(Frederick Roberts Johnson illustrations) Oscar Wilde The Se...

Estimate

£30 - £50

(Frederick Roberts Johnson illustrations) Oscar Wilde The Selfish Giant Printed thin card wraps with illustration to front, staple bound, half title, woodcut to blue and black printed title page, pp.29 of which six leaves are illustrations, colour boarders to ever leaf of text, a very good copy, Comyns (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1946. An extremely scarce booklet, with no copies listed in the British Library or WorldCat. Of particular interest is the publisher, about whom little information is readily available. The booklet appears to have been published by William Comyns Beaumont (1873–1956), a notable journalist, staff writer for the Daily Mail, and editor of The Bystander and The Graphic. Beaumont is well known for his unconventional theories, particularly his belief in the historical existence of giants, a theme reflected in this publication. It is clear Johnson and Beaumont moved in similar professional circles. Frederick Roberts Johnson and Arthur Wragg, two friends who met whilst training to become commercial artists, moved together to Polperro in 1924, staying at 'The House on the Props'. They had somewhat contrasting styles which somehow sometimes overlapped; Wragg's style was likened to David Low and Victor 'Vicky Weisz, sharing within his lifetime the same respect and public interest as the two aforementioned. His work was also regularly compared to that of Aubrey Beardsley, though Wragg's own heroes were Cruickshank, Albrecht Durer and William Blake, the latter being someone he was also compared to within his lifetime. Wragg's first book was hugely successful, having to be reprinted three times in one year and it became Book of The Year in America. Frederick Roberts Johnson was a very succesful commercial artist and was often the one who usually went to London in search of commissions for the pair. He often used the name 'Essex' or 'Sax', drawing funnies for Punch, Everyman magazine and Tribune, as well as advertisements for Lyons Tea Shops and producing dustjacket book illustrations for various authors. His style was more varied and experimental, with impressionism, cubism and abstract examples of his work within the sale.