Rivers and Streams of England

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1909. Decorated Cloth Hardcover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. Color Plates by Sutton Palmer.

Publisher's Prussian blue pictorial cloth strikingly blocked to an Art Nouveau design in olive green, white, and gilt to spine and upper board, designed by A. A. Turbayne with his scarab monogram; top edge gilt. xiii, 287, [index]; with 75 colour plates with captioned tissue-guards after paintings by Sutton Palmer and a folding map.

The bindings are tight and square. Text clean, light even toning. Moderate shelf handling wear. Some foxing to the preliminaries. Gift inscription on the front free end-page to Helen Stanton Campbell from J. G. Stanton.. An exploration of angling opportunities of the English inland waterways as the landscape and cultural history of the settlements along the river banks are described.

Background Information:
Sutton Palmer is celebrated for his masterful watercolours, which are of universal appeal. His passion and ability for drawing were evident from an early age, and his career path was clear. Originally, upon leaving training Sutton Palmer devoted his skills almost entirely to painting still life studies, but he then progressed to painting landscapes in watercolour, a genre and medium to which he remained faithful for the rest of his career.

The technical skill of his work is considerable, and his capacity to capture subtleties of colour and tone have been highly influential for subsequent generations of artists. Whether sharpening his focus on panoramic views or sweeping landscapes, or on details such as rushing streams or snapshots of villages, his works all bear the hallmark of an artist with consummate skill. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, London from 1870.

Between 1880 and 1920 Palmer held many dedicated shows in England, as well as one in New York. He also worked as an illustrator for numerous books, and his work is represented in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Albert Angus Turbayne (1866-1940) designed book covers. Born in America he moved to England in 1890.

What is interesting about A. A. Turbayne is that he designed covers in more than one style. He was as much at home with Art Nouveau as he was with Arts and Crafts. The defining characteristic that links them all (apart from the scarab) is that they are beautiful.

Arthur Granville Bradley was a British historian and an author of numerous books. His father was George Granville Bradley, Dean of Westminster.

Ref: Inman 23.