Williams, Wightman

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Materials related to published book: A Blear Ball, by Wightman Williams (Cummington, Mass.: Cummington Press, 1945).

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Four original black ink abstract line drawings by Wightman Williams for A Blear Ball (Cummington Press, 1945). Included are the cover illustration (approximately 5 x 6 cm on a 29 x 9 cm sheet), the frontispiece illustration (17 x 8 cm on a 20.5 x 13 cm sheet), and two unused illustrations (4 x 4 cm on 29 x 9 sheet and 4.5 x 9 cm on 9 x 14 cm sheet).

Scope and Contents Photograph of Harry Duncan (left) Wightman Williams (right) taken at the Cummington Press, not earlier than 1943 and not later than 1956. They are leaning on opposite sides of the printing press. The image is 12 cm x 15 cm on a 12.5 x 18 cm sheet. The grainy quality of the image suggests it may be a photograph of a photograph. The picture is undated. Written in pencil on the back are the numbers "8-47" which might indicate the date. This photograph was used to illustrate a 1955 newspaper...

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Materials related to published book: An herb basket, by Richard Eberhart (Cummington, Mass.: Cummington Press, 1950). Signed by Wightman Williams and Harry Duncan.

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Copperplate engraving by Wightman Williams for the title page illustration of An Herb Basket, by Richard Eberhart (Cummington Press, 1950). The plate measures 8.25 x 7.25 cm.

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Proof of the title page illustration by Wightman Williams for the book An herb basket, by Richard Eberhart (Cummington Press, 1950). The abstract illustration, printed in black ink from a copperplate etching, measures 7 x 8 cm, on a 9 x 12.5 sheet.

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Materials related to published book: Annual report of the officers of the town of Rowe Massachusetts for the year ending December 31, 1954 (Rowe, Massachusetts: Cummington Press, 1954).

Scope and Contents Four illustrations by Wightman Williams for the Annual report of the officers of the town of Rowe Massachusetts for the year ending December 31, 1954 (Rowe, Massachusetts: Cummington Press, 1954). The drawings depict public buildings in Rowe, Massachusetts, including the town hall, the library, the building housing the Highway Department and the Fire Department, and an unlabeled building, possibly a school. The drawings are on separate sheets, each of which is stamped on the back in blue...

Scope and Contents Materials related to published book: Blackberry winter : a story / Robert Penn Warren. Cummington, Mass.: Cummington Press, 1946. From colophon: "This copy is number vii of a first edition limited to three-hundred-thirty [corrected in hand of H.D.: 280 total copies] copies hand-printed from Poliphilus types set up by hand, those numbered 1 to 280 [corrected in hand of H.D.: 230] being on Arches paper from France, and those i to l, signed by the author and the illustrator, on Kelmscott Crown...

Scope and Contents Handmade book titled, "The eight original drawings for Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter," signed Wightman Williams. Artist's portfolio of illustrations created by Wightman Williams for Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising the original drawings in black ink, individually matted and sequentially numbered. The abstract artworks are laid into a handmade folder, which measures approximately 14.5 x 21 cm when closed. The folder is tied closed with a black ribbon. The...

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Illustration created by Wightman Williams for Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946). This abstract illustration is drawn in pencil on both sides of a 6.5 x 9 cm paper.

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Three studies by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 12 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising two pencil drawings on papers approximately 3.5 x 8 cm in size, and one black and teal ink drawing on a paper approximately 7.5 x 6.5 cm in size. All three drawings differ significantly from the final drawing used in the book.

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Four studies by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 19 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising three pencil drawings and one black and red ink drawing, all on papers of slightly different sizes, approximately 8 x 8 cm or 7 x 9 cm. The ink drawing is very similar to, but not exactly like, the final version that appeared in the book.

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Pencil studies and proofs by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 22 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising two pencil drawings, one proof of the black portion of the final illustration, one proof of the blue portion of the final illustration, and one two-color ink drawing of the complete illustration, reversed and with red instead of blue. The drawings are on various sizes of paper, but the image area is approximately 4 x 5.5 cm for all five drawings.

Scope and Contents Pencil drawings and proofs by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 29 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising two pencil studies, two proofs of the black portion of the illustration with some red sections hand-colored in, one proof of the red portion of the illustration, one proof with both colors together and including the surrounding text, and one black ink drawing of the illustration signed "WW '46." The drawings and proofs are on various sizes of...

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Pencil drawings and proofs by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 35 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising two pencil drawings and two proofs printed in black ink. Each proof corresponds with one of the pencil drawings, and each set of pencil and proof represents one color of the final illustration. The pencil drawings are on papers approximately 7.5 x 7.5 cm, and the proofs are on papers approximately 10 x 14 cm and 13 x 13 cm.

