Description
This collection is comprised of hand written and typed letters, postcards, and a few pieces of inserted works/proofs sent
from the engraver John Buckland Wright to Christopher Sanford, the owner of the Golden Cockerel Press.
Background
John Buckland Wright (1897-1954) was an eminent 20th century book illustrator, printmaker and engraver known for producing
engraved works for numerous private presses. Born in New Zealand where he spent most of his childhood, he and his mother later
moved to England in 1908. Though he briefly studied history in college and considered becoming an architect, he ultimately
became a self-taught wood engraver. In the mid-1920s, John Buckland Wright moved to Brussels to experience its vibrant artist
community, joining groups such as the Gravure Originale Belge and the Xylographes Belges. While at Brussels, he met the Scottish-Canadian
musician Mary Bell Anderson whom he later married. After 1929, he went to Paris and spent the next decade working at the avant-garde
printmaking shop Atelier 17 with its founder Stanley William Hayter, becoming its director in 1936. During this time, he collaborated
with a number of illustrious artists including Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Miró, and Dali. Returning to London in 1939 with
the outbreak of WWII, he continued to be active in the printmaking and engraving scene during the war. In his later years,
he started to teach printmaking at the Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art up until his unexpected death
in 1954.
Restrictions
The Clark Library owns the property rights to its collections but does not hold the copyright to these materials and therefore
cannot grant or deny permission to use them. Researchers are responsible for determining the copyright status of any materials
they may wish to use, investigating the owner of the copyright, and obtaining permission for their intended publication or
other use. In all cases, you must cite the Clark Library as the source with the following credit line: The William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.