Sketches of a Late Etcher - By and Of May Gearhart

May Gearhart

An unusual and humorous illustrated book about the trials of an artist (Gearhart, referring to herself as "we") who is late in getting her prints to the Chicago Society of Etchers' jury. The small quarto book, published by James Swann in Chicago, is dedicated to "B.E.J." - the initals for Bertha Evelyn Jacques, one of the founders of the Society and its then-current secretary. Gearhart was living in Pasadena, CA, and had to ship her works via Postal Service, sending off her work and waiting weeks to learn the outcome of the Society's jury.

Toward the end of the unpaginated book she writes, "Breaking home ties, breaking traffic laws, ignoring friends, relatives, and police we dash on. We land all in a heap in the Parcel Post. A hairy hand grabs and stamps - it is mailed. It is gone. All is over." This is followed by her worried lamentation, "Mebbe the Jury will accept ALL of our prints. Mebbe it will accept none. Mebbe it will take one - just one - a little tiny one. O Well. God pity the poor waiting girl. There is nothing to do but wait."

The illustrations and handwritten text appear to have been originally executed in ink or watercolor, and then reproduced in half-tone for publication. The book is a small quarto with paper boards and spine, with the original title pasted to the recto. Includes twenty-six illustrated pages and three black endpages at the end. In remarkably good condition for the age and materials, it shows very minor splitting in the upper and lower ends of the spine, a tidemark on the recto cover's lower left corner, the usual scuffing and faint surface soiling, and lightstriking to the spine.

There is no editioning for this book and very little information about the publishing other than the year, city, and James Swann's name. Swann (1905 - 1985) was himself a talented printmaker, protege to Bertha Jacques a member of the Chicago Society of Etchers. In 1936 he began learning the art of bookbinding and by the late '30s began turning his attention to promoting the work of his artist friends. This may have been one of his earliest projects with that in mind.