Artist's Models, An

London: H. F. & G. Witherby, 1930. First Edition in the Original Vellum Over Boards
Ceceil Aldins' Favorite Dogs - Cracker, Susan, Jemima & Turpentine

ALDIN, Cecil. An Artist's Models. London: H. F. & G. Witherby, [n.d., 1930].

First edition. Limited to 310 numbered copies on English hand-made paper (this being copy No. 164), signed by the author/artist. Quarto (11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches; 285 x 190 mm.). 80 pp. Twenty color plates, with captioned tissue guards.

Original vellum over boards lettered in gilt on front cover and spine. Top edge gilt, others uncut. Very minor discoloration to vellum, mild bump to bottom edge of lower board near joint, otherwise a fine copy.

An Artist's Models tell the humorous stories of his models, both professional and amateur - so well that the reader actually knows Cracker, Susan, Jemima, and his beloved rough-haired Dachshund Turpentine aka Von Tirpitz.

Cecil Aldin (1870-1935) "was a most prolific artist and illustrator. While living in London, he became friends with the Beggarstaff Brothers (see Houfe under William Nicholson and James Pryde), John Hassall, Phil May and Dudley Hardy, and their influence on his work was great. He produced a great number of prints, a select list of which is included with a comprehensive bibliography in Heron's book [Cecil Aldin: The Story of a Sporting Artist (1981)]. He did a great deal of advertising work, including posters, for such companies as Bovril, Colman (manufacturers of starch and mustard), and Cadbury's, and Royal Doulton produced about sixty items with Aldin drawings between 1910 and 1939. Horses, dogs and the English countryside were the major topics of Aldin's illustrations. The obituary in The Times asserted that ‘there never yet has been a painter of dogs fit to hold a candle to him...Cecil Aldin can justly be described as one of the leading spirits in the renaissance of British sporting art'" (Alan Horne, The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators, p. 67). Books written and illustrated by Aldin include Old Inns (1921); Old Manor Houses (1923); Cathedral[s] and Abbey Churches of England (1924); Romances of the Road (1928); An Artist's Models (1930); Exmoor, the Riding Playground of England (1935); and Hunting Scenes (1936).