Feature October 2013

Posthumous Baxter Prints!

There are a number of hand coloured prints that one might find with George Baxter's signature in the plate margin.

According to Courtney Lewis, they were printed and coloured long after Baxter’s death, possibly from key plates that George Baxter had prepared but never printed from.

It is thought that the printing plates had been in the possession of George Baxter Junior, at his printing works in Montpellier Street, Birmingham after his father's death.

Later a number of key plates were recovered from a pawnbroker’s shop in Birmingham.

They were divided among the Members of the first Baxter Society; Mr Priest, Mr Bullock, Mr Carberry and Mr Rhodes.

Courtney Lewis tells us that Mr Rhodes bought the plates of “Going to Church” and others.

About 100 copies were printed by Messrs Drake, Driver and Leaver from the plates. These were printed in brown ink direct on to a large card and inscribed with the name of the owner of the particular plate.

The example shown is inscribed as follows: GOING TO CHURCH Posthumous plate of G. Baxter, published by J.S. Rhodes, Hon. Sec. Baxter Society, Birmingham 1898.