The Paintings of D.H. Lawrence

This is a privately printed first edition printed for the Mandrake Press at the Botolph Printing Works in London. It was printed out of the series of 510 volumes and is one of 10 in an original vellum binding. The typography and publication was orchestrated by P.R. Stephensen with letterpress and color-work reproducing artwork done by William Dieper.

Much like his writing, Lawrence’s artwork (favoring oil paintings and watercolors) is explicit with eroticism and surrealist themes which faced contemporary criticism and censorship. A gallery exhibition of his work ended in a raid, and seized paintings were returned to Lawrence only upon promise to never show his artwork in England again. A select few of these paintings have been scanned from the book and are included on the digital kiosk, however the more graphic material is not included.

The book includes the watercolor Throwing Back the Apple (Oct. 1927). In 1979, an appraiser who was assessing the library collection found the original watercolor tucked between the pages of this book. From what little information is available, it is believed that the watercolor had been housed within the book since approximately 1930. Since its discovery, the piece has been matted and framed.