Stonehenge, by Gertrude Hermes, English, (1901-1983)

Wood Engraving, 1963, Ed. 5/50, 9-15/16 x 13-7/8, signed, titled, dated  and delightfully inscribed  "My love to you Jean and all the best for Christmas + the New Year Gert" , pale foxing to margins, light toning within old mat opening and around dedication, a richly inked impression on thin cream laid japan paper 16-1/2 x 21-3/8. Gertrude Hermes was a major figure among British Wood Engravers of the early to mid 20th century. In cataloguing this large and the last major wood engraving by Gertrude Hermes, I have discovered much ommited and misleading information. In addition to the first edition of 30 in 1963,  the impression offered is also dated 1963, and is numbered 5/50 in Hermes own hand, an edition not mentioned anywhere else that I have found. There was a subsequent edition of 75 plus 8 APs issued in either 1978 or 1981, both dates can be found, as part of a portfolio of prints by 10 members of the Printmakers Council. According to Judith Russell, cataloguer of Hermes prints, there are about 70 additional unsigned proofs. An edition of 400 unsigned impressions on japan was recently published in 2019 by Nomad Letter Press in Cheltenham, Gloucestshire England. This large new unsigned posthumous edition has not yet made it's way into the scholarly record. Impressions of Stonehenge are found in the permanent collections of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. The power and masterful vigor of Hermes engraving, along with the historic allure of Stonehenge itself, has led to a demand for this print. Ours is a beautifully inked, signed, dated and dedicated early impression in good condition, from or close to the completion of the block in 1963.