Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - November - 2006 Issue
Color Printing, Wood Engraving, and John DePol's Library From The Veatchs
Color image from Salomon Gessner's La Mort d'Abel.
Thomas Bewick may have been the greatest wood engraver, though he accomplished his work almost two centuries before DePol. Bewick was also an ornithologist, and both aspects of his career are displayed in his book the "History of British Birds," published at the turn of the 19th century. Item 27 is a 1970 reprint of some of his art, A Portfolio of Thomas Bewick Wood Engravings. It includes 100 prints from the original blocks, fifty from his "British Birds," fifty from "The Quadrupeds." This is one of 150 of these three-volume sets printed by R. Hunter Middleton. $3,000.
For Bewick collectors, here is a very different, though most interesting item. It is a signed letter, dated January 19, 1808, from Bewick to a Miss Watson, his daughter's schoolteacher. His youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was returning to school, tuition money in hand. However, Bewick also wanted Miss Watson to know that poor Betsy was suffering from chilblains, but that she was such an uncomplaining soul, her teacher might not even notice. Bewick wants Miss Watson to keep an eye on her. For those who don't know, chilblains is an inflammation of the skin, usually the toes, but sometimes also the fingers, face, or other areas. Chilblains is most often the result of an adverse reaction to the cold, which seems likely the cause here based on the January date of the letter. Item 26. $800.
Sometimes the private presses will pull out forgotten titles for specialty reprintings, but it is kind of a surprise to find the Yellow Barn Press republishing A Boyhood in Iowa by Herbert Hoover. Hoover was a great humanitarian, feeding the hungry during World War I, and a very popular man when elected president in 1928. Things didn't go so well after that, and his name ended up becoming synonymous with the Great Depression, though its causes were beyond his control. This reminiscence of Hoover's earlier days was published in 1986, and contains seven DePol engravings. Item 207. $165.
Salomon Gessner was a popular writer and artist, as well as being a publisher and bookseller, in 18th century Switzerland. Neither his writing nor his art have survived the test of time particularly well. They were not notably original, the art being technically good but predictably bucolic. The writing is apparently forgettable, the test of this claim being that it has been forgotten. Nevertheless, some most attractive work is associated with his name, such as this 1793 Paris printing of his poem, La Mort d'Abel. It contains five color-printed plates, including the one shown on this page. Item 58. $2,200.
You may find The Veatchs Arts Of The Book online at www.veatchs.com, phone number 413-584-1867.
