Square Book Of Animals

Dramatic yet charming woodcuts in William Nicholson's unmistakably vigorous style. An Edwardian masterpiece, long out of print.

William Nicholson was still in his twenties when he started working on books for the publisher William Heinemann that combined a hugely powerful woodcut style with peerlessly precise observation and sly humor. The Square Book of Animals brings together a collection of 12 beasts drawn with Nicholson's sweeping line and unerring eye for the lively detail. The text is by Arthur Waugh, the father of Evelyn Waugh. A great classic of British book illustration, unavailable for decades. Published simultaneously with two other works An Alphabet and The Book of Blokes.

Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (1872–1949) was one of the most talented and versatile painters ever to work in Britain. A creator of astonishingly precise and delicate still lives, and of some of the most penetrating portraits of the century, he also pioneered a vigorous style of woodcut illustration that remains unequaled for its strength and subtlety. His son was the painter Ben Nicholson.