Wood engraving, bookplate for Simon Beattie, by Simon Brett, 2005.

A bookplate depicting a silhouetted figure against Exeter Cathedral with leaves falling; the words 'SIMON BEATTIE' incorporated as part of the design.

Given by Simon Beattie

Given to the museum by Simon Beattie, an antiquarian bookseller, in 2016.

Simon Brett is one of the most distinguished wood engravers of the last 50 years. Born in 1943, he learned the medium from Clifford Webb (whose work features in the V&A collection) at Saint Martin’s School of Art, London, where he trained principally as a painter. He has worked almost exclusively as a wood engraver since 1981.

This bookplate was designed and engraved for the donor, Simon Beattie, and its choice of motifs and technique have personal relevance for him. A traditional English Bewick-style of engraving is used for Exeter Cathedral where Beattie trained as a choral scholar whilst at university. A modern style of engraving is employed for the reader and books to evoke Post-War Soviet wood engravers; an allusion to Beattie's chosen degree, whilst at Exeter, in German and Russian. The beech leaves are a reference to Buckinghamshire where Beattie is from. The reader is not necessarily supposed to depict Beattie but rather just someone reading.

E.200-2017