Caneuon John Thomas, Pencerdd Gwalia

Inside the image.

The square cover combines two depictions of a harpist in a painterly, softly blurred style. On the left, a small monochrome scene shows a seated man in dark clothing beside a tall harp. On the right, a much larger colour portrait shows a woman holding a second harp, its dark curved neck arching across the space between the two images. The portrait fills most of the right half and draws the eye through its scale and saturated colour.

A dark, rough-edged vertical division separates the scenes. The left image has a faded sepia cast: the harp rises from the lower-left corner, with its strings and curved frame visible against a pale architectural or studio-like background. The seated figure is placed low and slightly right of the instrument; a chair and a small area of floor are visible around him. The right-hand figure is cropped at the chest and shoulders. Her short, voluminous curly hair is reddish brown, and she wears a deep blue garment. Her face turns slightly towards the left, while her hands reach around the orange-brown body and strings of the harp. The instrument's curved dark neck rises behind her head and bends towards the top centre. A pale, mottled background surrounds the portrait, with dark borders along the top and sides. The overall image has a grainy, soft-edged appearance, and the two scenes sit together like overlapping or juxtaposed reproductions rather than a single continuous setting.

Large cream-coloured serif lettering at the upper left reads “ELINOR BENNETT”, set on two lines. Beneath it, in smaller italic lettering, is “telyn • harp”. The words sit over the pale upper portion of the monochrome scene. Two blocks of small pale text run along the bottom, one beneath each image. The left begins “Y casgliad cyflawn o” and includes “Alawon Cymreig i'r delyn”, “gan JOHN THOMAS,” and “Pencerdd Gwalia (1826-1913)”. The right begins “The complete collection of” and includes “Welsh Melodies for the harp”, “by JOHN THOMAS,” and “Pencerdd Gwalia (1826-1913)”. The small lettering is arranged in short centred lines over darkened areas of the image.