Robert John Gibbings was an Irish artist and author who was most noted for his work as a wood engraver and sculptor, and for his books on travel and natural history.
54 Facts About Robert Gibbings
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Robert Gibbings's father, the Reverend Edward Gibbings, was a Church of Ireland minister.
3.
Robert Gibbings grew up in the town of Kinsale where his father was the rector of St Multose Church.
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Robert Gibbings studied medicine for three years at University College Cork before deciding to persuade his parents to allow him to take up art.
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Robert Gibbings studied under the painter Harry Scully in Cork and later at the Slade School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design.
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Life as an artist meant life as a wood engraver, and a life where Robert Gibbings often struggled financially whilst, at the same time, receiving critical acclaim.
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In 1922 Robert Gibbings produced a wood engraving for the dust jacket of The Oppidan by Shane Leslie and in 1923 he illustrated Erewhon by Samuel Butler.
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Robert Gibbings was very much at the centre of developments in wood engraving.
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Robert Gibbings was a founder member and leading light of the Society of Wood Engravers, which he set up with Noel Rooke in 1920.
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In 1923 Robert Gibbings received a commission for a set of wood engravings for The Lives of Gallant Ladies for the Golden Cockerel Press, his most important commission to date at 100 guineas.
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Robert Gibbings was working on the wood engravings The Lives of Gallant Ladies when Hal Taylor, the owner of the press, became very ill with tuberculosis and had to put it up for sale.
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Robert Gibbings sought a loan from a friend, Hubert Pike, a director of Bentley Motors, to buy the press.
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Robert Gibbings knew all the leading wood engravers of the day and a number of authors, which enabled him to publish modern texts as well as classic ones.
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The first book for which Robert Gibbings was entirely responsible was Moral Maxims by Rochefoucault.
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Robert Gibbings published some 71 titles at the press and printed a number of books for others.
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Robert Gibbings printed 15 copies of the Canterbury Tales on vellum, and 12 copies of the Four Gospels.
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Robert Gibbings produced a number of books with his own wood engravings at the press, the high points being The True History of Lucian and Lamia by John Keats.
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Robert Gibbings had established links with a number of booksellers, notably Bumpus in London, and negotiated a very favourable deal with Random House in the USA.
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Robert Gibbings bought out Pike with finance from another Irish friend, Mary Wiggin, and later bought her out, borrowing the money from Barclays Bank.
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The Robert Gibbings family had moved to Waltham Saint Lawrence when they bought the press.
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Robert Gibbings never settled into family life, and this became an issue for Moira as time passed.
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Robert Gibbings leapt at the chance and in 1929 he set out for Tahiti.
23.
Robert Gibbings completed the wood engravings, but Hall did not complete the text.
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In February 1932 Robert Gibbings wrote to the owners of the Orient Line suggesting that he produce wood engravings for their publicity in return for a free cruise.
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Moira was less than delighted that Robert Gibbings had twice left her in charge of the business and their family on her own and with very little consultation.
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Robert Gibbings returned in 1936 to finalise her divorce from Gibbings.
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The press was now moribund and Robert Gibbings eventually sold up in 1933.
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Robert Gibbings had lost his livelihood and his family, though not his home.
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Robert Gibbings did not sell the grounds and buildings of the press, as the new owners moved the press to London.
30.
Robert Gibbings did not seem deeply distressed about the loss of his family, although he did build up a close relationship with Patrick.
31.
Glory of Life was produced by Robert Gibbings, but published by the new owners of the Golden Cockerel Press.
32.
Robert Gibbings's reputation was growing and he was commissioned by Penguin Books to write a travel book.
33.
Robert Gibbings went to Bermuda and the Red Sea, and wrote and illustrated Blue Angels and Whales.
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Robert Gibbings continued to illustrate books for the Golden Cockerel Press and other publishers, designed a greetings telegram for the GPO, became involved with the Sun Bathing review and produced adverts for Shell Oil.
35.
Robert Gibbings had numbers of visitors from Reading University, one of whom was Elisabeth Empson.
36.
Elisabeth and Robert Gibbings were married in 1937 after Moira finally agreed to a divorce.
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Robert Gibbings went off, for example, on two trips to Bermuda and the Red Sea, leaving Elisabeth with two young children to look after.
38.
Robert Gibbings was a very good teacher, and encouraged his students by producing a number of books illustrated with their wood engravings, including Fatherless Oberlus, Loftur and The Diary of W Lashly, the diary of William Lashly, a survivor of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole.
39.
Robert Gibbings had begun to take part in natural history trips to the Thames organised by the university.
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Robert Gibbings later wrote: "In the early days of 1939 there arose in me a great desire to find peace beside a river".
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Robert Gibbings visited many of the islands and spent six months in New Zealand, returning in late 1947.
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Robert Gibbings recounted his travels and experiences in Over the Reefs.
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Robert Gibbings returned to Ireland for Sweet Cork of Thee, and then crossed the English Channel to write Coming down the Seine.
44.
The bearded figure of Robert Gibbings became as familiar on British television as was his voice to radio listeners.
45.
David Attenborough remembers Robert Gibbings as being one of the inspiring influences at the start of his career.
46.
Robert Gibbings left for the South Seas after a very few weeks, leaving Elisabeth, who was by now pregnant, with their children.
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Robert Gibbings went mostly to help him with his writing, and partly at Elisabeth's suggestion.
48.
When Robert Gibbings returned to England late in 1947 she stayed in New Zealand and then went to South Africa as Mrs Empson felt that it would be improper for her to return with Robert Gibbings.
49.
In September 1955 Patience and Robert Gibbings bought Footbridge Cottage, a tiny beehive of a cottage in Robert Gibbings's words, in Long Wittenham on the banks of the Thames.
50.
Robert Gibbings is buried in the churchyard at Long Wittenham.
51.
Robert Gibbings's is the most cited name in Joanna Selborne's monumental survey.
52.
Robert Gibbings was at the centre of all the developments in wood engraving, from the cubist engravings of his vanishing line period to the traditional landscape based engravings of the river books.
53.
Robert Gibbings ran the Golden Cockerel Press at the period when it shaped the concept of the wood engraved book.
54.
The definitive biography of Robert Gibbings is by Martin Andrews, and the definitive bibliography is by Mary Kirkus.