http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6n39s0b4 No online items Finding Aid for the Robert Gibbings Collection 1919-1989 Processed by Ashley Johnston. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library University of California, Los Angeles 2520 Cimarron Street Los Angeles, CA 90018 Phone: (323) 731-8529 Fax: (323) 731-8617 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/clarklib/ ©2010 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Finding Aid for the Robert Press Coll. Archives Gibbings 1 Gibbings Collection 1919-1989 Descriptive Summary Title: Robert Gibbings Collection, Date (inclusive): 1919-1989 Collection number: Press Coll. Archives Gibbings Creator: Gibbings, Robert, 1889-1958 Extent: 4.6 linear feet (3 boxes, 1 shelf of bound volumes) Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Los Angeles, California 90095-1490 Abstract: This collection contains correspondence, artwork, bound manuscripts, ephemera, photographs and other materials by Robert Gibbings and related to his work. Physical location: Clark Library Language of Material: Collection materials in English Access Collection is open for research. Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Clark Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Robert Gibbings Collection, Press Coll. Archives Gibbings, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles. Acquisition Information This collection, compiled over time by Joseph Kelly Vodrey, was purchased by the Clark Library in 1986 from Zeitlin & Ver Brugge. Processing History This collection was previously processed and described in a paper-based finding aid in the 1980s. From January to February 2010 portions of this collection were processed and this finding aid was written by Ashley Johnston. Biography Robert Gibbings (1889-1958) was an Irish author and artist best known for his wood engravings. He bought and ran the Golden Cockerel Press in Berkshire, England from 1924-1933, when the stresses of the Great Depression forced him to sell the press. During and after World War II he wrote and illustrated several books on the landscape and natural history of various rivers (among them, 'Sweet Thames Run Softly', 'Going Down the Seine' and 'Lovely is the Lee') which resonated with readers concerned about the effect of war on the changing countrysides. Scope and Content This collection contains correspondence to and from Robert Gibbings's friends and colleagues, including Eric Gill, as well as ephemera and photographs related to his work. Artworks in this collection include copper engravings, wood engravings and drawings in pencil. Bound manuscripts include original paste-ups, notebooks, and early or unpublished drafts of books. There is also correspondence between Joseph Kelly Vodrey and booksellers regarding the compilation of this collection. Arrangement The collection is organized into the following series: Series 1. Correspondence and Ephemera, 1919-1989. 1 box (.42 linear feet) Series 2. Artworks and Proofs, 1921-1959. 1 oversize box (1.67 feet) Series 3. Bound Manuscripts, 1924-1958. 1 shelf of bound volumes (2.5 linear feet) Related Material Additional books by Robert Gibbings are held in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library's Press Collection and can be found through the UCLA library catalog. Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog. Subjects Finding Aid for the Robert Press Coll. Archives Gibbings 2 Gibbings Collection 1919-1989 Vodrey, Joseph Kelly, 1905-1975. Correspondence--Ireland--20th century. Engravers--Irish--20th century. Ephemera--Ireland--20th century. Manuscripts, Irish--20th century. Series 1. Correspondence and Ephemera 1919-1989 Physical Description: 1 box (.42 linear feet) Scope and Content Note This series contains personal and professional correspondence to and from friends and colleagues, as well as ephemera and photographs related to Robert Gibbings and his work. Also included is correspondence from Joseph Kelly Vodrey, the primary compiler of this collection, to booksellers showing how he built this collection. Arrangement The correspondence in this series was arranged alphabetically by sender and further sorted chronologically where possible. The ephemera is arranged thematically. Subseries 1. Robert Gibbings Correspondence and Ephemera 1919-1989 Arrangement This series was originally arranged alphabetically by correspondent and further arranged chronologically where possible. The ephemera is arranged thematically. Scope and Content Note This subseries contains correspondence from Gibbings to friends and colleagues as well as ephemera related to his work. Also included is correspondence from friends discussing his obituary and preparation for an exhibit after Gibbings death. Box 1, Folder 1 Robert Gibbings to Thomas Balston, 1922-1930 Scope and Content Note