A CENTURY OF PRINTMAKING IN BRITAIN
1855-1955

British Printmakers 1855-1955
Edited by Robin Garton
1992
ISBN: 0 906030 24 2
326 pages, 585 illustrations, appendices, bibliography
Page size: 310 x 240 mm; 12¼ x 9½ inches
Colour dustjacket, gold-blocked spine, dark green 'cloth'.
£135

British Printmakers 1855-1955 presents information about the radical changes that took place during a century of printmaking in a way which is both new and pragmatic. The first part of the book gives biographical details of over 400 printmakers working during this period. Each entry is accompanied by at least one illustration, a key bibliography and institutional locations where examples of the artist's work can be viewed.

Different techniques in printmaking engendered different and independent styles. Therefore the second part of the book gives each printmaking technique its own chapter, a historical perspective written by a specialist in that field. Each chapter is followed by a chronological arrangement of illustrations of that technique.

Thus the reader is enabled to gain specific information about an artist from the biographical section and is also able to see how that artist's work fits into a wider context of style and medium in the illustrated section. The chapters are as follows:

    Wood Engraving, Rodney Engen, art historian and author
    Etching, Robin Garton, based on a text by Kenneth Guichard
    Lithography from c. 1875 to the 1920s, Prof. Kemille Moore, Division of Art, University
        of North Carolina at Wilmington
    The Colour Woodcut, Alan Guest, former Senior Librarian, Bibliographical Services,
        Nottinghamshire County Library
    The Linocut, Alan Guest
    Modern Lithography: The 1930s, 1940s & 1950s, Robin Garton
    The Poster-Print, Paul Rennie, Director of Rennie Fine Art, Folkestone
    The Monotype, Gordon Samuel, former director of the Redfern Gallery, London
    St Ives and Corsham, David Archer of Austin, Desmond & Phipps, London
   
While the prime purpose of the book is to provide a general reference which will direct the reader to more specific study, the third part of the book is devoted to 14 appendices detailing exhibitions, publications of prints and their titles, some key exhibitions and also a complete list of all known poster-prints. The appendices are as follows:

    I    Senefelder Club, 1908-34 (list of exhibiting British artists)
    II    World War I, Efforts and Ideals, 1918
    III    Printmakers who also exhibited at the International Surrealist exhibition,
        New Burlington Galleries, 1936
    IV    Contemporary Lithographs, 1937-8
    V    Artists' International Association (AIA): Everyman Prints, 1940
    VI    A Salvo forrRussia; Surrealist Prints, 1942
    VII    World War II
            Published lithographs, Gabain and Hartrick, 1940
            Submarine series, Eric Ravilious, 1941
            Ministry of Information - Curwen Press
            Ministry of Information - Baynard Press
            Gabain unpublished set, 1945
            Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA)
    VIII    School Prints, 1946-51
    IX    Lyons Prints, 1947-55
    X    The London Society of Painter-Printers
    XI    Festival of Britain series, 1951
    XII    Coronation series, 1953
    XIII    Exhibition of Corsham lithographs at Dartington Hall, 1955
    XIV    Guinness Prints, 1956-7