Comments on: William Heath Robinson’s Midsummer Night’s Dream

By: John

John — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:20:58 +0000

I wish someone would do facsimile editions of some of these books, they’re so beautifully designed. I have a “facsimile” edition of Harry Clarke’s Perrault which isn’t ideal—they changed the title page for a start—but it does include all the illustrations.

By: Callum

Callum — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:03:11 +0000

I love this book. I’ve been lucky enough to have a physical copy in my hands in the past and like you’re other friend said, that Act IV page is just fantastic, one of the best examples of the genre I know, perfect use of black and white-space, form, humour, details… guh! just lovely. My friend the printer at The Old Stile Press included that image in their 20th century bibliography as one of the ‘influences’ on him as a child which made him want to be involved in the creation of print and books.

By: John

John — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:02:59 +0000

Would need to be a bigger fish! Amano is very influenced by this period of illustration, so that's not surprising. I love his work, rather than being a slavish imitation he gives it a Japanese twist. I referred to an Amano exhibition recently.

By: Nathalie

Nathalie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:15:46 +0000

Lovely. This Act IV picture makes me regret not having the necessary skills to make an animationthat would end up with the fish eating the fairy…

I was In Minnesota for a few days and picked up a book I think you would like too: Illustrations to “The Tale of Genji” by Yoshitaka Amano.
Some of them reminded me of some ballet costume paintings by Léon Bakst, strangely enough.