work of individual artists toward his desired ends. In an exami-
nation of the typefaces designed for the Cranach Press by Emery
Walker and Edward Johnston, for instance, Schröder mentions
Kessler’s work as a student of Wil iam Morris and as the publisher
of the Art Nouveau journal, Pan, as experiences that provided him
with the artistic vision and clarity to direct the activities of Walker
and Johnston. The success of these typefaces can thus be attrib-
uted to Kessler’s oversight, in that “their rich diversity provides a
1 Rudolph Alexander Schröder, “Die
suitable foundation for the freedom and wealth of expression that
Cranach-Presse in Weimar,” Imprimatur:
are the distinguishing characteristics of all of Kessler’s prints.”2 In
Ein Jahrbuch für Bücherfreunde, (1931)
91-112.
2 Ibid., 94.
© 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
Schröder’s narrative, this relationship exists not only with Walker,
Johnson, and Gill, but with all artists Kessler employed to work on
Cranach Press publications. He claims about Aristide Maillol that:
One need only remember that Maillol, the sculptor,
would probably never have emerged as the erudite and
satisfying illustrator and graphic artist whom we know
from his magnificent prints of Virgil’s Eclogues if the
founder of the Cranach Press had not encouraged him
and provided him with both a goal and clarification of
what the occasion demanded.3
Schröder’s assessment of Kessler as a master manipulator perme-
ates scholarship to the present day, as seen in Laird M. Easton’s
recent biography, The Red Count: the life and times of Harry Kessler.4
Regarding the Cranach Press’s 1926 publication, The Eclogues of
Virgil, Easton writes:
Years of patient, tenacious prodding on the part of Kessler,
gently but firmly shepherding such temperamental egos
as Maillol, Gill, the calligrapher Edward Johnston, the
letter-cutter Edward Prince, the printer Emery Walker, and
others toward the goal he had in mind, resulted in one of
the most striking printed books of the twentieth century.5
The first major book-length survey of the Cranach Press,
published by Renate Müller-Krumbach in 1969, reinforced the
notion that Kessler maintained tight control over salient artistic deci-
sions pertaining to successful publications of the press but added
explicit criticism of Gill’s involvement.6 In her analysis of Canticum
canticorum Salomonis, Müller-Krumbach compliments the aspects of
the publication overseen by Kessler, writing that the “dimensions,
binding, typeface and layout of the Song of Songs give the impression
of an exquisite bibliophile treasure.”7 Her assessment of Gill’s
contributions to the volume is not so charitable, however: “Gill’s
ornamented initials and his illustrations seem a poor fit in this
context.”8 The argument centers on the assertion that Gill’s illustra-
tions failed within the volume because they deviated from Kessler’s
specifications:
[The illustrations] are, in contrast to all previous principles
of the Cranach Press, neither linear nor flat, but plastic and
3 Ibid., 102-3.
three-dimensional, and thus serve as opposition and coun-
4 Laird M. Easton, The Red Count: The life
terpoint to the typography rather than as its complement.
and times of Harry Kessler (Berkeley: The
Velvety black areas in which the color white is largely
University of California Press, 2002).
5 Ibid., 371.
absent have been printed above a dark brown ground.
6 Renate Müller-Krumbach, Harry
White is used only to trace the contours which, since they
Graf Kessler und die Cranach-Presse
are composed of very fine cross hatching, do not mark
in Weimar (Hamburg: Maximilian-
continuous lines but rather produce a luminous iridescence.
Gesellschaft, 1969).
7 Ibid., 63.
8 Ibid.
4
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
This technique, which imitates ones more properly found in
engravings, does not meet Kessler’s original demands for
woodcut illustrations…. It remains surprising that Kessler
had these illustrations printed at such great expense…9
More recently, John Dieter Brinks’s essay, “In search of sensu-
ality: Kessler’s and Gill’s Songs of Songs,” is effusive in its praise of
the volume but seeks to establish that Kessler dictated all aspects
of Gill’s work and was thereby responsible for its success.10 Brinks
establishes the theme early on in the essay, writing:
When Eric Gill later looked back on his life he would attest
to what he had already known at the age of forty-three: that
the course of his life, both aesthetically and materially, was
in many ways connected to Kessler’s and that it was he
who had given him a vital impetus.11
In the section of the essay titled “Kessler’s Conception of the Book,”
Brinks lays out five specifications that Kessler purportedly dictated
to Gill to guide him in his work: the book’s physical dimensions, the
use of color in the illustrations, the gilding of the illustrations, the
dramatization of the text, and the shading of the illustrations.12 All
of these characteristics are present in correspondence between the
two, and all except the physical dimensions would evolve through
Gill’s independent work from Kessler’s original conception of the
volume, as preserved in his working notes.13
This present essay seeks to reexamine these perceptions
concerning Kessler and Gill’s relationship and working processes.
