#he Praise and Happinesse of the Countrie-life

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

REYNOLDS STONE

In 1938, the Welsh fine-press publisher Gregynog Press produced The Praise and Happinesse of the Countrie-life, originally written in Spanish by Spanish bishop and author Don Antonio de Guevara (c. 1481-1545), printed in an edition of 400 copies with eight original wood engravings by noted English engraver Reynolds Stone (1909-1979). The text is from an English translation by Welsh poet and translator Henry Vaughn (1621-1695) originally published in 1651.  

At 18 cm., this was the smallest book Gregynog would produce, and the 29-year-old Stone matched the scale with these tiny wood-engraved vignettes that are rich in detail and surety of line. We featured some of these engravings a couple of years ago in a post that combined the engravings with others by Stone from another book. We think these engravings are so charming that they deserve a post of there own. Our copy of the book comes from the collection of Welsh author and patron of the arts Leonard Twiston Davies (1894-1953).

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Historic Women Printer/Publishers of the Week:

Gwendoline Davies (1882-1951) Margaret Davies (1884–1963)

The Davies Sisters, Gwendoline and Margaret, were Welsh philanthropists, patrons of the arts, and influential art collectors, daughters of the noted Welsh industrialist and philanthropist David Davies, and sisters of the Liberal politician David Davies, 1st Baron Davies. In 1920 the sisters bought Gregynog Hall, a large country mansion in the village of Tregynon, near Newtown in Powys, Wales. Influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and the production of other fine presses, they founded Gregynog Press (Gwasg Gregynog) at the mansion in 1922, publishing 45 letterpress limited editions, many with original prints, and hundreds of printed ephemera in both Welsh and English until they ceased production in 1941. Between 1927 and 1936, much of the print work was accomplished by the highly-skilled master printer Herbert John Hodgson. Gregynog was among the most important British fine presses of the inter-war period.

After Gwendoline’s death, Margaret donated most of the press’s equipment to the National Library of Wales. Press production was revived in 1978, however, by the University of Wales under its Welsh name Gwasg Gregynog, which continues to produce letterpress-printed publications in the fine-press tradition.

The examples displayed here are from:

John Ceiriog Hughes. Caneuon Ceiriog Detholiad. Drenewydd yn sir Drefaldwyn: Gwasg Gregynog, 1925.  Printed in an edition of 400 copies with original woodcuts by Robert Ashwin Maynard and Horace Walter Bray.

The Autobiography of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury.  Newtown, Montgomeryshire: Gregynog Press,1928. Printed by John Hugh Jones and  Herbert John Hodgson in an edition of 300 copies with original wood engravings by Horace Walter Bray.

The Praise and Happinesse of the Countrie-Life. Translated from the Spanish of Don Antonio de Guevara by Henry Vaughan. Newtown, Montgomeryshire: Gregynog Press,1938. Printed by James Wardop in an edition of 400 copies with original wood engravings by Reynolds Stone.

Thomas Jones. The Gregynog Press, A paper read to the Double Crown Club on 7 April 1954.  London: Oxford University Press, 1954. Limited edition of 750 copies. Our copy is signed by the author.

View our other posts on Historic Women Printer/Publishers.