IN PRAISE OF ULSTER; With Forty-Eight Drawings by J. Humbert Craig, R.H.A.
Belfast, Ireland: Wm. Mullan & Son, 1939. Third edition. Hardcover. Quarto, 10 in. x 7.5 in., pp. viii, 383. Illustrated with 48 plates of brown-gray toned paintings. Green cloth boards with gilt title to spine. Light rubbing to edges and a touch of sunning to spine and board edges. Bent corners. Sweet, tidy Christmas gift inscription, dated 1945, to front free endpaper. Light age-toning to leaves; tanning to rear endpapers. Spine and hinges tight. Good Plus. Item #88744
Author Richard Hayward (1892 – 1964) was a British film actor, writer and musician. Life and career Born in Southport, Lancashire, his family moved to Ireland when he was a baby. Hayward was an enthusiast for all Ulster regional popular culture. He was a member of the Orange Order, to which he dedicated much time. After a period working at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin he helped form the Belfast Repertory Theatre Company. He was a popular singer in the forties and fifties. His career meant he lived a typical theatrical lifestyle being constantly on the move. Hayward wrote a number of travel books about Ireland, exploring every county. He was closely associated with the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, serving as its president in 1951.
Illlustrator James Humbert Craig (1877-1944) was a landscape painter born in Belfast. He initially attended the Belfast School of Art but failed to complete even one term, making him a largely self-taught artist. His passion for the outdoors and landscape meant that the Glens of Antrim, Donegal and Connemara were his most popular subjects. He briefly emigrated to the United States, but only stayed for a short time before returning to County Down. Craig’s work first appeared at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1915, where he continued to exhibit until his death. In 1928, Craig was elected to the Royal Ulster Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy. His paintings exemplify his simple golden rule, to ‘never try to improve on nature’. (from Ross's).
Price: $60.00