Publisher/Manufacturer: Gwasg Gregynog (Gregynog Press) Series title: The Natural History of Selborne
1930-1935 Wood engraving in black on white laid paper
221 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 often saw herons moving their nesting places in the skies above Selborne. He mentions them frequently in his book. Gertrude Hermes attempts to show how primitive the bird is, accentuating its lightness and thinness
Book illustration for Gilbert White's 'Selborne'. A stylised wood engraving of a heron standing on a nest with three eggs. Inside one of the eggs is a chick. The heron stands with wings outstretched. The image is surrounded by a patterned border. Paper has the watermark '+N'[?], a monogram
