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The Downey Engravers
by Richard Downey, IBSN 9781036907150
This book covers my family of eleven engravers from the 1780’s to the 1990’s and contains prints of every available bookplate engraved by the family. It is biased to the bookplate work of Alfred James Downey and his father Alfred Dyer Downey, although examples of the work of the other Downey engravers are included.
There are over 250 prints of their engravings, produced at actual size unless they are too large for the page. All these prints are documented with the details of the name, date, image size, motto, imprint detail, and in some cases, notes from correspondence made at the time of commissioning and creating the print. This correspondence gives an insight into the production of the works. Short biographies, where known, have been added.
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Non-bookplate engravings by the Downeys are also shown. Additionally there are 90 illustrations showing documents, portraits, photos and examples of other works. These are mostly stamps and banknotes, that various family members engraved. In some cases there are also illustrations of the sketches used by the engravers to design and engrave the bookplates.
The family tree, background and biographies of each engraver, with illustrations are also shown where possible. This is an example from the Alfred James Downey section showing a typical layout and detail. |
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In the case of Alfred James Downey an “Insights” section details landmarks in his life, which gives a full picture of his working life as an engraver.
Alfred Dyer Downey, father of Alfred James Downey and brother to Thomes Edward Downey also engraved bookplates, examples of which are shown here.
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TED’s own personal bookplate |
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Leslie Ernest Downey was not a bookplate engraver, but a very talented and respected portrait engraver who worked in the security printing trade. The section relating to him gives many examples of these works as well as details of his life as an engraver. His engravings were mainly stamps and banknotes and some examples of his work are shown in the book, usually enlarged to allow the reader to see the detail. |
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The book also contains lists of the known work of all the engravers, split as necessary into lists of bookplates, stamps, banknotes and other engravings.
After many years of research the book was published at the beginning of 2025 and most of the first print run has been dispatched. The book weighing 2.1 kgs contains 330 pages of high-quality print on glossy paper with a sewn binding and a hard cover. Some of the illustrations and bookplates are printed in colour. In future, as this is a very specialist book, print runs will be made subject to orders being received as I cannot justify printing large numbers in advance. The next print run is planned for Summer 2025 and all paid orders will be fulfilled soon after that. The book is retailing at £50 with a charge for post and packing of £10 to the mainland of the UK. Non UK postage will be calculated for each order. If you are interested in purchasing the book, initially please contact me at The full amount of £60 will be required after confirmation of the order. |
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