Their correspondence and individual diary entries document that
Kessler was quick to accept Gill’s changes in direction for the project
and that their relationship was a much more egalitarian one than is
suggested by previous critics. While their correspondence does show
that Gill’s illustrations did not follow Kessler’s initial specifications
for the project, it also records that Kessler was extremely pleased
with the images and their context within the publication. A review
of archival evidence also demonstrates that Gill exerted substantial
control over many aspects of the publication, including its textual
9 Ibid., 64.
10 John Dieter Brinks, “In Search of
contents, and that his decisions outside Kessler’s recommendations
Sensuality: Kessler’s and Gill’s Song of
led to the book’s critical acclaim.
Songs,” The Book as a Work of Art: The
The story of how Gill and Kessler decided on the “Song of
Cranach Press of Count Harry Kessler
Songs” for a Cranach Press publication is frequently recounted.
(Laubach: Triton, 2005), 146-67.
Kessler records in his diary that the two were together at Goupil
11 Ibid., 148.
12 Ibid., 152-4.
Gal ery in March 1925 to view Gil ’s statue of a sleeping Christ when
13 See the page from Kessler’s notebook
Kessler asked if Gill would be interested in illustrating a Cranach
reproduced in Brinks, “In Search of
Press volume. Gill replied that he would be pleased to create a set of
Sensuality: Kessler’s and Gill’s Song of
illustrations for a Latin edition of the “Song of Songs” or, alternately,
Songs,” 153.
illustrations to “Ananga-Ranga,” whose text he described to Kessler
14 Harry Graf Kessler, Tagebuch, March 13,
as “well, in reality: thirty-four ways of doing it.”14 Kessler wisely
1925, Deutsches Literaturarchiv,
Schiller-Nationalmuseum.
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
5
chose to pursue the first option. The informality of this exchange,
however, belies the pragmatic nature of their long relationship lead-
ing up to the project. The two were introduced in the spring of 1904,
and their first meeting occurred on September 7, 1904, according to
Gill’s diary.15 Their initial correspondence established a relationship
of Gill as contract worker and Kessler as artistic and financial advi-
sor. As early as 1908, Gill was advanced money from Insel-Verlag zu
Leipzig at Kessler’s request, in the hope that “your ancient pleasure
for working will return and that this will induce you to fill our orders
before others.”16 Their relationship took a preliminary turn in January
1910 when Kessler arranged for Gill to work as an apprentice to
Aristide Maillol in Marly-le-Roi; Gill, however, was uncomfortable
with the idea of apprenticing to someone with whom he spoke no
common language and who was located far from his residence in
Ditchling, and he backed out at the last minute.17 Kessler’s response
to Gill regarding the incident was cool, as he reiterated his belief that
Gill would have benefitted from Maillol’s experience, but Kessler
nonetheless also had to recognize Gill as a more independent and
willful artist than he had previously perceived.18 The overall tone of
their correspondence evolved to show a more equitable relationship
after this incident, with Kessler’s inclusion of Gill on major projects
in the next few years, such as his proposed Nietzsche memorial.
