by Simon Brett
This shows the work of one of the most distinctive wood engravers of the middle years of the century. Derrick Harris' wood engravings are quite extraordinary in their vitality and good humour, which made him the perfect illustrator for, among other subjects, Tom Jones.
Mr Derrick Harris was published in early 1999, with over thirty engravings, and eighteen colour plates, nine of them printed in large format as a separate suite of prints matching the gouache originals beautifully; (the story of Royal Flush is of a King Charles Spaniel's adventures, beginning with King Charles' knee, and ending up in a Victorian London pub on a cushion in front of the fire). There is also a booklet of three larger engravings which were a tiny bit too large to go in the book, but which couldn't be missed out.
Derrick's work displays the deceptive maturity and sophistication to match that of any other engraver this century. Simon Brett describes how Derrick worked as a freelance graphic designer, almost a term of his own making, in the 1950s, and was in demand for jobbing work, at a time when engraving was generally at a low ebb; Harris' work, however, shines out like a beacon from that period. Sadly, circumstances were against him, and his engraving career was cut short in 1960. Almost all his blocks survive, however, and this book should serve to set the record straight. Brett places him as the missing link between Eric Ravilious and, in our own generation, David Gentleman and John Lawrence.
280 copies, bound in quarter cloth and decorated paper, housed in a complex solander box, price £164. One copy remains for sale at May 18th 2009.
Endeavours and Experiments
by Christopher Buckland Wright
The fourth in the Press' series of books showing the engraved blocks of John Buckland Wright, who died in 1954. This book runs to 72 pages, printed on an Italian mould-made paper. There are 39 wood engravings of varied form, ranging from large cartouches done as commercial commissions for a wine merchant, to small press marks and cockerels made for the Golden Cockerel Press, and a large block (the only surviving block of four cut for American composer Quincy Porter, and apparently only ever printed once). Seventeen tipped-in plates accompany Christopher Buckland Wright's useful and informed commentary. The standard (A) version, housed in a slipcase, is out of print, but copies are still available of the B edition: this comprises ninety copies bound in quarter vellum and each book is accompanied by a loose print of one of Buckland Wright's greatest engravings, Cafe Dansant No 2, housed in a drop-back box, price £434. (The C version was of sixty copies (six not for sale), as B but also including prints of the three-colour blocks The Blue Dress and The Red Room, each of which retails for around £400 through galleries; alas all copies have ben sold of this version).
Bookplates by Richard Shirley Smith
by Brian North Lee
Recently published is a complete survey of all the Bookplates by Richard Shirley Smith written by Brian North Lee, our foremost bookplate scholar, whose last but most prized book this was. Richard's 60 or so bookplates are recognised as among the very best of modern designs, and all were illustrated in the book, nine printed from the wood, about sixteen (beautifully drawn) plates from line-blocks, and the rest finely reproduced by Smith Settle using the same old Saunders Waterford hot-pressed paper used for the letterpress portion of the book. 104 pages, 220 standard copies set in Van Dijck type, bound in quarter cloth and Japanese wood veneer paper, housed in a slipcase, price £124 (copies still available). Forty special copies housed in a solander box are accompanied by signed prints of six of the best drawn bookplates, price £224, but this edition went straight out of print.
The Inward Laugh, Edward Bawden and his circle
by Malcolm Yorke
Published during 2005, the highly important new biography of Edward Bawden by Malcolm Yorke, the first since Douglas Percy Bliss' Pendomer Press book in 1979. The Inward Laugh, Edward Bawden and his circle places Bawden among his friends (with whom, he said, he couldn't be friendly unless he also admired their art) and acquaintances, mostly in the artistic milieu of Great Bardfield. The astonishing work achieved in an Essex village before and after World War Two is covered in some detail, with a number of the artists there (including Eric Ravilious, John Aldridge, Walter Hoyle, and Edward's son Richard) being represented by fine images in the book. It was printed by J. W. Northend Fine Print in Sheffield, and runs to 292 pages, very heavily illustrated in colour on almost every page. 750 copies (650 for sale), of which 650 copies were bound in quarter cloth and a Bawden patterned paper. The book is now out of print – but for the moment I'm not keen to see it entirely removed from this page.
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