THOMAS BEWICK, 1753-1828. An Essay by Llewelyn Powys, to Which is Now Added: A Letter from England to Alyse Powys. Illustrated by [Gravesend Press] Powys, Llewelyn | engravings by Thomas Bewick - 1951

Lexington, KY: Gravesend Press | printed by Philip Reed, 1951. Hard Cover. Very Good binding. Small octavo. [8] vii, [1], 16, [2] pp., illus. Limited edition, one of 500 copies. As issued in paste-paper over boards bound by Elizabeth Kner with printed paper title label on the front cover; partially unopened. 16 in-text engravings from Bewick's blocks printed in brown grace the pages of the charming volume. Light rubbing to the extremities of the binding including a scuffed spot on the front board; interior is fine.

Designed by Joseph C. Graves, this is the second issue with his imprint, though Graves's friend Philip Reed executed the presswork at his Chicago print shop. Graves ran the Gravesend Press as a sideline from about 1949 through to the end of his life in 1960 issuing scarcely more than half a dozen books. While less known that some of his contemporaries he took his place amidst a vibrant mid-century printing and illustrating scene--friends with Victor Hammer, Carolyn Reading, Philip Reed, Fritz Kredel, John De Pol, John Fass, and others. H. Richard Archer in a history of Graves and his press published in The Kentucky Review (Spring 1987) summarizes Graves's work thus: "All of the books, whether pamphlets or bound books, reflect the taste and high standards of a true amateur craftsman, and, as such, they certainly qualify as choice examples from one of this generation's most distinguished private presses.