Republished Engravings of David Jones

The Book of Jonah.
London: Clover Hill Editions, Douglas Cleverdon, 1979.
(27439)

Illustrations and engravings by David Jones – Text printed by Will Carter at The Rampant Lions Press – Engravings printed by Ian Mortimer at I. M. Imprint – Binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe

The Book of Jonah, published by Douglas Cleverdon as the eleventh title in a series from Clover Hill Editions, is the product of a long-standing network of relationships among artists, printers, and publishers. The engravings seen here were created by the artist David Jones (1895–1974) for a 1926 publication of The Book of Jonah from Golden Cockerel Press. Cleverdon’s first publishing venture was initiated in order to assist his friend and associate, the artist and typeface designer Eric Gill (1882–1940), who was also associated with the Golden Cockerel Press. Having met Jones through Gill, Cleverdon first collaborated with Jones as illustrator in a 1929 publication of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

The Clover Hill Editions’ The Book of Jonah constitutes a new edition using Jones’s wood engravings. The illustrations were printed from the original wood blocks, with permission of the trustees of the David Jones Estate, but the text was set anew, perhaps fittingly with the Golden Cockerel Press Type that did not come out until five years after the first publication of the images by that press.

Clover Hill Editions originated as a partnership between Douglas Cleverdon, printer Will Carter of Rampant Lions Press, and the American Lewis Cowan in order to republish Jones’s illustrations from Cleverdon’s 1929 publication. The partnership eventually dissolved, leaving Cleverdon in charge of the imprint, but the series would go on to produce three more republications of Jones’s work.

Three hundred copies were printed on mould made paper, one hundred copies on handmade paper, and ten were on vellum. Those on vellum were lettered A to J. This is copy D. It is accompanied by three additional suites of the engravings, one each printed on vellum and both papers.