Spitsticks and Multiples Simon Lawrence

TITLE: Spitsticks & Multiples: The History of the Society of Wood Engravers 1920-46 by Simon Lawrence, Fleece Press, 2022. _____DESCRIPTION: Large quarto (4to.) 13 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches (350 x 203 mm). Two volumes, 633 pages. This is one of the 145 special copies (total edition 445 copies) containing 22 tipped-in wood engravings printed by Simon Lawrence from the original blocks spanning many decades in the twentieth century. Artists include: Clifford Webb, Eric Ravilious, John Nash, Vivien Gribble, Blair Hughe-Stanton and Alison McKenzie. Both volumes bound in quarter cloth and wood-engraved patterned paper using a different pattern for each volume. Vol. 1 deals primarily with the founding, history and evolution of the Society of Wood Engravers and the English Wood Engraving Society. Vol. 2 is a compendium of 342 exhibiting wood engravers, providing biographies and lists of their works and where they appeared, accompanied by examples of their work. Each volume has its own substantial, beautifully crafted cloth-covered slipcase and an archival, clear Grafix Dura Lar dust wrapper._____CONDITION: Very fine ("as new")._____DISCUSSION: This is the Magnum Opus of Simon Lawrence's Fleece Press requiring several years of painstaking detective work. Many of the artists "have been long-forgotten (or never known)" and Volume Two will serve as an invaluable reference for future scholarly work. The 22 tipped-in wood engravings printed directly from the wooden blocks by Simon Lawrence are predictably beautiful and expertly printed. Equally important, the hundreds of other wood engravings printed by offset lithography are of astonishing quality, utilizing Lawrence's proprietary techniques and long experience in this regard. NOTE: This is a large, extremely heavy set. Due to its massive weight, domestic shipping will use USPS Media Mail at cost of $20. International shipping cost is unavoidable substantial and will be capped at $100 U.S. dollars but, as always, shipped at actual packing and shipping cost.