Wednesday’s wood engraver

I came across a lovely book yesterday; so I have bought myself a copy  and cannot wait to dip into it.  Called, The way of wood engraving by Dorothea Braby is no 46 of the How to do it series.

Dorothea Braby was born in 1909  in London, She studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts where she particularly enjoyed wood engraving. After graduating she received several commissions, including illustration work  for the BBC, Faber & Faber and Lyons.  Braby met Owen Rutter the part owner of the Golden Cockerel Press in the 1940s where she worked for the next twenty years.  In the 1960s wood engraving became less fashionable and Braby stopped working and died in 1987.  I understand her work can be seen in the V&A. There are a few examples in the book but she has used the works of other engravers to illustrate her book more.  

I found a good article about Dorothea in the Illustrator All in One Line: the graphic work of Dorothea Braby, by Nate Evuarherhe. 38, Winter 2013-14.  It tells more of her history, that has a lovely filmic (?) feel she had a socio-romantic background and considered by some as an Edwardian New Woman. Well worth a read!