The Owl 3 Vols: No 1 (May 1919) to No 3 (Winter 1923) — William Nicholson Interest

Complete set of this short-lived post-war art and literary miscellany encompassing three large folios (the first in paperback, the second two hardback)

Published at a time when most literary magazines leaned toward experimentation and political engagement, Robert Graves’s short-lived quarterly The Owl stood out for its deliberate conservatism. Conceived by his father-in-law, the painter Sir William Nicholson, the magazine placed Graves as literary editor while Nicholson oversaw illustrations and financed the venture. William Nicholson played a central role in shaping The Owl. Beyond initiating the project, he determined its visual character by selecting illustrators, ensuring a cohesive and traditional aesthetic that matched the magazine’s conservative literary stance. The first issue appeared in May 1919, when Graves was twenty-three.

Although the magazine produced only two issues, it briefly reappeared as The Winter Owl in November 1923. Graves’s editorial choices reflected his early alignment with the Georgian poetic movement, favoring established writers such as Thomas Hardy, J. C. Squire, John Galsworthy, and Walter de la Mare over more radical contemporaries.

Printed by F. Vincent Brooks; letterpress by Gerard T. Meynell at the Westminster Press. Including illustrations by William Nicholson, George Belcher, Pamela Bianco, Randolph Caldecott, Joseph Crawhall, Eric Kennington, Nancy Nicholson and William Orpen. Includes literary contributions from Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, Max Beerbohm, Walter de la Mare, Thomas Hardy, John Masefield, John Galsworthy, among others.

‘It must be understood that The Owl has no politics, leads no new movement and is not even the organ of any particular generation — for that matter sixty-seven years separate the oldest and youngest contributors. But we find in common a love of honest work well done, and a distaste for short cuts to popular success.’ — Robert Graves

Condition of Issue 1 (May 1919): Very good. Moderate creasing to front cover, a few small tears and wear to cover edges and corners. Minor foxing to pages.

Condition of Issue 2 (October 1919): Very good. Moderate bumping, wear and minor cracks to edges of boards. Binding tight. Minor foxing to pages.

Condition of Issue 3 (November 1923): Very good. Rebound in blue cloth. Moderate bumping and wear to edges of boards. Binding tight. Some toning to prelims. Pages bright with very little foxing.