MAUVE, Thijs. ~ The Wood Engravings from Het Herstel der Kademuren in de Rotterdamsche Zeehavens.
One of 103 copies, this no. 70. 9 wood engravings by Thijs Mauve, printed from the original blocks. Set in Jan van Krimpen’s Lutetia with his Open Roman Capitals and Romulus for display. Printed on French folded grey Zerkall Ingres from John Purcell by Miles Wigfield on his Albion press. Sq. 4to., bound by Paul Kidson in quarter blue cloth sewn in japanese style with patterned paper covered boards designed by Paul Kershaw, printed paper label on upper cover. As new.
Thijs Mauve (1915-1996) was a Dutch artist who was the grandson of Anton Mauve, a leading member of the Hague School and cousin-in-law to Van Gogh. Thijs was prolific, working to greatest effect in wood engraving.
When the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans and made to surrender in May 1940 the port of Rotterdam was extensively destroyed. After the end of the war, it was clear the port needed to be restored, an effort which is described in the introduction as “a task of heroic endeavour...but by 1949 at the finish, 7790 metres of quayside had been rebuilt...” To commemorate this remarkable achievement the restoration company commissioned Thijs Mauve to design a photographic book “Herstel Kademuren Rotterdamsche Zeehavens” (1949) with each chapter depicting a particular area of the restoration each being headed by a Mauve wood engraving. In that book they were printed from line blocks, here, for the first time, they are printed from the original wood blocks.