Reynolds Stone. A Memoir. First edition.

Wimborne Minster, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd, 2019. First edition, first impression. Hardback. 1 - 163, [164 - 176]pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Reynolds Stone was one of the most distinguished wood engravers of the mid-twentieth century, and in his lettering in that medium unequalled. he helped champion the renaissance in good printing and type design, and was an accomplished watercolour painter and letter cutter in stone. His legacy endures in much that remains familiar, including the coat of arms on a British passport. Stone's father & grandfather were both Eton classics masters, and the encouragement of his mother Laura, herself an artist, helped nurture his talent. Childhood holidays in Dorset spent painting at her side fostered an affection for its coast and unspoilt countryside. An apprenticeship with Cambridge University Press gave way to the precarious life of the freelance artist. But Stone's career quickly blossomed. Commissions poured in for bookplates and from publishers and private presses wanting designs and illustrations. Stone's love of Dorset bore fruit when he and his wife Janet bought a house in the Bride Valley in 1953. Janet's gift for hospitality turned Linton Cheney's Old Rectory into a much-loved artistic and literary haven for their many friends, whilst its ponds and wild garden provided Reynolds with the inspiration and seclusion he needed. Amongst Reynolds Stone's accomplishments are the masthead for The Times, the Royal Arms for the Order of Service for Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, Winston Churchill's memorial in Westminster Abbey, postage stamps, the £5 and £10 notes. And then there were the private commissions, many from admirers in the United States, as well as water-colours, two typefaces, and numerous bookplates. This book is richly illustrated with Stone's work. Many of its 350 engravings, drawings, water-colours and photographs have never been published before. Yet its principal delight is that its author is Reynolds' younger son and a distinguished typographer and designer in his own right. Shot through with a son's respect for his father's achievements, the result has an intimacy a more formal biography would lack.