The Correspondence of Edward Gordon Craig and Count Harry Kessler

Abstract

This long-awaited edition brings together for the first time 366 letters, cards and telegrams exchanged between Craig and his patron the cosmopolitan Count Kessler. An important primary source, illuminated by Dr Newman’s commentary, it focuses on three areas of particular importance:- 1. Craig’s artistic ideas and the spread of his influence through exhibitions and books; proposals are developed for work with Otto Brahm, Eleonora Duse, Max Reinhardt, Henry van de Velde, Eduard Verkade, Leopold Jessner, Dyaghilev, Beerbohm Tree, C. B. Cochran, and others. 2. Kessler’s Cranach Press Hamlet with wood-engraved illustrations by Craig; this is a landmark in the history of twentieth-century book design and printing whose genesis is now fully revealed in these letters and amplified with reproductions of eighteen trial page proofs. 3. The relationship between an artist and his patron. Exceptionally detailed indexes are an additional feature of this book.