Rare Books & Works on Paper

Our next Rare Books & Works on Paper sale is an exceptionally visual feast, containing exciting collections from the library of art historian Colin White who collected and wrote about some of the most beloved children’s illustrators of the 20th century, such as Kay Nielsen, Arthur Rackham, Jessie M.King and Edmund Dulac. Many of the works from this collection are incredibly rare and, on the whole, a bibliophile’s dream.

 _{Lot 327}

_{Hans SCHLEGAR (1898-1976) Shell advertising lithographic poster, 1938. From the collection of James Williams Davies 1919 –1994}

Another visual treat are the posters collected by the graphic artist James Williams Davies 1919 –1994. Davies was a self-taught graphic designer with a passion for collecting World War II–era posters. Several of his own poster designs are held in the collections of the National War Museum and the Post Office Museum in London.

 _{Lot 54. Jessie Marion KING (1875-1949). Arran Inlet, watercolour. From the collection of Colin White 1927–2022}

The art historian, author, and collector Colin White 1927 – 2022 spent a lifetime researching, collecting and writing about graphic art and was a renowned expert in his field. His first commission was from Studio Vista to write the first comprehensive biography of Edmund Dulac (1976). It was a masterly piece of work, showing a striking command of both the biographer’s craft and a technical knowledge of Dulac’s techniques. Without doubt his collection contributed much to his authority as a scholarly recorder, outstandingly seen in his two books on Jessie M. King; The Enchanted World of Jessie M. King (Canongate, 1989), and A Guide to the Printed Work of Jessie M. King published by the British Library. The World of the Nursery (Dutton, 1986) arose from an interest in the changing domestic background in which many of the children’s books may have found themselves. White’s book collection contained at least 10,000 volumes and was something of a research centre in itself. White played a major role in three illustration exhibitions including the Burton Galley of Leeds, Sheffield City Art Gallery and Heath Robinson Museum. He wrote numerous articles, forewords and biographical notes including an introduction for the impressive Taschen 1001 Nights published by Taschen.

His last extensive biographical work on the Danish artist Kay Nielsen is expected to be published soon.

After his death in 2022, his exceptional library of over 10,000 works was  divided amongst family members and collections have been sold by Sotheby's and other auctioneers. We are delighted to be handling the sale of this particular collection, which was bequeathed to his grandchildren.

 _{Lots 346, 348 & 353, Three WWII lithographic posters from 1944/45. From the collection of James Williams Davies 1919 –1994}

We will also be selling thirty-seven 1940s-60s posters from the estate of James Williams Davies. They are mostly WWII propaganda posters, relating to the workplace and the home; they have a delightful mid-century design style and palette, which now has a very contemporary feel. We’d happily hang any of these on our walls today. A 1938 poster for Shell (see lot 327 above) even has a rather surrealist/Daliesque look, which shows how the influence of 1930s surrealism which was still considered very avant-garde at the time, had filtered into the mainstream and even into advertising.

As a teenager and young art student in 1938, James entered and won a national competition to design a poster for the Women’s Voluntary Services, to encourage volunteers for the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) units up and down the country. His winning entry used a headshot of a very stylish Greta Garbo-esque young lady and 50,000 posters were printed, however, outrage ensued when it was discovered that the young lady was of German extraction! The posters were re-called and a new version, using model Barbara Kershaw, was created.

No doubt this early success primed the 19-year-old James for his future career in the graphic arts, and a great love of this genre. Although we don’t have one of his rare ARP designs in this sale, we are fortunate indeed that he saved so many of these wonderful war-time posters for posterity, and nearly 100 years later, we get to enjoy them all over again.

Other treasures from the sale.....

 _{Lot 21. A. H. Mackmurdo, Wren's City Churches}

First edition in first issue binding, published by G Allen of Orpington, Kent, 1883.

Lot 21 is a scarce first edition. The striking title page design is widely recognised as the very first expression of Art Nouveau in England (Pevsner). Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851–1942), a progressive English architect and designer, was a pioneering figure in both the Modern Style and the international Art Nouveau movement. The eminent German-British art historian Nikolaus Pevsner famously described the title page of this work, 'its foliage unfurling into elegant, sinuous curves' as “the first work of art nouveau which can be traced.” He identified its aesthetic lineage in Rossetti and Burne-Jones, and, further back, in the visionary art of William Blake.

Est £300-500

 _{Lot 18, THEOPHRASTUS. (ca 371-ca 287 B.C.) De Historia Plantarum}

THEOPHRASTUS. (ca 371-ca 287 B.C.)
De Historia Plantarum... [edited by] Joannes Bodaeus á Stapel.

One of the most valuable lots in the sale is lot 18, a good copy of a scarce complete work. The 1644 Amsterdam edition of Theophrastus’ Historia Plantarum, edited posthumously by Johannes Bodaeus van Stapel, is regarded as the most important and influential early modern edition of this foundational botanical text. Combining Theodorus Gaza’s Latin translation with critical notes, extensive commentary, and hundreds of finely executed woodcut illustrations, including plants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World, it represents the first comprehensive systematisation of known plants. Praised by bibliographer Thomas Frognall Dibdin (1808) for its erudition and careful collation of sources from Aristotle, Pliny, and Dioscorides, the work exemplifies the intersection of classical scholarship and empirical natural history in 17th century Europe, marking a pivotal moment in the history of plant science (Morton, 1981).

Estimate £1,500 - £2,000