Envelope Art
A Selection from the W. H. Chignell Collection
Unicorn Publishing Group
Will be published approx. on 1. July 2026
Book
Hardback
112 pages
978-1-918271-02-7 (ISBN)
Description
The chief legacy of William Henry Chignell (1841-1933), the subject of this book, consisted of several hundred hand-painted envelopes sent to amuse his children scattered around Britain and in far-flung corners of the Empire. Each envelope has a water-colour drawing on the front and often the address is incorporated into the design. The drawings show extraordinary talent and range from ironic sketches, to witty commentary, and to beautiful scenes.
Accompanying the illustrated envelopes that make up this volume are extracts from the children's writings providing indications of where they would have been when they received the envelopes and what they must have meant to them and to the communities in which they were living. This gives a wider context for the designs and brings them to life in ways that the envelopes on their own, as truly remarkable as they are, cannot do.
Accompanying the illustrated envelopes that make up this volume are extracts from the children's writings providing indications of where they would have been when they received the envelopes and what they must have meant to them and to the communities in which they were living. This gives a wider context for the designs and brings them to life in ways that the envelopes on their own, as truly remarkable as they are, cannot do.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 156 mm
Width: 234 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
308 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-918271-02-7 (9781918271027)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
James P. Carley is a Canadian academic and the great-grandson of W.H. Chignell. He has written extensively on the dissolution of the English monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII, as well books about his many wives. He has also published numerous academic studies on the Tudor period. He has also written for The Spectator, and been a commentator on CBC.