Dalziel Brothers, “The Spirit of Eld”, 1863

Dalziel Brothers (aka Brothers Dalziel; Camden Press; Dalziel and Co.) (1839–1905)

“The Spirit of Eld” (aka “He followed them through the fire, and not one of the hairs of his head was singed”), 1863, wood engraving after the design by Thomas Morten (1836–1866), published in 1863 in London by Alexander Strahan (aka Strahan & Co.) (1833–1918) and printed by Bradbury & Co (aka Bradbury & Evans; Bradbury, Agnew & Co.) (1828–1900) as an illustration facing page 629 (and later page 621) to “Good Words for1863”, edited by Norman Macleod. See the description of the publication offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1992-0406-206-c.

Regarding the engravings in “Good Words for 1863”, the British Museum proposes that as “the plates are separate from the text throughout”: “This may mean that Bradbury and Evans or Dalziel Brothers have used electrotypes to reproduce the original wood engravings” (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1992-0406-206-c). This idea is not advanced by the MET museum (see https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/647389.) Based on a different copy of this engraving from “Good Words for 1863” in my collection, I can see that the printing plate developed a crack that shows in later impressions (see the detail in the images), suggesting that the original engraved wood plates were indeed used in the publication.

Wood engraving on fine wove paper with letterpress text below the image, backed by a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 23.4 x 16.2 cm; (image borderline) 18.3 x 11.6 cm.

Inscribed in plate/block: (lower left corner) “Dalziel”.

Letterpress text below the image: “He followed them through the fire, and not one of the hairs of his head was singed.” [Daniel 3:27]

Condition: a strong and well-printed early impression (before the printing plate developed fractures). Beyond minor breaks in the lower margin the sheet is in an excellent condition with holes, folds, abrasions or no significant stains and is laid upon a support sheet of archival/millennium quality washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this very beautiful wood engraving showing the highest order of skill in the cutting of the plate for the total cost of AU$166 (currently US$108.19/EUR100.04/GBP85.87 at the time of posting this print) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this amazing wood engraving—mindful that each black line is carved in relief to stand “proud” on the printing plate—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Dalziel Brothers’ wood-engraving, "Summer Snow", 1863

Wood-engravers: Dalziel Brothers (aka Camden Press; Dalziel and Co.) (1839–1905)

Designer: Edward Burne-Jones (1833–98)

“The Summer Snow”, 1863, illustration to Dora Greenwell’s poem, “Summer Snow”, published by Strahan & Co. (London and Edinburgh, 1863) in “Good Words for 1863” (opp. p. 380), after the design drawn (but not engraved) on the printing plate by Edward Burne-Jones.

__________

Extract from Greenwell’s poem:

“Once in a garden fair,

Huddling close their heads together,

Flowers were heard to whisper there,

‘Oh the changeful April weather!

…

Soft falls the summer snow,

On the springing grass drops light,

Not like that which long ago,

Fell so deadly cold and white;

This wears the Rose's flush,

Faint, ere bloom hath quite foregone her,

Soft as maiden's timid blush,

With the looks she loves upon her.’" (p. 380)

­­­­__________

Wood-engraving on wove paper with letterpress title, trimmed with small margins and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 16.4 x 12.2 cm; (image borderline) 14.6 x 10.7 cm

Signed on plate within the image borderline: (lower-left corner) “DALZIEL”.

Titled with letterpress text below the image borderline: “THE SUMMER SNOW.”

Amanda-Jane Doran (2017) offers excellent insights about this print:

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/how-to-read-it-edward-burne-jones

Interestingly, Doran proposes that there is a possibility that Georgiana (Burne-Jones’ wife) may have been involved in the engraving of this plate.

This print is discussed in the Dalziel Brothers’ (viz. G & E Dalziel) 1901 publication, “The Brothers Dalziel: A Record of Fifty Years’ Work ...1840–1890”, Camden Town, Camden Press, p. 162. In this discussion, William Holman Hunt’s letter (1861) to Alexander Strahan regarding the choice of illustrators for “Good Words” proposes that Edward Burne-Jones “… is perhaps the most remarkable of all the younger men of the profession for talent”. Holman Hunt then advises that Burne-Jones: “… has yet, I think, made but few if any drawings on wood, but he has had much practice in working with the point both with pencil and pen and ink on paper, and so would have no difficulty with the material” (p. 162).

See the description of this print at the British Museum; https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1566782&partId=1&searchText=The+Summer+Snow&page=1

See also the description at the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne):

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/29242/

Condition: crisp and well printed impression on wove paper with small margins and laid on a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in an excellent/near pristine condition.

I am selling this famous wood engraving—in the sense that it is often reproduced with reference to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and features in the current exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), “Love and Desire: Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate”—for AU$130 (currently US$92.48/EUR82/GBP72.10 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this extraordinarily beautiful wood-engraving featuring “a portrait of Jane Morris in the early years of her marriage to the artist’s close friend and artistic collaborator, William Morris” (Doran [2017]), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold