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Buckland Wright (John), Collection of Letters to Christopher
Sandford
MS.1960.028
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: John Buckland Wright Letters to Christopher Sandford
creator:
Buckland Wright, John, 1897-1954
Identifier/Call Number: MS.1960.028
Physical Description:
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1937-1955
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 0.42 linear ft, 1
box
Abstract: 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.
Physical Location: William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library
Purchased from Bertram Rota Booksellers, 1960.
Items were originally part of the William Andrew Clark Library's Misc MSS collection and
were recataloged and described in 2017 by Joyce Wang.
[Identification of item], John Buckland Wright Letters to Christopher Sandford,
MS.1960.028, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los
Angeles.
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.
He illustrated 16 books for the Golden Cockerel Press and became close friends with its
then owner Christopher Sandford. The most notable of his works from this period included
illustrations for Pervigilium Veneris (1939), The Vigil of Venus (1939), and John Keats'
poem Endymion (1947). Most of his engravings dealt with themes of environmental beauty and
the sensuality of the nude female body, particularly as epitomized in Greek mythos. His
preoccupation with producing works of grace and tranquility was arguably a cathartic one
that can be traced to his experiences in the Scottish Ambulance Service where he witnessed
scenes of devastation while stationed at Verdun during WWI. In 1953, Buckland Wright
published Etching and Engraving: Techniques and the Modern Trend which remains a seminal
work in the field. Holdings of his engravings can be found in the British Museum, the
Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Tate Gallery.
A collection of letters sent by John Buckland Wright, mostly to Christopher Sandford,
during their many years producing books together at the Golden Cockerel Press. The letters
primarily deal with work-related issues such as layout and the production of engravings,
although more casual, family-related letters become increasingly frequent towards the later
years.
One folder in the collection contains letters sent by Buckland Wright's wife Mary Bell
Anderson to Christopher Sanford.
Materials arranged in the collection by recipient and then chronologically.
Other collections related to the Golden Cockerel Press at the Clark Library include:
Press coll. Golden Cockerel
Eric Gill Artwork Collection: MS Gill
Robert Gibbings Colleciton: Press Coll. Archives Gibbings
A number of letters addresed to Christopher Sandford can also be found in the Misc. Mss
Collection
This collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA. All
requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to
the Clark Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to
include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Letters--England--20th century
Small presses -- England -- 20th century
Sandford, Christopher
Golden Cockerel Press