By the time of their joint work for the Cranach Press, Gill
had developed into a mature artist of great experience, including
previous publications and illustrations of the “Song of Songs.” Gill’s
interest in the “Song of Songs” bridged several decades. He first
published his thoughts on the text in an essay titled, “The Song of
Solomon and Such-like Songs,” which spanned several issues of The
Game in 1921. This essay was revised and published at St. Dominic’s
Press as an independent publication in 1921, under the title, Songs
Without Clothes: Being a Dissertation on the Song of Solomon and Such-
15 Eric Gill, Diary, September 7, 1904,
like Songs; it was further revised and published under the same title
M. S. Gill, William Andrews Clark
in Art-nonsense and Other Essays in 1929. In the essay’s introduction,
Memorial Library, University of California
Gill claims that, “the Song of Solomon is a love song, and one of a
at Los Angeles.
very outspoken kind, and in modern England such things are not
16 Insel-Verlag zu Leipzig to Eric Gill, March
considered polite.”19 Thus, Gill’s attraction to the eroticism of the
30, 1908, typescript letter with second
page missing, box 93, folder 9, M. S. Gill,
text and its interpretive potential was manifest, and makes his 1925
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
offer to Kessler of illustrating either the “Song of Songs” or “Ananga-
University of California at Los Angeles.
Ranga” less incongruent than it initial y appeared. The essay contin-
17 Eric Gill, Autobiography (New York:
ues with Gill’s thoughts on the intrinsically religious nature of the
Devin-Adair, 1941), 178-82.
“Song of Songs,” providing Gill with a platform to develop his
18 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, January
beliefs on the symbiotic nature of sexuality and spirituality:
24, 1910, box 93, folder 9, M. S. Gill,
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
But everything is religious by which God is praised, and
University of California at Los Angeles.
in this sense the Song of Solomon is a religious poem indeed.
19 Eric Gill, Songs Without Clothes: Being a
Not only is God praised in it, and by it, but His praises are
Dissertation on the Song of Solomon and
Such-like Songs (Ditchling: St. Dominic’s
Press, 1921).
20 Ibid., 3.
6
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
sung in the strongest of all symbolic terms. The love of man
and woman is made the symbol of God’s love for man, and
of Christ’s love for the Church.20
These principles, expressed in numerous other writings by Gill,
had been in formation for some time and also manifested them-
selves visually in the 1925 Golden Cockerel Press publication, The
Song of Songs: Called by many the Canticle of canticles. [see Figure 1]
One source for Gill’s initial artistic interest in the “Song of Songs”
may be a manuscript prepared by Edward Johnston. This vellum
model contains portions of the “Song of Songs” text, arranged and
hand-lettered by Johnston.21 Of the five passages from the “Song of
Songs” selected by Johnston, portions of three were later included
and illustrated by Gill in either his Golden Cockerel Press or his
Cranach Press treatments of the text. Johnson and Gill had enjoyed
a close relationship since their time as roommates in 1902-03, and
their influence on one another continued throughout the next
two decades.22
Critics have argued that Gill wished to illustrate the “Song
Figure 1
Page 39: “Ibi dabo tibi.” Eric Gill, The Song
of Songs” to redeem himself from the failure of the 1925 Golden
of Songs: Called by Many the Canticle of
Cockerel Press edition, but this perception is not supported by
Canticles. Waltham St. Lawrence, (Berkshire:
contemporary evidence.23 Reviews of the Golden Cockerel Press’s
Golden Cockerel Press, 1925.) Reproduced
The Song of Songs: Called by many the Canticle of Canticles expressed
from the original held by the Department of
admiration of Gill’s contributions to the volume. The Times Literary
Special Collections of the University Libraries
Supplement stated:
of Notre Dame.
And Mr. Eric Gill’s woodcuts, seventeen in all, perform the
21 Edward Johnston, [Canticum cantico-
triple function of being beautiful in themselves, of forming
rum], England, Wing MS ZW 945.J654,
a part, not an interruption, of the page, and of helping the
Newberry Library. Penciled on Johnston’s
reader’s imagination into the heart of this love-story.24
manuscript is “3 Hammersmith Terrace,”
which dates the manuscript to the time-
Subsequent assessments of the Golden Cockerel Press’s publication
frame between 1905 and 1912, when
Johnston resided at this address.
recognize it as a “definite advance in style” within Gill’s oeuvre.25
22 Eric Gill, Autobiography, 130.
Reviews contemporary to the publication of the Golden Cockerel’s
23 See Brinks, “In Search of Sensuality:
The Song of Songs demonstrate that Gill’s experiments with woodcut-
Kessler’s and Gill’s Song of Songs” (150)
ting and engraving techniques were also noted and valued. In an
for this argument.