Letters to Thomas Balston, concerning the Golden Cockerel Press. Note Includes comments by Robert Gibbings on his engraved books. Box 1, Folder 2 Robert Gibbings to 'Monsieur' Brault, ca. 1931? Scope and Content Note A letter in Gibbings's hand concerning the publication of Paul Gauguin's correspondence. Note Originally laid in 'Iorana!, a Tahitian journal'. Box 1, Folder 3 Robert Gibbings to F. Close, 1952 Box 1, Folder 4 Robert Gibbings to Dunster House Bookshop, 1919-1924 Scope and Content Note Letters concerning the sale of prints and of publications of the Golden Cockerel Press. Note Includes list of prints signed and 'hand printed by myself.' Box 1, Folder 5 Robert Gibbings to Eric Gill, 1927-1930 Box 1, Folder 6 Robert Gibbings to Mary Gill, 1940 Box 1, Folder 7 Robert Gibbings to Mary O'Sullivan Kavanagh, 1932-1942 Finding Aid for the Robert Press Coll. Archives Gibbings 3 Gibbings Collection 1919-1989 Series 1.Correspondence and Ephemera 1919-1989 Subseries 1.Robert Gibbings Correspondence and Ephemera 1919-1989 Box 1, Folder 8 Robert Gibbings to Hubert Pike, 1931 Box 1, Folder 9 Robert Gibbings to Charles Spencer, 1945-1947 Scope and Content Note Includes letters and postcards written while traveling in New Zealand and Samoa. Note Items originally laid in Blue Angels and Whales (1946). Box 1, Folder 10 Robert Gibbings to Unnamed Bookseller, 1926 Note Includes the dealer's description. Box 1, Folder 11 Robert Gibbings to Unnamed Bookseller, 1932 Note Originally laid in Michael Ernest Sadler's copy of 'Fourteen Wood Engravings'. Box 1, Folder 12 Robert Gibbings to C.D. Wyatt, 1937 Box 1, Folder 13 Patience Empson to Hubert Pike, 1958-1960 Scope and Content Note Correspondence concerning the loan of materials for an exhibit on Robert Gibbings's work. Box 1, Folder 14 David Low to A.J.A. Symons, 1935 Note Originally laid in Symons's copy of 'Sermons by Artists'. Box 1, Folder 15 Christopher Sandford to the Times, 1958 Scope and Content Note Draft of a letter correcting the Times' obituary of Robert Gibbings. Note Enclosed with the Society of Wood Engravers 29th Exhibition pamphlet. Box 1, Folder 16 Autograph album, 1927 Scope and Content Note Mary O'Sullivan Kavanagh's autograph album, including two wood engravings by Gibbings and verses by A.E. Coppard and others associated with the Golden Cockerel Press. Box 1, Folder 17 Biographical Pamphlet, 1989 Scope and Content Note Biographical pamphlet on Gibbings from the Reading Borough Council. Box 1, Folder 18 Book jacket fragments, undated Scope and Content Note Includes 'Robert Gibbings: A Bibliography' (by A. Mary Kirkus, Patience Empson and John Harris) and Gibbings's own 'Lovely is the Lee'. Box 1, Folder 19 Notes on Melville's 'Omoo', undated Scope and Content Note Typed transcription of Gibbings's manuscript notes on Melville's 'Omoo'. Note Includes dealer's description. Finding Aid for the Robert Press Coll. Archives Gibbings 4 Gibbings Collection 1919-1989 Series 1.Correspondence and Ephemera 1919-1989 Subseries 1.Robert Gibbings Correspondence and Ephemera 1919-1989 Box 1, Folder 20 Photographs, undated Scope and Content Note Includes two photographs, one of Gibbings and his family and another of Andrew C. Cooper, pressman. Note Photos identified by Martin Andrews in 'Matrix 9' article, September 11, 1995. Box 1, Folder 21 'Rivers Are Roads' Draft, ca. 1953 Scope and Content Note 'Rivers Are Roads' typescript with Gibbings's holograph additions and corrections. Box 1, Folder 22 Theater Program, 1929 Scope and Content Note Theater program from the Gate Theatre Studio of 'Maya' by Simon Gantillon with a wood engraving by Robert Gibbings, not in Balston or Kirkus. Box 2, Folder 1 Oversized book jacket, 1927 Scope and Content Note 'The Chester Play of the Deluge', published by the Golden Cockerel Press. Subseries 2. Joseph Kelly Vodrey Correspondence 1958-1973 Arrangement This subseries was arranged alphabetically by correspondent and further organized chronologically where possible. Scope and Content Note This subseries includes invoices and correspondence between Joseph Kelly Vodrey, booksellers, and friends of Robert Gibbings which chronicle the acquisition of some of the materials in this collection. Box 1, Folder 23 Miscellaneous Dealers, 1959-1973 Scope and Content Note Includes correspondence and invoices from booksellers as well as Vodrey's 'List of Additional Gibbings Items Earnestly Sought'. Box 1, Folder 24 Anthony Rota, 1958-1961 Box 1, Folder 25 Anthony Rota, 1962-1963 Box 1, Folder 26 Anthony Rota, 1964-1973 Box 1, Folder 27 G.F. Sims, 1958-1960 Box 1, Folder 28 G.F. Sims, 1961-1963 Box 1, Folder 29 Aimee Gibbings, 1964-1968 Note Includes 'The Wood Engravings of Robert Gibbings' with introduction by Thomas Balston, Spring 1960. Box 1, Folder 30 Mary O'Sullivan Kavanagh, 1963-1964 Note Includes family photographs of Gibbings.