ID: 2573
The Black Country
WADSWORTH, Edward
Category: Illustrated
Place/Publisher/Date:
London, Ovid Press.1920.
Description:
Signed limited edition; small folio; original cloth-backed boards. Initial devices and vignette by Wadsworth and 20 black and white plates. Wadsworth's own copy of the signed limited edition, which was 'specially seen through the press by the artist' and contains a 'unique woodcut now destroyed'; this is number 41 of 50 copies. Edward Wadsworth (1889–1949) was born in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, the son of a prosperous mill owner. He studied engineering before taking up a place at the Slade. For a time he was associated with the Vorticists,and sought to reflect the mechanical and industrial advances of the early 20th century. Wadsworth would have seen the landscape of the Black Country from the train as he travelled from London to Liverpool, during the Great War, where he was engaged in painting dazzle camouflage on ships. The man-made landscape created by the slag heaps from coal and steel production, dotted with winding wheels, smoking furnaces and freight trains, held a particular beauty for the artist, combining his background with his artistic beliefs. Loosely inserted is a coloured prospectus for the limited edition of the book. Very good, small tears at spine ends, corners slightly bumped.
Price £2250.00
