BICKHAM, GEORGE.

THE UNIVERSAL PENMAN.

(London: Printed by and sold for H. Overton, 1743]). 406 x 260 mm (16 x 10 1/4"). First Edition in Book Form, apparently second state.

Pleasing contemporary polished calf, neatly rebacked and recornered in the 20th century, covers bordered with double gilt fillets, raised bands flanked by double gilt rules, panels with blindstamped floral lozenge, red morocco title label. ENGRAVED THROUGHOUT, WITH 213 LARGE FOLIO PLATES DISPLAYING VARIOUS SCRIPTS AND FEATURING SEVERAL ORNAMENTS AND LARGE, FULLY-REALIZED VIGNETTE HEADPIECES. Front flyleaf with elaborately flourished ink calligraphic ownership inscription of "Thomas Pemberton, Junior, 1746"; front free endpaper with ink ownership inscription (also calligraphic) of Edwin Hubert Rutter, dated July, 1833. Ekstrom, pp. 78-81; Bonacini 208; Heal, p. 171, #7; Wiles, p. 288. Covers a little marked and crackled, but the binding expertly restored, entirely solid, and certainly appealing. Three-inch closed tear to top of dedication leaf (touching engraving), three other small marginal tears, first dozen and final half dozen leaves with a bit of soiling and slightly frayed edges, isolated faint dampstaining of no consequence, occasional small ink spots, thumbing, and other trivial imperfections, but the thick leaves mostly clean and still quite fresh, and generally a very pleasing copy internally of a book usually found in poor condition.

This large and impressive book explores "the art of writing," which is here "made useful to the gentleman and scholar as well as the man of business [and which is] exemplified in all the useful and ornamental branches of modern penmanship." It is generally considered to be not only the most beautiful, but also the most important calligraphic book of the century; Bonacini praises it in an even larger context, calling it "one of the most interesting writing books of all time." The monumental work, which was begun in 1733, comprises a compendium of all the scripts then in use in England--including a page of exotic alphabets with Hebrew, "Rabinical," Samaritan, Syriac, Arabic, and Armenian characters. The work was produced by a stable of 25 penmen, including Willington Clark, Joseph Champion, Zachary Chambers, Emmanuel Austin, William Leekey, "and several other masters [whose work] may still be examined with delight." (Wiles) The book was also "the first recorded attempt to issue in periodical parts a work that was intended for subsequent issue in bound form." (See P. H. Muir's detailed account of the book in "The Library," 4th Ser., vol. 25) It was originally issued to subscribers in 52 numbers, each containing four finely engraved leaves. Although the publisher planned to issue one number per week for a year, the project actually lasted over a period of eight years, a fact which makes complete and decent copies of the first state of the work extremely scarce. Once the work was completed, it was decided in 1742 to issue the whole thing again in weekly numbers, and this time, with the sheets already at hand, the schedule was closely adhered to. After this project, Henry Overton, whose firm had a history of publishing writing-books, took over the plates and issued them in book form. Bickham, who studied under John Sturt, was considered the pre-eminent engraver of calligraphy, in part because he was able to cut through the wax directly onto the plate, without first tracing the text and, so, was better able to transmit "the ease, spirit, and nature of the master's original." (Ekstrom) The work was always meant to be first and foremost about penmanship, but the fine engraved scenes at the head of each section today command at least as much of our esthetic attention as the various scripts do. The very substantial text, occupying more than 200 large folio pages, is a combination of edifying sentiments about the significant abstractions of human life (liberty, reputation, pride, ambition) and samples of various types of letters and especially the forms one uses in commerce. The extraordinarily elaborate ownership incription of Mr. Pemberton suggests that he was a devoted student of this work. We have been unable to establish his identity with certainty, but there was a Thomas Pemberton who was a chancery barrister in that period, and it would make sense that someone who had clerked in the legal profession would have endeavored to cultivate a fine script. Copies of various forms of this work appear on the market with some frequency, but their condition is inevitably somewhere between tired and wretched and, thus, dramatically different from the present copy, which is particularly well preserved. (ST11512)