Robert Gibbings

Saskatchewan NAC Auction House Biography and Notes

Robert Gibbings was born in Cork and grew up in the town of Kinsale where his father was the rector of St. Multose Church. He was an 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. He was a founding member of the Society of Wood Engravers in 1920, and had a major influence in the revival of wood engraving in the twentieth century. In 1923 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. Gibbons bought Golden Cockerel in 1924 and published some 71 titles at the press and printed a number of books for others. He sold the company in 1933 after declining sales due to the Depression. Gibbings illustrated numerous books on travel and natural history, including Charles Darwin's "Voyage of HMS Beagle" and wrote a series of bestselling river books, notably "Sweet Thames Run Softly".