Alpha : the mutabilities

Poems by Vincent McHugh ; with wood engravings by Tate Adams.San Francisco : The Porpoise Bookshop, 1958. Folio, letterpress wrappers (lightly handling wear), stringbound, pp. [16], letterpress text by McHugh and wood engravings by Adams. A very good copy. Poems & Pictures series number eleven. 137 copies printed by Henry Evans at the Peregrine Press.

A fine early example of the Australian based printmaker’s wood engraving.

‘Vincent McHugh was an American poet, novelist, and editor. He served as editor-in-chief and Technical Director of the New York office of the Federal Writers Project during the Depression, was a staff writer for The New Yorker in the late 1930’s and was a writer-director for the Office of War Information Films. He published five novels, including The Victory (1947), I am Thinking of My Darling (1943), and Caleb Catlum’s America (1936). His published poetry collections include Alpha: The Mutabilities (1958); The Blue Hen’s Chickens, Poems, Verses, Blues (1947); and Old Friends from Far Away (1980), an English translation of classical Mandarin poems. He was married to Patricia McHugh and had no children.’ – Yale Archives https://archives.yale.edu/agents/people/61076

‘Tate Adams was born in Holywood, Ireland in 1922. Adams began painting and printmaking in 1949 at which time he studied for six months at the Central School of Art and Crafts, London. He arrived in Melbourne in 1951 and studied book illustration and design at Melbourne Technical College (now Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology). He also attended Tuesday evening classes in printmaking. Adams worked in London and Dublin between 1956 and 1958. Returning to Melbourne 1959 he was appointed lecturer in printmaking at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and in that position was instrumental in encouraging many artists and students to experiment in printmaking.

He established the Crossley Gallery in July 1966 which became a focal point for Melbourne printmakers until it closed in October 1980. The gallery exhibited local artists work as well as contemporary prints from Japan. Adams later established Lyre Bird Press which publishes books illustrated with original prints. Since the early 1950s Adams has produced lithographs and many wood-engravings.’ – Australian Prins and Printmaking https://printsandprintmaking.gov.au/artists/11793/

Scarce, three copies recorded in Australian collections (National Gallery of Victoria; State Library of Victoria; National Library of Australia).