Old London Bridge (2014) title-page
Hilary has held several positions in the world of British printmaking, but the largest truth about her is simple — she saved wood engraving … none of us would have the courage, faith and imagination to have thought the impossible and brought the Society of Wood Engravers back into existence, as well as the endurance to keep it going, day by day, for nearly 50 years. So writes Simon Brett in Multiples 59 about Hilary Paynter MBE, whose life’s work was celebrated with a Bankside Gallery exhibition in early June 2024. Moving was planned for publication to coincide with this show.
Low Tide, Clovelly (2003)
Featuring 35 engravings, all printed from the original blocks, Moving is arranged around five themes that are central to Hilary’s work; from sweeping dramatic landscapes to social injustice and the abuse of power, there is a constant creative tension in her engraving, often offset by humour and humanity. Hilary’s confident mark-making and draftsmanship skills can be seen too have developed from her early blocks to the present day, but the interplay of tone and light on the page are always central, alongside and uncompromising response the natural world and our often brutal mistreatment of it, as well as of each other.
Herculaneum (2018)
A shocking, sudden explosion of Vesuvius buried Herculaneum for nearly 2,000 years. The ash was several metres deep and the new town perches above it. Skeletons in the boat houses, that were then close to the water’s edge, are testament to the agonised plight of the inhabitants trying to reach safety. Because it nestles within the excavated lava and is so much smaller than Pompeii, one can feel a much more intimate connection.
Each engraving, selected and introduced by Hilary, is accompanied by a text that explains the thought process behind how each image, from drawing to engraving, was developed. The blocks have been printed by Helen Hillman and Pat Randle and the book provides a lasting tribute to five decades of wood engravings by one of the masters of this craft.
Publication details
350 x 280 mm, 88pp., this edition of 165 copies has been set in 14- and 16-point Bembo and printed under the supervision of Hilary Paynter by Helen Hillman and Pat Randle at Whittington on the last of the Zerkall ENE paper.
Regular edition
130 numbered copies are bound by Roger Grech in quarter-buckram with printed paper sides, in a slipcase.
£345 (£295 before publication). Order here
Lettered edition
26 lettered copies are bound in quarter-leather by Roger Grech and are accompanied by a portfolio of signed engravings which sit alongside the book in a Solander box.
£1,750 (£1,450 before publication). Order here
Publication date: June 2024.
ISBN 978 1 85428 139 5
Shipping will commence in September 2024.