The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914

Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, first edition, 1976. Cloth, gilt cover title and decoration, 4to,. xxxiii, 336 pp, coloured frontispiece and 1 colour plate, monochrome plates and ills throughout. In his 24 page introduction Ray expertly surveys the history of this golden period of British book illustration, and the formation of his own collection on which the catalogue is based.. There then follows a catalogue with detailed bibliographic descriptions of, and commentary on, some 333 books. There are 100 plates of illustrations and many further illustrations in the text. The formal bibliographical descriptions are by Thomas V. Lange. From a contemporary review: "Over two hundred large quarto pages are devoted to a chronological account of the artists who flourished in this period, with selections devoted to individual artists and to artists working in a particular style. There are notes on each artist concerned, followed by detailed bibliographical descriptions and notes on a total of 353 books, mostly from Dr Ray's collection. There are 180 or so text illustrations, two full-page colour plates, and, at the end of the book, 100 full-page plates in black and white representing 100 outstanding illustrated books. This list was conceived as something that would give particular satisfaction to collectors, 'part of the collecting game, a way of adding enjoyment to the hunt', offering 'guidance for the neophyte' and 'standards against which the veteran can measure his success'. Dr Ray prepared his list with great skill, offering a tentative list of 75 titles to twenty knowledgeable friends, and thus opening the way for much skilled discussion, and, incidentally, acquainting him with a number of significant books which he knew nothing of, as well as opening his eyes to others which he had undervalued. Fine.