Scope and Contents Pencil drawings and proofs by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 40 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising two pencil drawings, one proof printed in black ink, and one proof printed in red ink. Each proof corresponds with one of the pencil drawings, and each set of pencil and proof represents one color of the final illustration. The pencil drawings are on papers approximately 4 x 7.5 cm, and the proofs are on papers approximately 8 x 12.5 cm and 10.5 x...

Scope and Contents Pencil drawings and proofs by Wightman Williams for abstract illustration on page 45 of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), comprising two pencil drawings, one pencil transfer image, one proof printed in black ink, and one proof printed in teal ink. Each proof corresponds with one of the pencil drawings, and each set of pencil and proof represents one color of the final illustration. The pencil drawings and transfer image are on papers approximately 7.5 x 9.5 cm, and the proofs...

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Pen and wash abstract studies by Wightman Williams for the book paper appearing on the front cover of Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946), on ten papers of various sizes. Three of the papers have artwork on both sides, representing thirteen designs. Some of the papers show significant discoloration from light exposure.

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Color photocopies of the front cover, title page, and each illustrated page from the book Blackberry Winter, by Robert Penn Warren (1946). The full text of the book is not included. The copies are made in compliance with fair use doctrine, solely for use as an aid to identification and contextualization of Wightman Williams's original artworks in the Mary L. Richmond collection.

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Four rejected signatures from Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946). The groupings are pages 7-14, 15-22, 23-30, and 39-46. The page 7-14 group includes penciled notations by printer Harry Duncan, marking corrections. The page 39-46 group includes illustrations partially colored by Wightman Williams. The other three signatures include uncolored illustrations by Williams.

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Illustration created by Wightman Williams for Robert Penn Warren's Blackberry Winter (1946). This is an unused variant of the illustration that appeared on page 7. The abstract drawing is in black ink with red paint accents on a paper approximately 7.5 x 11.5 cm.

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Two woodblocks created by Wightman Williams for a bookplate for Amherst College Library, "From the books of Thomas A. Ethier of the class of 1921." Each block measures approximately 5 x 6.5 cm. The two blocks would have been used together to create a two-color illustration of a dragon's face.

Scope and Contents Unpublished signatures for Mesa, series II, number I, Winter MCMXLIX, set and printed by Harry Duncan and Paul Wightman Williams in 1950. Only one signature was printed, in an unknown number of copies. According to the handwritten version of the Flamer inventory, this may have been the first use by the Cummington Press of Romanee type from the Netherlands. Printed on Rives woven paper, watermarked "RIVES" in open capitals. Mesa editor Herbert Steiner asked Duncan and Williams to come to New...

Scope and Contents Original abstract drawing and two proofs of Wightman Williams's illustration for the Cummington Press Christmas card for 1948, which featured the poem "A une raison" by Arthur Rimbaud in French with an English translation by Harry Duncan, who also set the type for the card. The original black ink line drawing measures approximately 8.5 x 6.5 cm on a sheet 29 x 9 cm. The engraver's proof of the illustration alone is printed in black ink on a sheet 9 x 7 cm. The printer's proof of the...

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Black ink line drawing of a snowflake by Wightman Williams as a proof for the 1944 Cummington Press Christmas card, which featured the poem "A Garland of Snow for Christmas" by Samuel French Morse (Cummington Press, 1944). This same snowflake was also used as the cover image for Allen Tate's The Winter Sea (Cummington Press, 1944). The image measures approximately 4.5 x 4.5 cm, on a paper approximately 10.5 x 10.5 cm.

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Three proofs of the abstract illustration by Wightman Williams for the Cummington Press Christmas card for 1950, which featured the poem "The Firs," by Guillaume Apollinaire. All three of the proofs are printed in black ink on different types of paper, and one of them is further accented with red and green paint. The illustration measures 8.5 x 5.5 cm. The drawing simultaneously resembles a fir tree or a face.

Scope and Contents Seven pieces related to the 1955 Cummington Press Christmas card, "Glory to God in the high heavens":Watercolor painting over pencil drawing, with three panels. Top panel features a series of blue wavy lines. Second panel features the outline of an angel with a trumpet, facing left, on a field of blue. Third panel features the outline of an angel with a trumpet, facing right, on a field of orange. The borders of the panels have been shaped with white paint. Each panel is...

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Woodblock engraving by Wightman Williams for the Cummington Press Christmas card for 1946. The card featured 'Ch(r)iss (loGod nit ane ingel laip)t, by Wightman Williams. The block measures 6.75 x 9 cm.

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Woodblock engraving by Wightman Williams for the Cummington Press Christmas card for 1950. The card featured the poem The Firs, by Guillaume Apollinaire (1950). The block measures 6 x 8 cm.