Friday’s Library snapshot … Talwin Morris

This is indeed a snapshot; this image is from a six volume work in our library at the Museum of English Rural Life ; that is browsable by the public. As time passes some books become more vulnerable and precious, so they are given a bit more care.  Although this item is not at worn or in disrepair its binding and illustrations are a fine example of their period and given a protected space; still accessible but a little more security. So I had a quick peek before I took it to the store.

The gardener’s assistant : a practical and scientific exposition of the art of gardening in all its branches by Robert Thompson.

It has the publisher’s full green cloth binding with decorated covers and spine designed by Talwin Morris (1865 – 1911] was a leading illustrator and book designer during the late 19th and early 20th who deserves a feature later.

Inside is a nice example of chromolithography ; which was the first true multi-color printing method.  Before colour had been been applied by hand. It was the Godefroy Engelmann who developed the technique and used it commercially in the 1830s.
The process required stone slabs one for each colour so that the colours could be laid on after the other. So the the paper sheet was printed on several times before the print was finished.
The method was very intricate and before long as many as fifteen stones were used and some wonderful and highly artistic results obtained.
The Victorians loved this method of printing because of its rich colouring and many books were bound with chromolithographic prints. Many childrens’ books included this type of print. An important publication was of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee representing her reign from 1837 until the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 in which included several chromolithographed prints which were enhanced with gold or silver.