GREGYNOG PRESS; LOWE, Derek, binder

Beirdd Gregynog. Gregynog Poets

Tregynog, Powys: Gwasg Gregynog, 1987. Item #04543

The Gegynog Poets
In a Fine Designer Binding by Derek Lowe

[GREGYNOG PRESS]. [LOWE, Derek, binder]. Beirdd Gregynog. Gregynog Poets. [Nos. 1-12]. Gwasg Gregynog, Tregynog, Powys, 1987-1990.

A selection of twelve poems selected by Meic Stephens. Complete set of twelve numbers.

Number 182 of 400 sets handset either in 16- or 14-point Bembo, printed on Zerkall paper.

Octavo (9 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches; 251 x 149 mm.). Twelve numbers, each [4] pp., Twelve wood-engraved frontispieces. Variously colored Ingres paper wrappers with the titles on the upper covers, lists of poems on the lower covers, printed all round with a geometric motif derived from the frontage of Gregynog. A fine set.

Handsomely bound by Derek Lowe ca. 1990 in full gray crushed levant morocco, front cover blind-stamped title and colorful vertical design of various onlaid strips of morocco. Smooth spine lettered in blind. Housed in the original felt-lined, gray morocco clamshell case. Very fine.

The Poems:

1. BOWEN, Euros. Yr Alarch (The Witch). Wood engraving by Colin Paynton.
2. JONES, Glyn. The Meaning of Fuchsias. Wood engraving by Sarah van Niekerk.
3. NORRIS, Leslie. Ransoms. Wood engraving by Anne Jope.
4. JONES, Bobi. Bwyta'n Te (Eat Tea). Wood engraving by Hilary Paynter.
5. WEBB, Harri. A Crown for Branwen. Wood engraving by Yvonne Skargon.
6. THOMAS, Gwyn. Ceffylau (Horses). Wood engraving by Leslie Benenson.
7. THOMAS, R.S. A Blackbird Singing. Wood engraving by Christopher Wormwell.
8. LLWELYN-THOMAS, Alun. Seren Bethlehem. Wood engraving by Harry Brockway.
9. MATHIAS, Roland. Craswall. Wood engraving by Peter Reddick.
10. LLWYD, Alun. Yr hebog uwch Felindre (The Senior Falcon of Velindre). Wood engraving by David Esslemont.
11. GARLICK, Raymond. Agincourt. Wood engraving by by George Tute.
12. CLARKE, Gillian. Harvest at Mynachlog (Monastery). Wood engraving by Miriam Macgregor.

Founded in 1922 by the sisters and art patrons Margaret and Gwendoline Davies, the press was named after their mansion Gregynog Hall. It rose to prominence in the pre-war era as among the more important private presses, publishing limited edition books, primarily on a Victoria platen printing press. Much of the printing work from 1927 to 1936 was carried out by the skilled printer Herbert John Hodgson, who had previously worked on the 1926 edition of the T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The American poet and printer Loyd Haberly was briefly the controller of the press.In 1954 after the death of Gwendoline Davies, Margaret donated most of the machinery used by Gregynog Press to the National Library of Wales. The press was reopened under the Welsh title Gwasg Gregynog by the University of Wales in 1978, and production resumed. While the National Library permanently loaned the Press its original Victoria platen press in 1980, since 1986 it has primarily printed with a Heidelberg Cylinder Press. Typesetting of the smallest pieces is done by hand, but otherwise manuscripts are typeset with the use of a Monotype machine. Among the publications of the press are a series of pamphlets entitled "Beirdd Gregynog / Gregynog Poets": the first of these was Euros Bowen's Yr Alarch, 1987.

Price: $950.00