article titled “On the appreciation of the modern woodcut,” Herbert
24 Harold Hannyngton Child, “Prints and
pictures,” Times Literary Supplement,
Furst cites Gill’s output as demonstrating the zenith of modern wood
November 26, 1925, 793.
engraving techniques:
25 R. A. Walker, “Engravings of Eric Gill,”
… to crown it all, Mr. Eric Gill uses the block of hard wood
The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, 15:2 (April
and engraves it in black-line as if it were a steel engraving—
1928), 162.
with the result that such cuts of his as “The Shepherdess”
26 Herbert Furst, “On the appreciation of
recently shown at the Redfern Gallery, look like, and are in
the modern woodcut,” Artwork, 2:6,
January to March 1926, 91. Reproduced
fact outline engravings—intaglio prints, but from wood
in the article is an unused print produced
instead of metal.26
for Golden Cockerel Press’s The Song
of Songs: “Swineherd,” 1925; see J. F.
Physick, The Engraved Work of Eric Gill
(London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office,
1963), catalog number 337.
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
7
These reviews and knowledge of Gill’s longstanding interest in the
text provide explanation as to why Gill would wish to illustrate the
“Song of Songs” twice in less than a decade and also offer insight
into factors that contributed to the design of the Cranach Press
publication. His previous work with the “Song of Songs“ allowed
Gill to enter into conversations with Kessler with firmly established
views about the content of the text and its interpretative potential.
The reviews demonstrate that Gill was being praised both for his
treatment of the text and for his willingness to experiment in tech-
nique and output—the latter of which would come to fruition in the
Cranach Press publication.
Kessler and Gill began focused discussions of the design
of the Cranach Press volume in September 1927. Both recorded in
their personal diaries a visit to the British Museum on September 21,
1927, during which they looked at several objects, including what
I believe can be identified as Les Commentaires de la guerre gallique,
Harley MS 6205, illuminated by Godefroy le Batave and dated to
1519.27 [see Figure 2] This manuscript is illuminated in semi-grisaille,
using a palette of grays and blues, with added highlights of gold.
Subsequent correspondence confirms that Kessler took note of both
the unusual dimensions (240 x 120mm) and the coloring of the
manuscript. He wrote to Gill on October 23, 1927:
Figure 2
I also enclose proofs of the “Song of Songs.” There are
F. 9v: Swiss burning their villages. François
three different proofs. No 1. exactly the size of the British
du Moulin and Albert Pigghe, Commentaires
Museum manuscript, No. 2. one line longer and No. 3 two
de la guerre gallique, France, Central, 1519.
lines longer… If you could cut one illustration in three
London, British Library, Harley MS 6205,
blocks to be printed in black, grey and blue, I could have
saec. xvi1. Image © The British Library Board,
Harley MS 6205.
a number of different trial proofs printed and that would
give us something to start from.28
27 François du Moulin and Albert Pigghe,
Despite these instructions, sketches record that Gill explored the use
Commentaires de la guerre gallique,
(France, Central, 1519). London, British
of a more liberal color palette as he began to work on initial designs
Library, Harley MS 6205, saec. xvi1;
for the project. An early sketch for “Nigra sum sed Formosa,”
details recorded in Kessler, Tagebuch,
preserved in an album labeled “orig. designs & first proofs of
Wednesday, September 21, 1927,
engravings,” reveals one of Gill’s first attempts at the visualization
Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Schiller-
of this pivotal text.29 [see Figure 3] While the sketch is undated, its
Nationalmuseum, as: “Ich gieng mit
beiden [Gill and Douglas Cockerell]
characteristically elongated format, which mimics the proportions
dann ins British Museum u. besah
of the Harley manuscript, strongly suggests that it was executed
mit Gill das schöne Manuscript eines
after their visit. It uses a subdued and judicious palette of pink and
Dialogs zwischen Caesar und Franz I von
green and includes several additional figures that are peripheral to
Frankreich, das für diesen von Albert
the central figural grouping, all of which would subsequently be
Pigghe geschrieben und mit Miniaturen
dropped by Gill. Another early sketch perhaps illustrates portions
geschmückt worden ist.”
