Published by Golden Cockerel Press in 1930 in an edition of 500, this copy of The Phaedo of Plato is number 392. Written by Plato and translated into English by Benjamen Jowett, this edition also includes ornaments and initial letters by Eric Gill.
In 2012, Derek Hood bound this copy for the Flow Gallery Exhibition. The binding is covered in light-blue goatskin with inlays of goatskin and alum-tawed calfskin. The outlines are recess onlayed with strips of grey goatskin. The book has Japanese Kozo paper doublures, which are leather jointed. The top-edge is hand gilt with the other two sides left deckled. Titling with Gill Sans hand letters are used in gold on the spine. The binding is housed in a cloth chemise and contrasting slipcase.
The front cover shows a central abstract figure representing Socrates. The fractured image contains elements of his impending poisoning and transition from this world to the next. The muted palette and use of a wooden sphere are used to echo Socrates’ philosophical obsession with natural order.
