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John R. Smith

The Vacant Frame

Maker

John R. Smith (British, 1752-1812)
Robert Brough (British, 1872-1905), author
Rocket Press (English), publisher

Title

The Vacant Frame

Year

1983

Medium

  • linocut

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • linocut

Materials

linocut

Supports

  • Medium weight wove off-white paper

Geography

Place Made: The Vicarge; Place Made: Stevenson; Place Made: Oxfordshire

Dimensions

23.2 x 26 x 3.2 cm (9 1/8 x 10 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches) box

Signature / Inscription / Marks

In brown ink, lower half of colophon:59/ John R. Smith

Identification

Edition

59/80

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Scott and Cindy Burns

Object Number

1999.11.3

Type

  • Books

Exhibition History

Recent Acquisitions
Inclusive and Diverse
Feb 18, 2000 – Apr 16, 2000

Label copy

The RISD Museum has amassed a collection of about 300 artist's books, albums, scrapbooks, and rare volumes. (The RISD Library holds an additional 900 or so artist's books.) One collector-couple's passion for books published by small British presses has swelled the number of artist's books in the Museum's collection over the past several years. The Rocket Press is among the few British establishments still operating full-time for the design and production of high quality letterpress, publishing three or four books a year on their own in addition to commissioned work.

The Vacant Frame was first published in 1899 by Robert Brough in an anthology of poems entitled Tips for Typos, or, Rhymes to Rub off Rust. The Rocket Press published the verse in 1983 as a portfolio of linocuts by John Robert Smith accompanied by the poem, beautifully housed in a box with four compartments containing the prints, Walker's Book (which is the size of a matchbox), and several pieces of metal type. The 1983 version is a book about the art of printing and bookmaking.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Tombstone

John R. Smith (British, 1752-1812)
Robert Brough (British, 1872-1905), author
Rocket Press (English), publisher
The Vacant Frame, 1983
Linocut
23.2 x 26 x 3.2 cm (9 1/8 x 10 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches) box
Gift of Scott and Cindy Burns 1999.11.3

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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