28 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, October
of the “Song of Songs” included by Gill in his 1925 Golden Cockerel
23, 1927, Wing Modern M. S. Kess,
Press treatment of the text: “Come, love, let us fare forth into the
Newberry Library.
fields, and in the hamlet lodge. Then up early to the vineyard, to
29 Eric Gill, Canticum Canticorum Album,
see if the vine-stocks be in bud, if the tendrils be unfolding, if the
1930, 92.1.2799, Eric Gill Collection,
pomegranate flower: there I will give my breasts to thee.”30 It uses
Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas
at Austin.
the same color palette as the design for “Nigra sum sed Formosa,”
8
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
but integrates figures into a stylized landscape that would come to
be distinctive in all of the finished prints for the volume.31 Although
Gill did not develop either of these sketches for inclusion in the final
publication, his variation in approach and palette demonstrate that,
with the exception of the size parameters Kessler had provided, Gill
experimented profusely in his initial designs. Gill’s independent
thinking about the volume’s design would not ultimately result in
the use of color, but it did engender designs much more radical than
Kessler envisioned.
Kessler’s letter to Gill on October 23, 1927, also addressed the
potential technique of the prints to be used by Gill in the Cranach
Press publication. In the time between their visit to the British
Museum in September and the date of the letter, Gill had sent Kessler
a copy of Golden Cockerel Press’s The Metamorphosis of Pigmilions
Image, with engravings by Rene Ben Sussan—presumably as an
example of a contemporary volume using a muted color palette.
However, Kessler was not impressed with Ben Sussan’s technique
or use of color, describing the prints as “barbarous.”32 Kessler’s only
exception to this assessment was the doublet of Pigmalion found in
the frontispiece of the volume, which he describes as “stippled (not
Figure 3 (above)
“Nigra sum sed Formosa.” Eric Gill, Canticum
Canticorum Album, 1930, 92.1.2799.
Eric Gill Collection, Harry Ransom Center,
The University of Texas at Austin. Photo
reproduced courtesy of the Harry Ransom
Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
Figure 4 (right)
Frontispiece. John Marston, illustrated by
Rene Ben Sussan, The Metamorphosis of
Pigmalions Image. Waltham St. Lawrence,
Berkshire: Golden Cockerel Press, 1926.
Reproduced from the original held by the
Department of Special Collections of the
University Libraries of Notre Dame.
30 A comparison of the Golden Cockerel
Press and Cranach Press editions shows
that eight of the same verses were
used in both editions, so Gill’s choosing
to experiment with a text that he had
treated in the past would not have been
unlikely; the verses used in common
are 1:12, 1:14, 2:8, 4:12, 5:2, 5:7, 7:12,
and 8:2 as numbered in the Douay-
Rhiems edition.
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
9
adopted Kessler’s suggestion to convey depth through stippling but
ultimately decided that such a technique and the use of color were
not compatible.
Although Kessler’s response to these initial prints has not
been located, Gill sent a letter to Kessler on August 2, 1929, that
states, “I was very glad to get your letter last evening … I am very
glad indeed that you like the prints I sent.”38 The two discussed
the project intermittently throughout the months of August and
September, and both recorded a meeting on September 25, 1929,
at Gill’s home at Pigotts near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
At this meeting, they decided on a November delivery date for the
initial designs. Gill wrote to Kessler on October 26 that he was “now
about to begin designs for the S of Songs,” and his diary entries
indicate that he worked on the project throughout the early part of
November.39 Efforts stalled as both individuals worked on other proj-
ects during the following months, but they resumed efforts on this
project in March 1930. Gill worked throughout much of the spring
on prints and paste-ups; on June 4, he sent Kessler a note that read,
“I have now finished all the Engravings for the S. of S. except the
initials and am now starting on these. I enclose some rough proofs
which I hope you will like.”40 Gill and Kessler began making plans
for Gill to travel to Weimar for the printing of text proofs soon after.
Gill wrote on June 9:
38 Eric Gill to Harry Graf Kessler, August 2,
I am most glad that you are pleased with the Engravings, and
1929, Wing Modern M. S. Kess,
that Maillol also thinks well of them. I will bring the blocks
Newberry Library.
