Autograph letter signed by Architect George Godwin about engraving dated 1879

GODWIN, George (1813-1888). Autograph letter signed to engraver Lumb Stocks (1812-1892) concerning engravers & engraving. 6 Cromwell Place, 9 May 1879.
 
Autograph letter signed, one bifolium, written on two pages, dated at head “6 Cromwell Place / May 9/79.” Old horizontal fold, light creasing and minor handling wear. A very good example.
 
An autograph letter from the architect, journalist and long-serving editor of The Builder, George Godwin (1813–1888), addressed to the highly respected British engraver Lumb Stocks (1812–1892). Godwin writes that he “should much like to have five minutes talk with you (Lumb) as to the present position of Engravers & Engraving,” proposing a meeting either at his home or at the Art Union Office, and noting that he is “having to say a few words publicly on the subject on Thursday evening,” so that Stocks’ “trouble might not wholly be thrown away.”
 
By the 1870s traditional line engraving faced increasing competition from wood engraving and emerging photomechanical processes, raising questions about professional viability and artistic standing. Godwin's speech, most likely to the Art Union, that he co-founded, was to touch on this issue, and he sought out Lumb's considered opinion on the matter.
 
Godwin was a central figure in Victorian architectural and design reform and, as editor of The Builder for over four decades, exercised considerable influence over artistic and professional discourse. He was also associated with the Art Union movement, which promoted fine art through subscription distribution. Lumb Stocks, a distinguished line engraver, exhibited at the Royal Academy and produced numerous plates for The Art Journal and for the Art Union of London, engraving after artists such as Daniel Maclise, David Wilkie and Joseph Paton. An interesting association between two respected figures of the Victorian art world.