The flame of flesh. A sonnet sequence by Cyril E. Goode. Illustrations by Charles Crampton

Ferntree Gully, Vic. :  John Kirtley, [1952] . Folio, maroon leather (lightly marked, scuffed at head and foot of spine), gilt lettering, light offsetting to endpapers, decorated title page, pp. [20]; with linocut illustrations by Charles Crampton, light scattered foxing. One of only fourteen hand-printed copies, numbered and signed by the author, this copy is number 11.

The five sonnets are From Mortal Bondage, First Night, Invocation, Resurrection, and Deep Reflections.

John Kirtley (1897-1967) is an important figure in Australian printing having produced the first Australian hand-printed books. Introduced by Philip Lindsay to his brother Jack, Kirtley was a pivotal figure in the establishment of the Fanfrolico Press in England. After he returned to Australia he produced Heemskerck Shoals, then the finest work of hand-printing undertaken in Australia.

Rare, with no copies traced at auction or within the trade.

Three of the fourteen copies created are held in public institutions (NLA, SLV, SLNSW).

References:

Arnold & Hay, Bibliography of Australian Literature. Brisbane : University of Queensland, 2004, vol. 2, p. 187.

Unrecorded by Miller/Macartney; not in Farmer