39 Eric Gill to Harry Graf Kessler,
when I come which will be towards the end of next week if
October 26, 1929, Wing Modern M. S.
that will be convenient to you.41
Kess, Newberry Library.
40 Eric Gill to Harry Graf Kessler, June 4,
Gill’s time in Weimar, while successful for the objectives
1930, Wing Modern M. S. Kess,
at hand, can also be read as a prelude to the difficult times ahead.
Newberry Library.
Gill records in his diary that he arrived at Weimar on June 30, 1930,
41 Eric Gill to Harry Graf Kessler, June 9,
1930, Wing Modern M. S. Kess,
with the sentiment, “Count Kessler met me at train station - most
Newberry Library.
kind.”42 Kessler describes the arrival somewhat differently: “Gill was
42 Eric Gill, Diary, June 30, 1930, M. S. Gill,
immediately visible in the station in his odd garb: knee stockings,
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
a short black cassock, and brightly colored scarf. He said that all of
University of California at Los Angeles.
Cologne was looking at his legs—was this perhaps because his stock-
43 Harry Graf Kessler, Tagebuch, Monday,
June 30, 1930, Deutsches Literaturarchiv,
ings were so thin? I think he likes the attention as an eccentric.”43
Schiller-Nationalmuseum.
Regardless, the two began work in the press almost immediately.
44 Eric Gill, Diary, June 30, 1930 to July 10,
Gill’s diary entries reveal that they spent the first few days of his
1930, M. S. Gill, William Andrews Clark
11-day visit engaged in printing trials at the press and the remaining
Memorial Library, University of California
time experimenting with gilding.44 Although the two had exchanged
at Los Angeles.
detailed letters and proofs by mail throughout the previous year, Gill
45 See the proof belonging to the St. Bride
Printing Library, London, reproduced in
had only recently begun the engraving of initial letters and other
Brinks, “In Search of Sensuality: Kessler’s
detail work. Early proofs of the first page of the Latin version of the
and Gill’s Song of Songs,” 155. The
text, for example, use initial letters that Gill had created in 1926 for
initial letters are catalog number 314 in
the Cranach Press’s The Eclogues of Virgil.45 Their time together in
J. F. Physick, The Engraved Work of Eric
Weimar thus represented their only chance to combine all of their
Gill (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery
Office, 1963).
individual contributions.
12
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
However, Kessler and Gill’s diverging aesthetic visions kept
them at odds about the finished product. Two issues in particular
concerning the production of the volume remained to be resolved
during Gill’s stay in Weimar: the use of colored inks for the running
title heads and initial letters and the gilding of engravings and
initials. Gill had written to Kessler that before his departure he
would go to London and procure colored inks to experiment with
while in Weimar.46 Their correspondence that took place immedi-
ately after Gill’s visit continued the discussions; on July 27, 1930,
Gill wrote: “I think Green (a bluish green) would look very well
with the blue & black but fear it might destroy the rather delicate
somberness we are aiming at.”47 Kessler continued his attempts
to integrate blue into the volume in the manner of the Harley Les
Commentaires de la guerre gallique manuscript, writing on December
30, 1930, of “… the letter C itself being printed in pure Lapislazuli
ultramarine. The effect I think magnificent.”48 Kessler also favored
the use of slender golden frames around the illustrations, in addition
to the other gilding.49 Kessler’s position both on the use of color and
on gilding imply that he wished for the finished volume to possess
an antiquated aesthetic, including rubricated and gilded initials set
off from the text frame. Gill, on the other hand, clearly had a more
46 Eric Gill to Harry Graf Kessler,
avant-garde effect in mind. His written comments always remained
June 9, 1930, Wing Modern M. S. Kess,
noncommittal about both color and gilding; for instance, he writes at
Newberry Library.
one point that, “[w]ith regard to the question of gilding, I will keep
47 Dated manuscript reply, in Gill’s hand,
this in mind and we wil make experiments when the engravings
written on Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill,
July 19, 1930, box 93, folder 9, M. S. Gill,
are done.”50 In the end, however, the changing state of finances both
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
for Kessler and for the Cranach Press did not allow either of these
University of California at Los Angeles.
luxuries to be carried out in production. Initial letters were gilded in
48 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, December
many of the deluxe copies, but no additional gilding or supplemental
30, 1930, box 93, folder 9, M. S. Gill,
ink colors, other than for the running titles, were used.
