#reductive drawing

Shakespeare Weekend

Shakespeare’s historical tragedy, Richard the Third, is volume nineteen of the thirty-seven volume The Comedies Histories & Tragedies of William Shakespeare, published by the Limited Editions Club (LEC) from 1939-1940. The play was likely produced in 1594. It was first printed in 1597 in quarto where it was considered a tragedy, but was published in the First Folio in 1623 among the histories.  The German-born American illustrator, Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990), was the LEC’s third choice as illustrator for this volume. Their first choice was the English painter, Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956), who accepted the project, but became too ill to begin. Their second choice was, the English painter, Edward Ardizzone (1900-1979), who was one of the British Official War Artists. Ardizzone produced a series of watercolors for the book, and they were reproduced for this publication by the lithographer Fernand Mourlot, in Paris. When the Germans invaded Paris, Mourlot was able to escape. He loyally brought with him all of the reproductions of the watercolors, which he then shipped to New York. Unfortunately, the lithographs never reached the Limited Editions Club and are presumed to be at the bottom of the ocean. 

Fritz Eichenberg said of illustrating Richard the Third: 

I think it is impossible for a modern artist to dissociate his thoughts from the events and emotions of his day... When I tried to fathom Richard’s character, it did not seem to me different from any other power-greedy, bloodthirsty usurper: be it Nero or Hitler.... The artist looks around in his world and he will find living parallels that will make those shadowy tyrants of the past come to life again. 

I looked for a technique that equaled wood-engraving in its poignant darkness and sparse highlights, something that corresponded with the nightmarish quality of the play in its gloomy darkness. I think I found the proper medium in these stone engravings, scraped out of the darkened lithograph stone with the help of diamond, knife and razorblade, wonderfully precise and willing tools in the hands of the artist, but still,  when you think of them in terms of a Richard III, just as precise instruments of bribe, murder and destruction.

The volumes in the set were printed in an edition of 1950 copies at the Press of A. Colish, and each was illustrated by a different artist, but the unifying factor is that all volumes were designed by famed book and type designer Bruce Rogers and edited by the British theatre professional and Shakespeare specialist Herbert Farjeon. Our copy is number 1113, the number for long-standing LEC member Austin Fredric Lutter of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

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