Full Description
The year 2023 sees the 150th anniversary of the death of William Harry Rogers. Rogers was one of the finest artist-designers of the Victorian period in Britain, someone to be considered in the same company as Pugin, William Burges, Owen Jones and Christopher Dresser. His designs won several prize medals at the Great Exhibition of 1851, the event which provides a ubiquitous reference point for cultural histories of the nineteenth century. He subsequently specialised in designing the appearances of books and his work in this field in the 1850s and 1860s was unrivalled, with many of his designs appearing also in the USA. The present book is the first to be devoted to Rogers and aims to be definitive, containing comprehensive accounts of his work and his life in Soho and the then village of Wimbledon. It includes many new discoveries, and hundreds of colour illustrations.
Contents
Acknowledgements 7
one Introduction 9
two Life of the Artist-Designer 19
three George Isaacs 37
four Two Signatures 46
five The Builder 50
six Henry Fitzcook 63
seven The Art Journal 69
eight Silver 81
nine Sir Henry Cole 96
ten Queen Victoria's Cradle 106
eleven The Great Exhibition and its Successors 118
twelve Spiritual Conceits 139
thirteen Illustrations 149
fourteen Playing Cards 161
fifteen Jewellery 168
sixteen Book Covers 174
seventeen Contemporary Owners 196
eighteen Patrons 202
Appendices
a Gallery of Book Covers 216
b Paris 285
c Cover Design Re-use and Materials 291
d Kate Rogers and Others 295
Index of Titles for Books and Journals with WHR Covers 301
Index 305
