#morris cox

[uwmspeccoll]

Decorative Sunday: Dreams and Diversion

To wash in a river signifies joy. To wash in a spring signifies gladness. But to wash in a bath? Anxiety. Also signifying anxiety: a walk in a palace, the stretching of a bow, the shooting of an arrow, playing with a girl, and the washing of one’s feet.

Today we present a sampling of the 94 dreams interpreted in A Mediaeval Dream Book, published by Morris Cox of Gogmagog Press in London, in 1963. Cox hand-set the text in Cloister Old-Style, and is responsible for the title page’s engraving as well as the endpapers – unique in each of the 100 copies of this limited edition. The decorative borders were set in the Calypso fleuron designed by Roderick Cave. The text of this dream book is from a manuscript out of the collection of B.S. Cron, who explains its origins in a note at the back of the book:

This list of dreams and their interpretations is written in a hand of probably the fourteenth century on some blank leaves in the middle of a thirteenth century manuscript of the Treatise on the Virtues and Vices of Guillaume Pérault, Bishop of Lyons (died before 1260), that formerly belonged to the monastery, now Cathedral, of St. Benignus at Dijon. The manuscript is now in my possession.

In an essay considering the literary work of Morris Cox, Alan Tucker argues that the transformation of the list with decorative borders and its fine press Gogmagog treatment elevates it to something of a found poem. He gushes: “The book is about wonder, the control of fear…” He also admits that Cox himself “disowns” this interpretation: The list of dreams is just a list of dreams. As Cron explains, it “is published mainly for diversion.”

See more Decorative Sunday posts!

See more books from The Gogmagog Press.

--Amanda, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[uncgarchives]

For #WonderfulBookWednesday enjoy this *gif of Morris Cox’s An impression of autumn: a landscape panorama.

For more information about Morris Cox and the Gogmagog Press, Alan Tucker’s obituary for Cox provides a tantalizing summary of a life well lived: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/obituary-morris-cox-1154362.html

For a list of our holdings, look here: http://uncg.libguides.com/scua_gogmagog

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

For my staff pick, I wanted to choose something that fit the season. March 28 is my birthday, and usually the weather is questionable—it has rained, snowed, sleeted, you name it, on my birthday in previous years. This year, March 28th has proved mild and sunny, but the poem presented here reflects the more tumultuous spring weather I’m used to seeing on this day. 

This book is An Impression of Spring: A Landscape Panorama by English  printer, painter, poet, and printmaker  Morris Cox (1903-1998) of the Gogmagog Press, published in a limited edition of 100 copies in 1966. This is one in a series of books by Cox about the seasons. It features a continuous print that our local neighborhood printmaker and graduate intern Teddy identified correctly as a collotype. According to a blog post from the Rare Books Department of Special Collections at the J. Willard Marriott Library at The University of Utah:

“The texture of the prints derives from the unusual printing blocks used to create them. Cox mounted sheets of cardboard onto plywood and layered them with gesso, next adding materials from nature like seeds, leaves, and twigs. These elements were varnished to strengthen them.”

The unique printing method gives the prints very interesting texture and connects them to the natural world and the theme of springtime. 

View more Staff Picks. 

-- Alice, Special Collections Department Manager

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friday!

This week we present 14 Triads by Morris Cox, printed for his Gogmagog Press in London in 1967, in an edition of 100 copies, signed by the author/printer. Cox printed the book with handset Gill Sans Medium Condensed and Matura type on Japanese paper, the text on Hoso-shi, and the intaglio illustrations on Mingei. Our copy is one of the 60 bound in Rakuski paper boards by Cox.

Morris Cox wrote a note about the 14 Triads:

“The purpose of these Triads is to offer something very near the ultimate in poetic simplicity. They aid to bring together two unrelated elements by a third in such a way that an unstated meaning may be suggested to the reader. The principle is not meant to reflect that of ancient Welsh Triads, nor the unique economy of Japanese Haiku.”

This marvelous book is another generous donation from our friend, Jerry Buff.

View more Fine Press Friday posts.

–Sarah, Special Collections Graduate Intern