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
By the time the book was printed the following spring, the
University of California at Los Angeles.
49 Undated page from Kessler’s notebook,
distribution and sale of such luxury items was becoming increasingly
published in Brinks, “In Search of
difficult. Announcements were printed specifying that the Latin
Sensuality: Kessler’s and Gill’s Song of
edition would be sold in England at 3½ guineas each for copies on
Songs,” 153.
handmade paper, of which 200 were produced; at 7 guineas each
50 Eric Gill to Harry Graf Kessler, March 31,
for morocco-bound copies on Japanese paper, of which 60 were
1930, Wing Modern M. S. Kess,
Newberry Library.
produced; and at 30 guineas each for morocco-bound, hand-gilded
51 The Song of Songs in Latin publication
copies, of which 8 were produced.51 The prices for the first two cate-
announcement, box 26, folder 15,
gories were lowered almost immediately to 3 and 6 guineas, respec-
M. S. Gill, William Andrews Clark
tively; a letter to Gill from the Cranach Press, dated June 2, 1931,
Memorial Library, University of
clarified that, “[t]he price has for certain reasons appurtaining [sic] to
California at Los Angeles.
continental sale been reduced.”52 An agreement to handle sales was
52 Cranach Press to Eric Gill, June 2, 1931,
box 93, folder 9, M. S. Gill, William
struck with Douglas Cleverdon, who had worked extensively with
Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
Gill to publish and distribute The Engravings of Eric Gill. Although
University of California at Los Angeles.
disagreements surfaced as to the conditions of rebate that would
53 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, October
be offered to Cleverdon, his initial sales looked promising; he sold
5, 1931, box 93, folder 9, M. S. Gill,
three copies on vellum in advance of the month of October alone.53
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
University of California at Los Angeles.
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
13
As a result of both this encouraging start and the worsening financial
conditions in Germany, Kessler dispatched the whole Latin edition
to Gill on November 2. Their arrangement specified that Gill would
then provide copies to Cleverdon, upon Kessler’s direction, as they
were sold. Included in the agreement letter is Kessler’s assessment
of the volume and the situation as a whole:
I think it is one of the most beautiful series of illustrations
produced in modern times and that the book will appeal to
everybody and all interested in fine illustration and book
making. Of course, times are hard and difficult, but still one
must hope that a sufficient number of people and fortunes
have survived the crisis and will continue to buy fine books
and thus make their production possible.54
The books themselves were received by Gill at High Wycombe on
November 13, essentially removing Kessler from further control of
the sale.55 Thus, Kessler, who had at one time ef ectively dictated
every financial operation of the press, now depended on others for
the success of the publication.
The initially promising purchasing figures proved mislead-
ing, and sales of the book were dismal. Douglas Cleverdon halted
all communications with Kessler after November 1931 and sold
only a small number of the copies he had initially received. Sales
were so poor that Kessler was unable to pay Gill the sum of £55 for
work completed on the project. In a letter dated July 6, 1932, Kessler
explained that, “[i]t is practically impossible for me to send them
[£55] from Germany, and unfortunately, the way in which Cleverdon
has handled the “Song of Songs” business, has not made it possible
for me to pay you in England.”56 In addition, correspondence docu-
ments that Kessler tried to redeem the book’s reputation and sales
54 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill,
over the next year by commissioning other booksellers to take over
November 2, 1931, box 93, folder 10,
M. S. Gill, William Andrews Clark
all transactions in England.57 However, the damage had already been
Memorial Library, University of California
done, and the publication did not receive the widespread acclaim
at Los Angeles.
and distribution that Kessler and Gil desired for it. Kessler contin-
55 Shipping receipt, dated November
ued to promote the volume, writing to Gill from exile in Palma de
13, 1931, box 93, folder 10, M. S. Gill,
Mallorca in May 1935 that Gill should send “a few copies of this
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
University of California at Los Angeles.
most beautiful book” to be displayed in an exhibition there.58 The
56 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, July
letter makes clear that, while Kessler was forced to occupy himself
6, 1932, box 93, folder 10, M. S. Gill,
in Spain in reminiscence, mounting an exhibition of Cranach Press
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
books and working on his memoirs, Gill had moved on to other
University of California at Los Angeles.
