Offered along with Three Signed Wood Engravings from the Book

THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. [offered with] HUGHES-STANTON, BLAIR. THREE ORIGINAL WOOD ENGRAVINGS FROM "LAMENTATIONS" PRINTED ON JAPANESE VELLUM.

(Montgomeryshire, Wales: Gregynog Press, 1933). 390 x 255 mm. (15 1/4 x 10"). [15] leaves. No. 37 OF 250 COPIES, one of 110 in this binding, accompanied by three additional plates on Japon, EACH ONE OF 12, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST.

Fine original dark slate blue Oasis morocco, device in blind on front cover, blind titling on front cover and spine. In the original paper slipcase, somewhat worn and browned, but sound. Wood engraved title with device, and 21 wood engravings in the text, five of them full-page chapter openings, by Blair Hughes-Stanton, and WITH THREE ORIGINAL SIGNED WOOD ENGRAVINGS ON JAPANESE VELLUM--"The Man Mourns I" (5/12), "The Man Mourns II" (4/12) and "Destruction" (5/12)--attractively matted. Printed in blue and black on Japanese vellum; with an additional half-page engraving from chapter I laid in. Harrop 29; De Zilverdistel Cat. II, 29; Hughes-Stanton 21. ◆A breath of fading to the spine, negligible signs of wear to the binding, but a fine copy with only trivial condition issues, and the additional engravings pristine.

This is, in Harrop's words, "one of the most spectacular books to come from this or any other press," our copy with the bonus of three limited edition wood engravings from the work, signed by the artist. "Lamentations" was designed and illustrated by Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902-81), who studied at the school of Leon Underwood at Hammersmith and had a long and productive career producing sophisticated woodcuts as an avant-garde artist. Although he was encouraged to make his expressive, sometimes even savage, images look more like those of Eric Gill, he resisted and successfully established his unique personal style as an illustrator. The three extra engravings here are excellent examples of his dramatic, emotional technique; "The Man Mourns I and II" effectively convey overwhelming grief, while "Destruction" inspires a feeling of impending doom. From 1930 through 1933, Hughes-Stanton worked for the Gregynog Press in Wales, helping to design text layout, providing woodcut illustrations, and designing bindings. The press was founded in 1922 by two spinster sisters, Gwendoline (1882-1951) and Margaret (1884-1963) Davies, using a substantial inheritance from their industrialist grandfather; it produced 42 works between 1923 and 1942, eight of them in Welsh. Cave says that the books printed by the Gregynog Press "more than bear comparison with the work of any other private press," and "in the design and execution of bindings, the Gregynog Press was far superior to any, the Doves Press included."
(ST15997)

Price: $3,750.00