1929 First Cresset Press Edtn Ltd 354/450 THE APOCRYPHA By Anon Illus. Blair Hughes Stanton Gertrude Hermes Leon Underwood Stephen Gooden

1929 First Cresset Press Edition
THE APOCRYPHA
By Anon

KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Vellum, Publisher’s full vellum with gilt-lettered leather spine label; small folio, approximately 33 × 22.5 cm

Published By: The Cresset Press, London, 1929
Language: English
Limited Edition: 354/450 Copies
Illustrated By: Blair Hughes Stanton Gertrude Hermes Leon Underwood Stephen Gooden
Collation: 5 preliminary leaves, 406 numbered pages, [1] terminal colophon leaf; 14 wood-engravings.; Complete with all fourteen wood-engravings, each confirmed present.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued
SKU: BTETM0001967
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 3Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request

DESCRIPTION
The Apocrypha
According to the Authorized Version

With Fourteen Wood-Engravings by Blair Hughes-Stanton, Gertrude Hermes, Leon Underwood, Stephen Gooden, René Ben Sussan, M. E. Groom, Eric Jones, Władysław Skoczylas, Hester Sainsbury, Frank Medworth, Eric Kennington, Eric Ravilious, John Nash and D. Galanis
A handsome and substantial fine-press edition of The Apocrypha according to the Authorized Version, published by the Cresset Press in 1929 and printed at the celebrated Curwen Press.
This is copy no. 354 of only 450 copies printed on mould-made paper. A further thirty special copies, numbered I–XXX, were printed on handmade paper, making a total edition of just 480 copies.
The volume is particularly distinguished by its remarkable programme of fourteen wood-engravings, one accompanying each of the fourteen books of the Apocrypha, commissioned from a group representing some of the most important figures in the revival of British and European wood engraving during the early twentieth century.

The artists are:
René Ben Sussan
Frank Medworth
Gertrude Hermes
John Nash
Leon Underwood
Eric Kennington
M. E. Groom
Władysław Skoczylas
Eric Ravilious
Blair Hughes-Stanton
Stephen Gooden
Hester Sainsbury
Eric Jones
D. Galanis

The inclusion of Eric Ravilious, Gertrude Hermes, Blair Hughes-Stanton, John Nash, Leon Underwood and Eric Kennington gives the volume particular importance to collectors of twentieth-century British illustration and wood engraving, while its production by the Curwen Press places it firmly within the tradition of high-quality British inter-war book design.

A striking combination of biblical literature, typography and modern wood engraving, and an attractive example of Cresset Press fine-book production.

CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
COLLATION
5 preliminary leaves, 406 numbered pages, [1] terminal colophon leaf; 14 wood-engravings.
Complete with all fourteen wood-engravings, each confirmed present.

Publisher’s original full vellum binding with gilt-lettered leather spine label. The vellum shows general age-related toning, light soiling and scattered spotting, with some marking around the spine consistent with age and handling.
The leather spine label shows substantial rubbing and abrasion with areas of surface loss, although the gilt lettering remains legible.
Some spotting and marking to the endpapers. The text block itself is notably well preserved: internally the leaves are clean, crisp and bright, with the substantial mould-made paper retaining an attractive fresh appearance.
Copy 354 of 450, as stated on the limitation leaf.
Housed in a protective paper sleeve.

Please see Photos as part of condition report.

REFERENCES
Ransom, Private Presses and Their Books, p. 7.
Hughes-Stanton, no. 6.
The edition was limited to 450 numbered copies on mould-made paper, together with a special issue of 30 copies on handmade paper, numbered I–XXX.

SYNOPSIS
The Apocrypha comprises a collection of ancient Jewish religious writings associated with the biblical tradition but occupying different canonical positions within Judaism and the various Christian denominations. In the tradition of the Authorized or King James Version, the books were printed between the Old and New Testaments.

This volume contains the fourteen works conventionally comprising the Authorized Version Apocrypha:
I Esdras
II Esdras
Tobit
Judith
The Rest of Esther
The Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach
Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah
The Song of the Three Holy Children
The History of Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
The Prayer of Manasses
I Maccabees
II Maccabees

Together they encompass historical narrative, wisdom literature, moral and religious instruction, prayer, visions and stories that have exercised a profound influence upon Christian art, literature and theology.
Among the best-known narratives are Judith and Holofernes, the adventures of Tobit and the angel Raphael, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, and the history of the Maccabean revolt.

The Cresset Press edition gives these texts a distinctly twentieth-century artistic interpretation, pairing the Authorized Version with fourteen individually commissioned wood-engravings and transforming the work into both a biblical text and an important example of inter-war illustrated book production.

ILLUSTRATOR
Blair Hughes Stanton Gertrude Hermes Leon Underwood Stephen Gooden
The fourteen engravers brought together for this edition represent a particularly strong cross-section of the inter-war wood-engraving movement.

Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) was one of the most distinctive British artists and designers of his generation. Painter, wood engraver, illustrator and designer, his work combined precise observation with a highly individual sense of pattern and atmosphere. His wood engravings appeared in numerous important private and fine-press publications before his later work as an official war artist.
Gertrude Hermes (1901–1983) was one of the leading British wood engravers of the twentieth century, known for powerful, highly controlled compositions inspired by nature, mythology and the human figure. She exhibited widely and later taught wood engraving at the Royal Academy Schools.
Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902–1981) was a central figure in the British wood-engraving revival and produced some of the period’s most forceful and technically accomplished illustrations. His work is particularly associated with the Gregynog and Golden Cockerel presses.
John Nash (1893–1977), younger brother of Paul Nash, was a painter, illustrator and wood engraver whose book illustrations display the same acute observation of landscape and natural forms found throughout his wider artistic work.
Leon Underwood (1890–1975) was a painter, sculptor, printmaker and influential teacher whose experimental approach to engraving and the human figure had a considerable influence upon younger British artists.
Eric Kennington (1888–1960) was a painter, sculptor and illustrator particularly celebrated for his portraiture and his work as an official war artist during both World Wars.

They are joined in the volume by Stephen Gooden, René Ben Sussan, M. E. Groom, Eric Jones, Władysław Skoczylas, Hester Sainsbury, Frank Medworth and D. Galanis, making the book an unusually broad survey of contemporary wood-engraving practice within a single fine-press production.