Robert Gibbings LOVELY IS THE LEE First Edition
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Robert Gibbings LOVELY IS THE LEE First Edition
First edition, first print hardback of LOVELY IS THE LEE, by Robert Gibbings and published by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London in 1945. With Engravings by the author.The book is in fair to good condition (Yellow cloth boards, gilt decoration on front and gilt decoration & lettering on the spine which has slight tanning along the edges and a small brown spot at the back) with some wear to the pictorial dust jacket, which is not price clipped (some creasing & chipping and small pieces missing in parts to the edges and corners, some pieces missing and chipping at the top corner of the spine and similar to the bottom spine edges, a two-inch closed tear to the top edge at the back, a one-inch closed tear to the top edge at the front, a couple of small holes to the rear and to the front edges). Internally, the pages are clean and tight and there are no tears and no inscriptions. There is minor tanning to the page ends and endpapers.
Robert Gibbings was an Irish artist and author who was most noted for his work as a wood engraver and sculptor, and for his books on travel and natural history. Along with Noel Rooke he was one of the founder members of the Society of Wood Engravers in 1920, and was a major influence in the revival of wood engraving in the twentieth century. Between 1924 and 1933 Gibbings owned the Golden Cockerel Press at Waltham St Lawrence, near Reading. He directed all aspects of book printing and illustration, decorating many of the publications with wood engravings by himself and other leading artists including Eric Gill.
During his time at Waltham he carved a small number of major pieces in stone. The economic slump forced him to sell the press in 1933 and he moved to Cornwall. In 1936 Gibbings became senior lecturer in typography, book production and engraving at Reading University.
In 1938 he held a one-man exhibition at Reading Museum titled Twenty Years of Engraving. His long interest in natural history and his travels resulted in a number of books which he both wrote and illustrated: Sweet Thames Run Softly (1940) was a particular success. In 1955 Gibbings moved from London to Long Wittenham, a village on the banks of the upper Thames. His last book, Till I End My Song, published in 1957, is principally about this village.
Lovely Is The Lee is chronicling time spent in southern Ireland by an outstanding naturalist and accomplished artist
"Robert Gibbings, chronicler of the Thames and the Wye, has revisited his native river, the Lee in County Cork, and has brought to his description of the stones and fields and bogs and rocks of Southern Ireland all his skill as artist and writer together with the understanding of the people that only an Irishman can achieve. He moves and talks and writes like a man at home.
During his stay of more than a year he has found time to explore some of the islands off the west coast, especially for fishing and bird-watching. He has packed a mass of interesting material into what may prove to be his best book yet, and the engravings are as good as anything he has done. Politics are left alone, except in the sense that we have in Robert Gibbings an ambassador of genuine good will, who sees the best of both sides of the Irish channel. His book is bound to rouse feelings of mutual friendship and understanding."
'For the soul's refreshment read and keep this book. It is wise, kindly, and full of lovely things.' - Sunday Times
'It is illustrated with author's own masterly woodcuts, some of the most beautiful of our time. His book is the sort of alla podrida that I for one enjoy immensely.' - Robert Lynd in the News Chronicle
199 pages. Illustrated with numerous monochrome engravings within the text.
ISBN: n/a
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Robert Gibbings LOVELY IS THE LEE First Edition