British Book Illustration and the Revival of Wood Engraving
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THE NEWSLETTER OF THE FRIENDS OF THE THOMAS FISHER RARE BOOK LIBRARY ISSUE No . 13, jun e 1994 ISSN 0840-5565 In paralle l with these developments in the nineteenth century. much research was done LO find a way of speeding up the production of the printing block. The rea l British Book Illustration revolution came with the introduction of and the Revival of photography, with its use of light-sensitive coatings on variou s materials. Engravings Wood Engraving bega n to be replaced by a less sutlsfactory but speedier alternative , the "process" ~ 11, e Telling line", the exhibition in the print, produced phoro-rnechan lcall y. Of Fisher library which runs from 18 April to the many varieties, the much used but 30 June 1994 , demon strates the relation perhaps least satisfactory was the hnlf ship of Image 10 tex t in twentieth century tone, in which the image is produ ced by a British books. In suc h a relativel y sma ll series of small black dot s. disp lay space, it is possible to deal with It was not unti l afte r Noel Rooke started only a few of the many hundred Hlustra teach ing wood engraving at the Central lars who worked in the period . Even in Schoo l of Arts and Crafts in Londo n in thls exh ibition, however, it must be clear 1910 that a new era in British book to viewe rs thai wood engraving is a Illustration began. Totally d issatisfied with favoured medium used by many book the ph torn echantcal rep roduction o f his a rtists. drawings, he determined to find a better wood-cots und wood engravings are way . From this desire to Imp rove the not new methods of reproducing lllustra pr inted quality of his own work sprang an li ons. Following the introdu ction o f amaz lng revival in wood engraving. movable metal type and the printing press Rooke's primary importan ce was 3S a in the fifteenth century, woodcuts became teacher, for he Illustrated few books and the ideal W:lY of illustrating books because was not a prolific print maker . His stu they were compattble w ith typ e and could dents at the Central Schoo l, however, be printed on the same pres . A great deal inclu ded many who went on 10 become of the wood block had 10 be cut away to wood engravers of great sk ill - Eric Gill , leave the design in reli ef, however, and Robert Glbbings, John Far leigh , Clare the copper engraving W ~ I S devised to avoi d Lei ght on nnd Vivien Gribble are urn ng Ihis tiresome procedure, and ulso to the better kno wn tod ay. There was a host p rodu e ;1 finer line. By the seventee nth of others of lesser but not insignificant century, engraving processes of various importance, such as Lady Mabel Annesley, ki nds had displaced the wood cut as the and Margaret Pilkington wh o went on 10 AB"es J~ f fller Parker. Down the River, by most common form of book ill ustration . H./I. Bates. Goltancx, 193 7. establish the superb colleen n of wood This change had its own drawback . engravings at the \'V'h itwo lt h Art Gallery in Beca use engravin gs used the intaglio Manchester. process, they had to be produ ced on 3 By the mid-nineteenth century, the Other artists took up wood engraving different press from that used f r the text explosion in the produ ction of books and quite ind ependently of Rook e. Paul Nash This encouraged the next devel pment magazlnes ensured that the artis ts them was exp erlmerulng w ith wood engraving to wards the end .o f the eighteenth century, selves could not cope w ith the demand in 1919, and in the 1920s went on to teach namely the introduction o f wood engrav for ill ustrations. Craftsmen turned out the craft at the Royal College or An , w here ing. The fine line o f engraving techniques thousands of wood blocks to meet the Edwa rd Bawden and Eric Ravlllous were was achieved with wood engraving deadli nes of the presses, but they were not among his students. Nash's ' fol lowers" because the desig n W: IS cut n the hard the originating art ists, as Bewick had been. included his brot her , John Nash, end grain of [he bl ock but the resulting Wood engraving became a pure ly repro Claugfuon Pellew, Eric Dagleish the produ ct was a relief block. TI,0I1135 ductive technique, thou gh one of excep naturalist, and Douglas Percy Bliss. Eric Bewick (1753-1828) perfe led this an, tlonnl sk ill , with commercial engravers Gill, a fellow student w ith Rooke of produ cing hundreds of Vigne ttes , and suc h as the Dalziel Brothers making highl y Edward j ohnsron, had made early experi restorin g rne rellef block to its pre-emin ent skilled reproductions o f drawings by artists ments in wood engraving in 1906 and p sition in book illu stration. like Holm an Hunt , Milla ls and Rosseui, 2 vtoten Gribble. Odes, by 101m Keats. Duckw0I1b. 1923 . .oJ. 1: ...." ... ...." ,,,,,, produ ced one of the first books illustrated The first time that the new wood such as Rcvelat/ons (t933) whic h contains wi th the -new" engravings in 1915. He engravings were used as book illustrati ons highly worked and sensuous engravi ngs attracted his own group of adhe rents t w as in 1915 when both 171e Deotl's Deoices by Hughes-Stanton, whose elo ngated the craft, the 1110 S1 important o f whom was (Hampshire House Workshops) , illustrated blnck figures smnd out like silhouettes. David jones , who in 1921 went for a few by Eric Gill, and 5/11'/118 Mom /lIB ( POetIY M;ln Y of the same engravers also years to live and work With Gill and his Book shop), iIIl1strrated by w en Ravemt, worked 1'0 1' commercial publishers. Joseph f::ll11 ily. were published. Wood engraving did not Dent comm issioned work from a great Many of these engravers de idee! (0 become a common mediu m for book variety of young and established illustra form an organization to support and illustrations, however, until Robert tors, includ in g Robert Gib bings w ho publicize the craft. The Society of Wood Gibbi ngs took over the G Iden ockerel prod uced a remarkably successful series of Engravers (SWE) was founded in 1920, Press in 1924. During the nex t fifteen "river books" in the 1940 and 19505. with Rooke, Craig, Pissaro, Gill, Gibbings, years, the Press ommisslo ned w ork from Agnes M ill er Parker was we ll served by E. M. O·R. Oi key, Philip Hagreen. yclney many of the be ne r known wood engravers Victor Go llancz w ho published tw o of the Lee. John 'ash and Gwe n Raverar as of the period , incl uding the two Nashes, most successful books of the period founding members. Annual exhibitions of Gwend a I'" rgan, John Bu klnnd Wright, illu strated with engravings, 71Jl'Ollg h tbe members' work w ere arranged and were Dorothea Braby, Eric Ravilic us and Woods (936) and D OWII tbe R/uer ( 937). always well received In the press. A rival CIUTord Webb, to say norhin g o f Gibbings Clare Leighton's 11JC Fanner's )'(>(1/; printed organization (the English Wood Engravi ng hlrnsell, and his close friend and col and publish ed by COlli ns in 1933, a large Society) was formed in 1925, though it league, Eric Gill. book measuring o ver 1'1" tall by 14" wide, was sho rt lived, ceasing in 1932. lts O ther pr ivate presses p layed im po rtant is an ther sp lendid commercial prod uction members in luded Craig, Pelle w, Ethelbert r les in the development o f wood engrav of the period, costing only l Os. 6<1. on White, and leon Underwood and IWO of ings as book lll ustrations. O ne o f the more publication ! his pupils, M:uy Groom and Genru le important was the Gregynog Press, John Farleigh had been one of Noe l Hermes. Also in 1925, lain Mncl ab established in Wales in the 19205, which Rooke's students at the Central School, established his Grosvenor hool of prod uced its best w or k when Hughes and he we nt on 10 teach engraving there Modern An , and the staff who taught Stanton was the designer o f books himself, end ing as Head of Book Produc w ood engraving in luded Blalr Hughes illustrated by himself, his wife Gertrude lion in 1947 on Roo ke's retirement. He Stanton, Graham Sutherland and laud e Hermes, and Agnes Miller Parker. The illustrated several books and is best Flight, w ho pioneered colo ur d llnocm Gregynog Press published some o f the kn own for his w ood engraved illustrations prints in Britain . classic pri vate press books of the 1930s, to Constable's edition o f Bernard Shaw's 11Je Adw I/' IIIl!s 0/ tbe Biacls Cif i I" Her Searcb f or God (1932) . This book became a huge p pular success, the first edition find five reprints selli ng our wit hin five mon ths of its original publication date. ' 11e w er Intervened in 1939, bringi ng to :1 tempo rary h ~11t the p rod uctio n o f n ne books.