EDWARD BAWDEN’S COPY George Cruikshank: His Life and Work as a Book Illustrator

A near fine copy in brown cloth: inscribed ‘Edward Bawden’ on the first flyleaf with the printed ticket of his local Essex bookseller opposite, ‘John Briggs, Bookseller and Stationer, 118 High Street, Braintree.’ A later bookplate of ‘MMAB Doncaster’ appears on the pastedown. Laid in (by Bawden?) is an apparently unrecorded 1845 bifolium advertising flyer for Cruikshank’s Table-Book and Douglas Jerrold’s Shilling Magazine, printed by Bradbury and Evans; separated along the spine fold. The dustjacket is in good condition only with some loss at the head and tail of the spine and a closed tear along the fold between the lower panel and spine of the jacket.

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) was a painter, illustrator and graphic artist whose work seems more beloved in its neo-Romantic Englishness with every passing year; George Cruikshank (1792-1878) was regarded as the ‘modern Hogarth’ during his lifetime, reaching an international audience with his illustrations of Dickens and many others.