Ten Proof Engravings For The Rime of the Ancient Mariner : Each Signed And Dated (1929) By David Jones : With H/W Ephemera From David Jones

Ten Proof Engravings published by Douglas Cleverdon in 1929. Headpiece, tailpiece and eight full pages, each signed and dated (1929) by David Jones. Sheet size 26.5 x 21.5, plate size (full page) 17.5 x 13.5cm. Housed in a custom board folder with a hand painted paper label. Ernest Percival Pearce's bookplate to the inner board and inscribed in pencil in an unknown hand below and numbered 16.X.72 DJ . Further inscribed in pencil inside the paper folder by an unknown hand DJ 19-11-60 . Very early bowing of the boards. Loosely laid in is H/W correspondence (a one sided letter and a postcard) from David Jones to Mr Pearce dated '29 Sept. 1971' and 'Feb 25th 1956' respectively. The engravings are all in near Fine condition. Illust. 4 with a very tiny rust spot near bottom left corner of blank margin. Illust. 7 with a tiny unobtrusive spot below the signature. Otherwise the plates are all in excellent condition. Only one such set has appeared at auction at Sotherbys in 1982 where they refer to the '8 larger illustrations each being numbered 10 of 30 copies'. These were signed and dated 29' as in this set. Loosely inserted is the original publisher's prospectus for this title, which has been folded once. Housed in a custom solander box with marbled inserts, silk tie and gilt titling. Provenance : Through family descent from the collection of Ernest Pearce (1930-2012) a dedicated art collector and connoisseur of the bookplate. His files of letters reveal that he was in regular correspondence with many well-known artists and fellow collectors from the 1950s onwards. He owned an extensive collection of bookplates. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.