Search results for ""Author Martin Andrews""

The very first book in the world to be illustrated with photographs was produced in Reading between 1844 and 1846. In 1843, William Henry Fox Talbot set up the first commercial studios to mass-produce photographs from negatives and he chose the Berkshire town of Reading as its location. The Reading Establishment, as it became known, marks a pivotal moment in the development of photography. Martin Andrews tells the story of these momentous events and places them in the context of the discovery and early history of photography. Told in a lively and engaging way, the story starts with a mystery. Who is the strange, foreign gentleman buying unusual substances in the chemist shops of Reading - is he a forger or a spy?

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One of the Europe's most celebrated rivers, the Seine stretches from the fertile plains of Burgundy to the English Channel at Le Havre. Starting at its source near Dijon, writer and engraver Robert Gibbings follows the river's 400-mile course as it develops from a tranquil stream into the mighty waterway that links Rouen to the sea. The journey takes different forms: on foot, in a tiny boat 'hardly more than a coracle', on a barge, and on a boat used for transporting books. Throughout this leisurely voyage during one summer Gibbings records his impressions, visual and verbal, of places and people as well as explaining how the river has played a vital role in French history. In part an evocation of the Seine's changing landscapes and rural beauty, this is also an account of towns and cities-Troyes, Rouen, Paris-and their relationship with the river. Looking at writers and painters as well as historic figures who have left their mark on the Seine, Gibbings presents an affectionate picture of this great river and the people who live and work on its banks. Discussing the vineyards of Champagne, the paintings of Sisley and Utrillo, the rituals of Parisian cafe life, the author conveys an irresistible enthusiasm not just for boats and river life, but for all things French. First published in 1953, Coming Down the Seine is illustrated with more than fifty of Gibbings' delightful engravings.

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Peter Hay (1951-2003) was a visionary artist. He was a very English painter whose work has a poetic and mystical quality. Eclectic, curious magpie, he found inspiration from everywhere and gathered it into his image-making. He was a fine draughtsman and watercolourist, a brilliantly inventive printmaker. At heart a figurative artist, the work moves into abstraction through striking black and white and a rich use of colour. After studying Fine Art at Reading University, and two years away in Cornwall, Peter Hay settled in Reading for the rest of his life. He had a strong sense of place; the junction of the rivers Thames and Kennet close to his home was a frequent symbolic theme in his work. He became a central figure in the local art community and was an inspirational teacher. In 1994 he founded Two Rivers Press which gave him the opportunity to pursue through illustration his passion for campaigning, his love of poetry and history. This book brings together the range of this prolific artist's work for the first time.

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Allen W. Seaby's life has been described as "a classic tale of Victorian self-improvement." But there is more to the tale than just upward mobility. A. W. Seaby was a pioneering, innovative and inspirational man who rose to become a prominent print-maker, teacher, author and illustrator. Best-known for his colour woodcut printing using traditional Japanese methods, and as a prominent wildlife artist, the story of Seaby's many accomplishments is recounted by his grandson, who inherited Seaby's love of birds and became internationally renowned in his own right, Robert Gillmor. Alongside this personal recount, Martin Andrews (Seaby's successor as President of the Reading Guild of Artists) selects aspects of his career and expands upon his techniques, his illustrative methods, his circle of fellow artists and the books he published to give a full and rounded account of a man whose work is currently enjoying a well-deserved renaissance.

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