The Ballad of Reading Gaol (Signed by Vassos)

New York: E.P. Dutton, 1930.

Signed on the half-title by Vassos. Octavo. Orig black cloth-backed boards, gilt titles to spine, blue laid paper to sides, gilt and black design to front, light grey endpapers, top edge dyed blue. With the dust-jacket and other original glassine, chipped and creased. 16 monochrome plates by Vassos. A VG+ copy. Early printing of John Vassos's Ballad of Reading Gaol in the well preserved jacket and glassine. Vassos (1898-1985) was an American graphic designer. In 1926 his design for a cover illustration for a stage production of Salome caught the attention of publishing house E.P. Dutton, resulting in a Vassos-illustrated edition of the play published in 1927, the first of nine illustrated books by the artist.