Publisher/Manufacturer: Gwasg Gregynog (Gregynog Press) Series title: The Natural History of Selborne
1930-1935 Wood engraving in black on white laid paper
222 x 147 mm. Purchase: Gwasg Gregynog / Gregynog Press 1988 Funding support: Catherine Lewis Trust
Number 4 of an edition of 20. The blocks for these illustrations were engraved in the early 1930s for Gilbert White's 'The Natural History of Selborne' but were not printed until 1988. Gilbert White's 'The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne' was first published in 1798. Gilbert White was particularly interested in the newt. In the 18th century, the study of fish was growing, and it was recognised that newts were quite different from any other form of water creature. [Hermes has engraved a newt in the bottom corner.]
Book illustration for Gilbert White's 'Selborne'. Stylised wood engraving of pond life. In the upper half are two swimming fish producing air bubbles. In the lower half are varied pond weeds, sediment, two newts and two water boatmen. The image is surrounded by a patterned border inspired by ripples of water, animal scales and water plants. Paper has the watermark '+N'[?], a monogram
