Panoplia
by Hartmann Schopper & illustrated by Jost Amman
The Wonder of Woodcuts
by Scott Laming
An important printing technique for centuries, woodcuts are a form of relief painting where patterns and images are carved into blocks of wood to create a raised picture. The raised surface is then covered with ink and pressed onto paper thus transferring the image. In the early days of the printing press, woodcuts and moveable type were a marriage made in heaven.
Most woodcut illustrations are black and white because any additional colors must be applied by using different blocks and that complicates the process. A common alternative is to simply color the woodcut by hand. Woodcuts were used in Europe from the end of the 14th century but they have a longer history in Asia. They are an important theme for antiquarian book collectors as they represent one of the earliest forms of printed illustration.
Many of the oldest manuscripts and books featuring woodcuts are expensive as you are buying a little piece of history. However, the technique is still being used today and many printers and publishers are producing innovative woodcut illustrations. This selection of books with woodcuts features contemporary and older examples of this technique.
Books with Wonderful Woodcuts
Ukiyo Fozoku Yamato Nishikie
Edited and compiled by Goyo Hashiguchi; illustrations by various woodcut masters
Collection of Japanese wood-block prints from 1600 to 1800.
The Faerie Queene
by Edmund Spenser & illustrated by Walter Crane
1897, 1,000 copies in 6 volumes printed by Chiswick Press.
Zapata: A Narrative, in Dramatic Form, of the Life of Emiliano Zapata
by John Steinbeck & illustrated by Karin Wikström
Yolla Bolly Press from 1991. 40 numbered copies with seven large hand-colored woodcuts.
Poems by the Way
written & illustrated by William Morris
1891, one of 300 copies with a woodcut border design by Morris.
Monday or Tuesday
by Virginia Woolf & illustrated by Vanessa Bell
1921. Only 1,000 copies and four full-page woodcuts from Bell.
Histoire du Soldat
by Kurt Vonnegut & illustrated by Michael Fallon
Published by Gonfalon Press in 1997 with woodcuts by Michael Fallon. 110 copies.
The Great Chain of Life
by Joseph Wood Krutch & illustrated by Paul Landacre
Rare 1950s nature book illustrated with photos of woodcuts.
Hutton Street
by Robert Lowry Wood & illustrated by James Flora
An obscure book published by Little Man Press in 1940.
A Book of Giants
written & illustrated by William Strang
Unicorn Press from 1898. A dozen giants, each with a full-page woodcut
New Hampshire
by Robert Frost & illustrated by J.J. Lankes
1923. One of Frost’s most notable books. Lankes was a good friend of the poet.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by Frank L. Baum & illustrated by Barry Moser
Published by Pennyroyal Press in 1985 with 62 woodcuts by Moser.
Moby Dick
by Herman Melville & illustrated by Rockwell Kent
The rare Rockwell Kent edition from 1930.
Notre-Dame de Paris
by Victor Hugo & illustrated by Frans Masereel
Limited Editions Club from 1930. One of 1,500 copies signed by Masereel.
An Almanac of Twelve Sports
by Rudyard Kipling & illustrated by William Nicholson
Twelve color lithographs printed from wood blocks by Nicholson.
Kreuterbuch
by Adam Lonicer
Early health book. Printed in 1609, it has around 800 woodcuts with early hand-coloring.
Gart der Gesundheit
printed by Rheinhard Beck
An early medical book from 1511 with 435 chapters and nearly 400 woodcuts.
Nonesuch Holy Bible
translated by Edward Marsh & illustrated by Stephen Gooden
Printed in 5 volumes (1924-27). 1,000 copies on Japon vellum.
God’s Man: A Novel in Woodcuts
by Lynd Ward
140 striking woodcuts blending Art Deco and Expressionism from 1929.
Works by Geoffrey Chaucer
illustrated Sir Edward Burne-Jones
Facsimile of Kelmscott’s Chaucer printed in 1974 by John Swain & Son. 87 woodcuts.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by S.T. Coleridge & illustrated by Gustave Doré
Elephant edition with 38 full-page engravings from Doré, who used steel.
Elaine
by Alfred Lord Tennyson illustrated by Gustave Doré
A Doré masterpiece from 1967 with nine full-page black and white engravings.
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