Out of Bedlam. XXVII Wood Engravings. With Texts from Christopher Smart.

Bookseller Notes

Inscribed by the artist on the title-page: 'Subscribed for R.W. Hackney, by Elizabeth Rivers, 9.11.61'. The text is drawn from Smart's 'Rejoice in the Lamb' ['Jubilate Agno'], written whilst confined in Bedlam between 1756 and 1763, but not published until 1939 in an edition edited by W. Force Stead - Rivers' engravings were begun in the same year, and executed during the War, only subsequently paired with Smart's quotations on the recommendation of the poet Geoffrey Taylor [a.k.a., Phibbs].Rivers was an English artist, based in Ireland for much of her career - though her War years were spent in London, where she served as a fire-warden during the Blitz, and to which the imagery of the present work (both directly and symbolically) relates; presentation copies of her work are uncommon.