STEPHEN GOODEN (1892-1955)

'THE RIDER ON THE PALE HORSE)
From 'The Revelation of St John the Divine' series
 
Etching on cream laid paper
Plate: 20.5 x 13 cm
 
 
 
LITERATURE
Campbell Dodgson, 116 ix/ix
 
 
 
 
 
 
This fantastical engraving is one of three produced by Gooden for George G. Harrap & Co.’s Revelation of St John the Divine, a project which was eventually abandoned but which led to the publisher’s issuing fifty sets of the engravings nonetheless. The prints are exceptionally rare therefore, and are certainly the scarcest of Gooden’s illustrations, and we are delighted to be able to offer two of the three illustrations in outstanding condition. 
 
 
 
The publishers noted the following in an undated printed slip inserted into one of their publications as an advertisement to their readers:
 
‘During the year 1939, Stephen Gooden, A.R.A., C.B.E., was commissioned to engrave, on copper, illustrations for The Book of Revelation. Three have been completed. In view of present conditions it is unlikely that the project will be carried further. We have therefore been requested by Stephen Gooden to issue the three engravings in folio form, and to offer them for sale in a limited number, namely, fifty sets, each engraving signed by himself. George G. Harrap & Company Limited". ‘
 
 
 
Stephen Gooden was among the leading exponents of line engraving, a medium which saw a considerable revival in Britain in the 1920s. He was acknowledged by critics and contemporaries alike as the most accomplished line engraver of his day, and was commissioned by numerous private presses and patrons to produce illustrations and, just as importantly, pictorial bookplates (he could count among his clients for the latter several members of the Royal Family). Some of his more notable projects include the Nonesuch Press Bible, Harrap & Co.'s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, and Heinemann's The Fables of La Jean de la Fontaine and Aesop's Fables.
 
Gooden was a favourite of Vera Mendel and Sir Francis Meynell’s, the owners of the Nonesuch Press. He was also appointed the official designer to the Bank of England.