The Apocrypha Illustrated

The Apocrypha.
London: Cresset Press, 1929.
(10016)

Printed at the Curwen Press – Illustrations by Blair Hughes-Stanton, Gertrude Hermes, Leon Underwood, Stephen Gooden, René Ben Sussan, M. E. Groom, Eric Jones, Wladislaw Skoczylas, Hester Sainsbury, Frank Medworth, Eric Kennington, Eric Ravilious, John Nash, and D. Galanis

The books of the Apocrypha inhabit an uncertain place within Christian orthodoxy, variously recognized by different denominations and biblical editions. So, too, may different book collectors or historians assess the places of the Cresset Press and the Curwen Press in the world of fine and private printing. Founded by John Curwen (1816–1880) in 1863, the Cresset Press was a significant music printer. It extended its reach into books featuring fine typography and wood engravings when Harold Curwen (1885–1949) succeeded John in 1914. The Cresset Press was founded in London in 1927 by Dennis Cohen (1891–1970) and for several years produced expensive deluxe editions of classic titles illustrated by some of the best wood engravers of the day, before turning to more commercial publications after financial difficulties faced in the book market of the 1930s.

For this 1929 edition Cresset commissioned fourteen artists, one for each book classified as apocryphal by the King James Version. Thirty copies were printed on handmade paper and numbered I–XXX. Four hundred fifty copies, numbered 1–40, were printed on mould-made paper. This copy is number 247. Originally issued in a full vellum binding, this copy was later rebound by Philip Dusel.