Rats in the trenches: illustrating the poem 'Living sepulchres', in a book of poems by Richard Aldington Accession Number: ART20002.005

Description

Hand-coloured woodcut illustrating the poem 'Living sepulchers', the fifth illustration in a book of poems by British poet and novelist Richard Aldington (1892-1926), published by Beaumont Press, London, 1919. This illustration is on p. 21. The image depicts four huge rats running in and out of the trenches. The poem describes it graphically: '...But the ghastly scurrying of huge rats/ Swollen with feeding upon men's flesh/ Filled me with shrinking dread.' The work is taken from one of a series of black-and-white sketches that Nash inscribed with colour notes. These sketches are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. There are copies of this book without the hand-colouring at the Minories, Colchester and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 'Images of war' was Aldington's second volume of poetry.

Details

Accession Number
ART20002.005
Artist
Paul Nash
Classification
Art
Object Type
Print
Physical Description
Medium: hand-coloured woodcut on paper; edition: 37/200
Measurement
sheet: 18.8 cm x 12.4 cm
Medium
hand-coloured woodcut on paper; edition: 37/200
Date Made
1919
Place Made
Whole/Part
Child
Item Count
1
Credit Line
Purchased 1984
Copyright
Copyright expired - public domain

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Last modified: 1 May 2023 - 2.02 am