posted on 27 Mar 2022

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, illustrated by Clarke Hutton

The Pilgrim’s Progress: from this world to that which is to come delivered under the similitude of a dream by John Bunyan has never been out-of-print since its first publication in 1678 and is one of the most reprinted books ever. It has also been produced in a dizzying number of different editions. These multifarious reprints and different editions started multiplying almost immediately after the first publication. Wikipedia tells us:

“There were eleven editions of the first part in John Bunyan's lifetime, published in successive years from 1678 to 1685 and in 1688, and there were two editions of the second part, published in 1684 and 1686.”

Modern day rare book dealers, Adrian Harrington can update this to some extent:

“The Pilgrim's Progress became one of the most published books in the English language; 1,300 editions having been printed by 1938, 250 years after the author's death.”

It probably wouldn’t be an outlandish guess to think that by the time I sat down to start writing this short piece, the number of editions probably exceed 5,000.

It is, of course, a famous Christian allegory and its accessibility in dramatizing Biblical sermonizing probably accounts not just for the number of editions (it’s always been a favourite of prize giving, especially in Sunday Schools, for children) but also for the number that are illustrated editions. Illustrating the text expands the reading audience for those who rely on the illustrations to supplement some of the difficulties they may face with literacy skills.

But it’s not Bunyan’s text I’m interested in here but a very specific edition I have picked up, published by SCM Press Limited in 1947 and which is superbly illustrated by Clarke Hutton.

SCM Press is, of course, a specialist Christian publisher that appears to be still flourishing today. I love it when the publisher respects the reader and gives full details of the production values:

“The lithographed illustrations were drawn direct on the plate by the artist. The type is Perpetua, designed by Eric Gill, printed on paper supplied by A. Archibald & Co., and bound by James Burn & Co. The book as a whole was designed by John R. Biggs. Printed in Great Britain by W.S. Cowell Limited at Butter Market, Ipswich in 1947.”

Reference to the lithographed illustrations brings us on to the work of Clarke Hutton. The University of Warwick Art Collection website gives us a useful potted biography:

“Born: 1898. Died: 1966. Nationality: British.

Hutton became one of the most eminent and influential book illustrators of his time. Early in his career he had worked with the celebrated theatre designer William Pitcher before enrolling at the Central School of Arts and Crafts to study lithography with A S Hartrick who, on his retirement in 1929, was replaced by Hutton.

He experimented in the auto-lithography process in which the artist’s designs drawn directly onto the plate are printed on a mechanical off-set litho press. His aim was to find a process for making high volume, affordable, colour illustrations for children’s books and he was instrumental in the establishment of the highly successful Puffin imprint for Penguin Books. He also wrote and illustrated the 1945 classic of children’s books A Picture History of Britain, which ranged from pre-history to the 1940s. The Oxford University Press issued a facsimile edition of this in 2007.

Hutton also exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy, the London Group, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, the Redfern Gallery and elsewhere. The British Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum and National Gallery of Canada are among public collections which hold examples of his work.”

 

But the full flavour of Hutton’s work can be seen in the excellent gallery provided at Fishink where the full splendour of the artist’s mid-century influences are dazzling.

In this edition he provides 15 full page, full colour illustrations and a host of part page drawings and vignettes.

By contrast with some of the hefty Victorian editions with their rather forbidding black/white/grey engravings, this book positively zings with colour and life – the quality of the art adding substantially to the text and bringing with it a new freshness in reading a story you’ll probably have some familiarity with. Bunyan’s allegory has given the English language so many phrases that we have absorbed into common usage and reading, Pilgrim’s story is a cultural must even if, like me, you’re not a believer in the Christian message.

Copies can be found on the second hand market and you'll pick up a good copy with a jacket for between £10 and £15.

Terry Potter

March 2022