Henry Wilson

Following the critical and commercial success of Pattern and Ornament in the Arts of India, Henry Wilson has turned for this companion volume to a single theme. But what a theme: the variety of floral motifs in the exquisitely wrought details of India’s architectural wonders is boundless, and one can only marvel at the way in which the basic elements of wood, stone and plaster have been transformed into masterworks of decorative art. From the illustrious Mughal Empire during its greatest period of monument-building and artistic creativity to the time of British rule, which brought with it an unprecedented period of peace that allowed great wealth to be concentrated on the arts, the richness of India’s architecture is overwhelming. Henry Wilson’s fine photographs reveals the skill, patience and pictorial imagination of the many thousands of craftsmen who have turned to floral motifs and rendered them with precision and life-enriching creativity. Juxtaposed with the photographs are Wilson’s own graphic transpositions of the designs – a wealth of detailed drawings, all created by hand but with a stencil-like clarity that helps us understand the original historical patterns. The result is an invaluable sourcebook that will appeal not only to those interested in one of the world’s oldest civilizations and greatest cultures, but also to anyone seeking inspiration for their own graphic creations.

Printmaker James Caulfield (1764–1826) spent much of his career publishing illustrated books about 'remarkable persons'. He began his first series around 1788 and continued it sporadically from 1790 to 1795, with books on a similar theme continuing to appear in the first decades of the nineteenth century. More than forty years after his death, this collection of biographies (produced in collaboration with Henry Wilson (fl. 1820–30)) was republished in 1869. The edition's introduction explains that the renewed interest in these characters comes from the fact that 'we have nearly lost all, and are daily losing what little remains of, our individuality'. The vignettes, accompanied by engravings of each individual, describe a wide-ranging group - from the man who died aged 152 to a 'remarkable glutton' to a woman who lived on the smell of flowers - their only common factor being that they were in some way 'wonderful'.