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uwmspeccoll · 7 months

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

RICHARD SHIRLEY SMITH

English painter, illustrator, muralist, and wood engraver Richard Shirley Smith (b. 1935) produced this engraving for the title page of a collection of poems entitled The Closed Door by British writer James Reeves (1909-1978), printed by Claire Van Vliet and Susan Johanknecht at Van Vliet's Janus Press in Newark, Vermont in an edition of 240 copies, and co-published in 1977 by Twinrocker and the Janus Press, with 75 copies for Twinrocker in Brookston, Indiana and the Janus Press and 165 for the Gruffyground Press in England.

Smith studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and continued his studies in Italy where he became interested in classical themes and Italian architecture, as reflected in this engraving. It was in Rome during the early 1960s where he taught himself wood engraving, a medium that has brought him the most attention. He writes, "My . . . years of wood engraving has been the backbone of my reputation, such as it is."

Our copy of The Closed Door is another gift from our friend Jerry Buff.

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#Wood Engraving Wednesday #wood engravings #wood engravers #Richard Shirley Smith #James Reeves #Claire Van Vliet #Susan Johanknecht #Janus Press #Twinrocker #Gruffyground Press #fine press books #fine press printing #Jerry Buff

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uwmspeccoll · 3 years

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

SIMON BRETT

This week we showcase two wood engravings (with one in two colors) by the incomparable English illustrator and wood engraver Simon Brett. The first two are the same engraving printed in black and mustard yellow from Claire Van Vliet’s 1976 Janus Press printing in Vermont of Thom Gunn’s poetry collection The Missed Beat, printed from the original block on Okawara paper for Anthony Baker’s Gruffyground Press in an edition of 120 copies.

The last engraving is from British poet Peter Levi’s Music of Dark Tones AMDG [Ad maiorem Dei gloriam] printed in Marlborough, Wiltshire, at Michael Mitchell’s Libanus Press for Brett’s own Paulinus Press in an edition of 200 copies signed by the poet and artist.

Simon Brett was a student of the equally incomparable wood engraver Clifford Webb. Brett taught at Marlborough College Art School from 1971-1989, operated the Paulinus Press from 1981-1988, served as chair of the now over-100-years-old Society of Wood Engravers from 1986-1992, and has written widely on the history and practice of wood-engraving. A 50-year retrospective of Brett’s wood-engravings was held at Bankside Gallery, London, Art Jericho, Oxford, and Holburne Museum, Bath, 2013-14.

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#Wood Engraving Wednesday #wood engravings #wood engravers #Simon Brett #Paulinus Press #Claire Van Vliet #Janus Press #Thom Gunn #The Missed Beat #Anthony Baker #Gruffyground Press #Peter Levi #Music of Dark Tones #Michael Mitchell #Libanus Press

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uwmspeccoll · 3 years

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

On this final Wednesday of 2020, we present a single wood engraving by British wood engraver Monica Poole from the title page of Elizabeth Jennings’s small collection of poems, Winter Wind, printed directly from the block on Barcham Green Charles I paper by Claire Van Vliet in 1979 for her own Janus Press in Newark, Vermont, in an edition of 50 and for Anthony Baker’s Gruffyground Press in Winscombe, Somerset, England in an edition of 170 copies. We hold both issues. Poole’s engraving responds directly to Jennings’s title poem:

Wind rocking and chasing, Wind with no trees to turn Over and over, you're lacing Together the clouds till the moon

Is sly of shivering. Wind, Whatever the quarter you come from, Blow through the wakeful mind And whisper at dawn your way home.

The Janus Press issue, from which we have made this scan, is from our Janus Press collection donated by our friend Jerry Buff.

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#Wood Engraving Wednesday #wood engravings #Monica Poole #Elizabeth Jennings #Winter Wind #Barcham Green #Janus Press #Anthony Baker #Gruffyground Press #Jerry Buff #women wood engravers

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