Author’s Copy With Correspondence And Ephemera 56. The Months Ivor Nicholson & Watson Limited, 1936 . First edi- tion. 4to. Green cloth with gilt titles and vignette. Tan dustwrapper printed in green, price of 8s 6d on front flap. 74pp. Printed dedication “To Laurie my wife”. Ownership signature of Horace J. Knowles to half ti- tle. Pictorial endpapers, with double page scene printed in green. 74pp. Frontispiece in black and white, plus 12 further full page drawings and many smaller drawings in the text. A fine copy in a chipped dustwrapper. [32940] Accompanying the book: i) typed letter in original envelope from publisher Graham Watson, dated 1936. The letter praises the drawings prepared for the volume, “some of the most beautiful work which you have done and something in which you will take an everlasting pride.” ii) draft reply from Knowles to Watson, written in pencil and with some modifica- tions, “it is indeed a very great satisfaction to me and compensation for the amount of work I have put in to learn how much they are appreciated”. iii) ALS to Knowles from Adela Greensheet, dated 18th January 1937 expressing sym- pathy at the passing of Knowles’s broth- er (Charles?). On the reverse of the paper Knowles has made notes in pencil, which seem to be listing reviews of the book. iv) collection of newspaper clippings bear- ing reviews of the book, all complimenta- ry and most praising the artist’s masterly drawing of trees.
The Months Descriptive of the Successive Beauties of the Year, by Leigh Hunt with drawings by Horace J. Knowles KNOWLES, Horace J.; HUNT, Leigh Knowles’s third successive book for Ivor Nicholson and Watson in as many years was this illustrated edition of Leigh Hunt’s musings on the changing beauties of nature throughout the year. The reviews in the press were so positive and multiple that Knowles was moved to place cuttings of many of them inside his personal copy. The reviewer for the Scotsman wrote: “Mr Knowles’s beautiful pen and ink drawings have a rare decorative qual- ity, and his fine, yet sensitive and vigorous line, and his exquisite use of detail are shown here to advantage. He has a rare feeling for trees, which are drawn to every stage from the bare tracery of leafless boughs to the rich masses and flowing curves of summer foliage.” (The Scotsman, Dec. 1936). 57. The Months : Original Ink Drawings 1936. Forty nine (of 65) original pen and ink drawings on paper. Most sheets 38.5cm x 28.5cm. Every drawing is either signed or initialled by Knowles. Pencilled instructions from Knowles to the printers in the margins. Ar- chive kept in a cream folder, annotated by Knowles in pencil, listing the contents. [33011]
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