MASTER OF THE BURIN: THE BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS OF JOHN BUCKLAND WRIGHT, 1897-1954 (PART 1)

'In my office appeared a tall, young Englishman, slightly nervous about the meeting he was imagining, with a probably bearded Belgian publisher of about 60 years old, who would give him the assignment to make a few wood engravings for a minimal honorarium or that would politely send him away after a few words.' So recalled Alexander A. Stols (1900-1973), the director of the Maastricht-based Halcyon Press, on first meeting JBW. It was a successful meeting, with JBW commissioned to illustrate a limited edition book of John Keats's Sonnets (1930), his first published engravings. This is one of eleven prints from that debut publication.

Illustration to poem 'To G. A. W.' from John Keats, The Collected Sonnets. Maastricht: Halcyon Press, 1930. Private Collection.