Cecil Lawson : A Memoir

Edmund W. Gosse ; with illustrations by Hubert Herkomer, J.A. McN. Whistler, and Cecil Lawson

Published by Fine Art Society, London, 1883

About this Item

Full Vellum with gilt embossed title with ornate first letters on front cover, T.e.g. [8], 38, [2] pages, 7 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, 1 portrait. Measures 15" x 18 7/8" (38 cm x 48 cm). JAMES A. M. WHISTLER Sketch after Cecil Lawson's "Swan and Iris." Etching and drypoint printed in black on antique, cream laid paper, 1882. 134x82 mm; 5 1/4x3 1/4 inches, wide margins. MacDonald's sixth state (of 6), with the horizontal drypoint lines extending on the bevel at the plate edge upper left. Partial Strasburg Lily watermark. A very good impression. The subject was inspired by an unfinished painting by the artist Cecil Lawson (1851-1882), whose widow Constance Lawson was the elder sister of Whistler's wife-to-be, Beatrice. According to MacDonald, this was the only illustration etching Whistler made after the three he produced for the Junior Etching Club in 1861. Kennedy 241; Glasgow 247. The frontis was etched by Herkomer from a portrait painting he did of Lawson in 1876. The whole contains 3 etchings (2 by Herkomer, 1 by Whistler), 1 steel engraving by Herkomer, 3 facsimile reproductions of Lawson's works and 13 woodcuts of sketches drawn on wood by Lawson. Exceptionally rare to find this book complete with all the components. The woodcuts and Whistler etcching are printed on india paper and mounted on the page stock. The other etchings are printed onto the thick page stock directly. Lawson, an artist of great promise, died at the age of 30. Gosse notes that most of the illustrations are intended to portray the style and character of his lesser-known and unfinished works. At the rear of the book is a single-page entitled "Catalogue of pictures exhibited by Cecil Lawson at the Royal Academy and at the Grosvenor Gallery." Octagonal paper label of the binding company Burn & Co. as base of rear pastedown. VG- significant soiling to the vellum covers and spine, contents a strong VG with minor foxing and age-toning except for the endpapers which have more significant foxing. Seller Inventory # 173871

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cecil Lawson : A Memoir

Publisher: Fine Art Society, London

Publication Date: 1883

Binding: Hardcover