Private Library Spring 2024

published July 2026

'Ballads, Bryce, and badinage'

   PL editor, David Butcher writes:  

   "Simon Cooke continues his investigations into significant nineteenth-century illustrated books with an analysis of The Book of British Ballads', which Gordon N Ray in his survey of nineteenth-century illustration called 'the most ambitious English book with wood engravings' in the period.

   Simon analyses the influences on the collection, notably that of the epic poem, 'Das Nibelungenlied', published in Leipzig in 1842. He compares the two works and asseses the influence of 'The Book of British Ballads' on later illustrated books.

   The second article covers a very different topic. Jason Burley, a bookseller and collector of miniature books, explores commercial advertising in the publications of David Bryce, the foremost publisher of such books in the late 19th century. Pears, the soap manufacturer, features prominently.

   The third article is Jim Maslen's short appreciation of Robert Gibbings' 'Iorana', and a particular copy with marginal notes by its owner, Cyril Crosland, a marine  zoologist."

'Fair Rosamund' wood engraving after John Franklin by Samuel Williams, from 'The Book of British Ballads' , 1842

'Knowledge in Nutshell' back cover, 1904

Cyril Crosland'a comment on the dedication page his copy of of Robert Gibbings' 'Iorana'