High Street by Richards, Eric Ravilious (25 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A facsimile edition of the classic High Street, which pairs the timeless illustrations of Eric Ravilious with a fascinating text by architectural historian J. M. Richards. First published in 1938, this charming book introduces the British high street. Shops include the family butcher, the cheesemonger, the baker and confectioner and the oyster bar, as well as specialized establishments such as the plumassier, the clerical outfitter and the submarine engineer. Only 2,000 copies of the original book were printed before the lithographic plates were destroyed in the London Blitz. As a result, it has become one of the most collectible of all artists books from this period. This beautiful facsimile edition features all 24 of Raviliouss colour illustrations, and includes an essay by Gill Saunders, Senior Curator of Prints at the Victoria and Albert Museum, that sets the book in its historical context. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Ravilious, Eric (illustrator). Dust jacket shows light shelf wear and tear.

In-8°, pp. 100, (20), illustrazioni a colori f.t. di Ravilious.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. RAVILIOUS, Eric (Illus.); RICHARDS, J.M. (Text). The Story of High Street. Sparham: The Mainstone Press, 2008. Limited edition of 750 copies, a handsome production to mark the 70th anniversary of the original edition of High Street, first published in 1938 by Country Life Books. Conceived as a children's book of shops, it features 24 lithographs by Eric Ravilious depicting a variety of wonderful local shops of the pre-war era - cheesemongers, oyster bars, wedding cakes, letter makers, theatrical properties, model ships and railways, submarine engineers, fireworks, amusement arcades, and more. High Street is one of the most famous and beloved English illustrated books of the twentieth century. Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) was a painter, illustrator, lithographer, wood-engraver, and designer, who is now regarded as one of the finest English artists of the twentieth-century. Ravilious served as a war artist and was killed on a search and rescue flight from Iceland in September 1942. This edition is a reprint of the original edition, including reproductions of all 24 plates from the first issue. It also includes two major essays and an eclectic range of illustrations and preparatory drawings. In the first essay, The Making of High Street , art historian Alan Powers places the book in historical context, providing illuminating insights into its conception, production and publication. The second essay, High Street at Seventy by James Russell, describes the quest to identify and locate each of the shops depicted by Ravilious. 4to, original blue cloth, colour label to front board (reproducing Ravilious s watercolour sketch of the Submarine Shop ). 280pp, col plates+ text illustrations. Fine copy in original slipcase (also fine). ISBN: 9780955277726.

FIRST EDITION, large 8vo, pp. 100, [2]. Twenty-four colour lithograph illustrations included in pagination. Original colour-printed boards, glassine dustjacket with card flaps. Head of spine a bit worn, fragile dustjacket with some chipping to top edge and some loss to bottom of front panel. One of the most iconic illustrated books of the 20th century, depicting a glowing collection of shop premises from an era already passing into history, High Street was produced in an edition of around 2,000 copies and was never reprinted in this form, since the lithograph stones for the illustrations (and probably at least some unsold copies) were destroyed when the Curwen Press premises were hit during the Blitz. A high-quality facsimile was finally produced in the 2010s. This copy retains its incredibly fragile and consequently even rarer dustjacket, made of glassine with glued-on flaps, the front one printed with the jacket copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 24 colour lithograph plates by Eric Ravilious. No dust jacket with small wear to spine edges. Beautiful rare book.

Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good binding. Octavo. 100, [2] pp., illus. First edition. As issued, in printed paper over flexible boards; this copy discreetly rebacked with 80% of the original backstrip laid down. Light rubbing to the binding; foxing to the fore-edge with occasional foxing to the margin of a few leaves. Joanna Selborne in her study of early 20th century book illustration describes Ravilious as "one of the foremost artists and designers of his generation, leaving a remarkably varied body of work ranging from wood-engravings, watercolours, and lithographs, to murals, furniture, and decorated china. . . . His prints, especially those for book illustration and for commercial projects, mark him as one of the most original and influential practitioners between the wars" p. 276. These 24 full-page, color lithographs by Ravilious comprise a remarkable series depicting shops and stalls that were initially presented to Christopher Sandford at the Golden Cockerel Press to see if he had interest in a possible book. According to Selborne, "Sandford was slow to respond and these were eventually taken up by Noel Carrington and published, together with a wood-engraved frontispiece and J.M. Richards's text" p. 287. Despite the extremely subtle reback, this remains a very nice copy of a desirable book. Selborne, Joanna. British Wood-Engraved Book Illustration, 1904-1940, p. 276-291.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition, First impression. Illustrations by Eric Ravilious. A Very Good Copy. The fragile spine rubbed top and bottom.Illustrations fresh and clean.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good +. Dust Jacket Included. Ravilious, Eric (illustrator). First Edition. Original pictorial paper covered boards in the scarce original glassine dustwrapper with printed card flaps. Cover illustrations and 24 full page colour lithographs by Eric Ravilious. A UK first edition, first impression. The book is tight. There are no previous ownership inscriptions. The boards are unfaded. The corners and lower edges are rubbed. There is light chipping to the spine ends. The pages are generally clean - the endpapers are spotted. The closed page edges are a little dusty and are flecked.There are no loose or dog-eared pages. The binding is tight, the hinges are solid. The glassine wrapper is intact - it has been clipped. The edges are chipped and show some loss. Uncommon. A very nice copy. Paypal accepted.

First edition, first impression. Published in an edition thought to be 2,000 copies, High Street was never reprinted, as the original lithograph stones were destroyed during the Blitz when the Curwen Press premises in Plaistow, East London, received two direct hits. The Country Life warehouse was also a victim of the London Blitz, hence the rarity of this publication. As a result of the bombing at that warehouse, copies of Mervyn Peake's Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor (1939) were also, famously, lost. Ravilious's beautiful and evocative book "had a long gestation, starting from an idea of Helen Binyon's [a contemporary of Ravilious at the Royal College of Art] for an alphabet of shops, but also resembling certain of the lithographed 'Père Castor' children's books from Paris that Ravilious collected, such as Faites votre marché, by Natalie Parin, of 1935, which was intended to be instructive as well as decorative. Ravilious deliberately looked for odd shops with special and often Victorian visual appeal" (Powers, p. 22). A review of the book in the Manchester Guardian noted "High Street. is in a category by itself. Mr. Eric Ravilious presents two dozen attractive coloured drawings of different kinds of shops, while Mr. J. M. Richards, lifting the veil of secrecy, tells us what goes on in each case behind the scenes". Alan Powers, Eric Ravilious: Imagined Realities, 2012; Manchester Guardian, 9 December 1938. Octavo. Monochrome vignette title page and 24 original colour lithographs by Ravilious. Original lithographic boards printed in brown, blue and black, spine lettered in black. Edges rubbed, spine tips with light wear, otherwise a very good copy.

First edition. Original pictorial paper covered boards in original glassine dustwrapper with printed card flaps. A superb, near fine copy, showing only trivial wear to the spine ends and corners and a prize label (to Paul Sharp) to the front pastedown, in a very good glassine with a couple of minor chips and two closed tears. An exceptional copy of a very fragile production. Cover illustrations and 24 full page colour lithographs by Eric Ravilious. Ravilious began work on his 'High Street' lithographs in 1935 following a suggestion from Helen Binyon that he do an alphabet of shops. He deliberately sought out odd shops with special and often Victorian visual appeal as inspiration for the work. With the addition of text from Ravilious's friend, Jim Richards, what was produced was one of the most famous and iconic illustrated books of the twentieth century. The New Statesman wrote that the designs were 'so gay and vividthat they surprise the reader like the shops themselves when they light up on a foggy morning'. The book was never reprinted because the original plates were destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942 (in the same year Ravilious, who was a captain in the Royal Marines and an official war artist, was killed in action). Notoriously hard to find in decent condition, as the publisher's pictorial boards are so fragile, and virtually unknown in its glassine complete with flaps.