BOOK COLLECTORS' NOTES.
A LOVAT FRASER EXHIBITION.
(This is the third of a series of Monthly articles intended to interest book collectors and having special reference to the work of the First Edition Club.)
TIIERE have been many Lovat Fraser exhibitions, but the one opened at the First Edition Club on Derby Day gives a better opportunity to judge the versatile nature of his talent than any held hitherto. Those who believe that there is no necessity for common objects to be ugly, and that Beauty is not a copyright quality shared by those formally called " artists," will rejoice in this show, for here are all the things that Lovat Fraser wrought to show his contempt for dullness and drab colours ; his posters, brilliant flamboyant announce- ments for Mac Fisheries, The Beggar's Opera, " Bizarres" and a few shops ; his books, with covers of bright tints almost musical in their harmonious accord, with bold title pages and quaint cuts ; his noteheadings, which, if not epigrams, arc at least happy expressions ; his advertisements, impressive and amusing, which reflect infinite credit on those who, like Ambrose Heal and Harold Curwen, had the taste and courage to use them ; his prints, emphatic, magnificent and unusual ; and his bookplates, labels and greeting cards, which are ingenious, attractive and interesting. Nothing that Lovat Fraser did was ordinary, for even if not a great artist, he turned all that he touched to beauty.
Next to the surprising quality of the material assembled for their view, collectors will wonder at its quantity, at the number of impermanent things safely preserved which should, of right, long since have whistled down the wind. Credit for this is due to Mr. C. S. Millard, from whose collection most of the exhibits have been borrowed. Mr. Millard's diligence and patience in research are known from his biblio- graphical volume on Lovat Fraser's printed work, wherein every slightest leaflet, noteheading or design is recorded and described.
One of the many treasures shown possessing a special interest is a set of proofs of Lovat Fraser's projected illus- trations for A Shropshire Lad. Mr. Housman, I believe, did not care for them, and they were never used as intended ;
an effective, though less natural, use has been• made of many, for they have appeared as head-pieces, tail-pieces, and decorative blocks, even appearing in a set of reminders given away by the Savoy Hotel. - To collectors the complete set of Flying Fame productions will be particularly' instructive. " The Sign of Flying Fame " was the name assumed to cover a little publishing venture by Lovat Fraser, Ralph Hodgson and Holbrook Jackson. The first things issued were broad- sides, twopence plain and fourpence coloured ; and -shortly after appeared the first chapbook, Eve and other Poems, by Ralph Hodgson, modelled on the productions of the Catnach Press and on the old chapbooks. This was issued in three states : a signed Japan Vellum edition of ten copies, coloured by hand, price 10s. 6d. ; a large paper edition of fifty copies, coloured by hand, price 2s. 6d. ; and an un- coloured small paper edition, of 400 copies, price 6d. It was truly for " Flying Fame " and not for profit, that its workers sought ! Less than a dozen of these books appeared, but they included Ralph Hodgson's Bull and Song of Honour, Fraser's own essays under the pen name " Richard Honey- wood," Holbrook Jackson's Town, and Five New Poems by James Stephens. Of the later broadsides a special issue of twelve copies on Japan Vellum was also struck off ; it can be imagined how precious these are ! Lovat Fraser was always a collector, and had designed his own bookplate while yet at Charterhouse. One of the rarest- of his produc- tions is a privately printed work, Six Caricatures, of which twenty-five copies were printed in 1910. The copy shown was bought in a bundle of a dozen other books for 10s. at a book auction.
The scale of the collection exhibited will be appreciated when it is realized that it includes every periodical to which Lovat Fraser contributed, every card, invoice, heading, slip, envelope or what you will that bears one of his designs, and every book, pamphlet or broadside which he illustrated, wrote or designed, in each of its many styles of issue. Even a tobacconist's wrapper used for packing ounces of special mixture is included !
Readers of the Spectator who wish to view this unique! collection should write to me for cards of invitation.
6 Little Russell Street, W.C.
A. J. A. SYMONS.
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