work and new commissions. Kessler begins the letter:
57 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, September
I have not heard from you for so long, that I am beginning
20, 1932, box 93, folder 10, M. S. Gill,
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
to feel rather anxious, lest you should have entirely forgotten
University of California at Los Angeles.
me. I think of you often, and am glad sometimes to hear about
58 Harry Graf Kessler to Eric Gill, May
you through the papers.59
6, 1935, box 93, folder 10, M. S. Gill,
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
University of California at Los Angeles.
59 Ibid.
14
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
Gill’s own bookkeeping records indicate that individual prints
sold well; in fact, all prints except for “Invenerunt me custodes” and
“Dilecti mei pulsantis” sold out.65 Reviews outside of England also
praised Gill’s efforts. Rudolph Alexander Schröder, who previewed
the volume before it was available for general sale, wrote:
Gill will present himself as an illustrator and illuminator who
here, in his very first attempt, reaches an inventiveness and
technical mastery that is absolutely incomparable. His prints
will combine the hieratic splendor of the most opulent works
by Morris with a totally new sensuous life and with a unique
style that, in my opinion, raise this unfinished book into an
example of the spiritual essence and the conceptual free-
dom that make the products of the Cranach Press, which
in so many ways seem directed against the taste and tendency
of their times, in truth works that speak to the highest needs
of their age.66
More modern assessments of the volume also express admira-
tion but frequently overlook Canticum canticorum Salomonis in favor
of Gill’s Four Gospels among his illustration cycles.67 The former’s
prints are often described as “luminous” or “sensuous,” but little of
depth has been written about the shift in style in their technique and
their avant-garde appearance in relation to Gill’s earlier prints. This
essay aims to promote Gill’s innovations and contextualize them
within the final product of Canticum canticorum Salomonis. The tech-
nique and content of the illustrations, which in the past have been
tied to Kessler’s oversight, instead rest firmly with Gill, as do the
selection of the text and the volume’s production details. Although
Kessler held the upper hand throughout much of their long, collab-
orative working relationship, Gill’s emotional connection to the text
of the “Song of Songs” and his confidence in his technique and artis-
tic vision for the text provided him with the maturity and authority
to guide the production of Canticum canticorum Salomonis.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank David T. Gura, John F. Sherman, Dennis
65 Eric Gill, List of work, 1910-1940, series
7.1, M. S. Gill, William Andrews Clark
Doordan, and Tobias Boes for insightful comments on early drafts
Memorial Library, University of California
of this article. Special gratitude is owed to Ruth Cribb, whose disser-
at Los Angeles. These are catalog
tation research on Eric Gill’s daily working habits facilitated the
numbers 665 and 668 in J. F. Physick, The
archival research of this project immeasurably.
Engraved Work of Eric Gill (London: Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1963).
66 Rudolph Alexander Schröder, “Die
Cranach-Presse in Weimar,”
Imprimatur: Ein Jahrbuch für
Bücherfreunde, 1931, 103.
67 See, for example, John Harthan, The
History of the Illustrated Book: the
Western tradition (London: Thames
and Hudson), 269.
16
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
Bibliography
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a Work of Art: The Cranach Press of Count Harry Kessler. Ed. John Dieter Brinks. (Laubach:
Triton, 2005). 146-169.
Child, Harold Hannyngton, “Prints and pictures,” Times Literary Supplement, November 26, 1925:
793.
Gill, Eric, Autobiography, (New York: Devin-Adair, 1941).
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Golden Cockerel Press, 1925).
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songs, (Ditchling: St. Dominic’s Press, 1921).
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Library, Harley MS 6205, saec. xvi1.
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“Reprints.” Times Literary Supplement, March 10, 1932: 173.
Schröder, Rudolph Alexander. “Die Cranach-Presse in Weimar.” Imprimatur: Ein Jahrbuch für
Bücherfreunde, (1931): 91-112.
Walker, R. A., “Engravings of Eric Gill,” The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, 15.2 (1928): 162.
DesignIssues: Volume 28, Number 1 Winter 2012
17