Robert John Gibbings born in Cork, studied under Noel Rooke at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. He founded the Society of Wood Engravers in 1919 and bought the Golden Cockerel Press in 1924. He was a prolific illustrator of books including his own “River” books which he illustrated with wood-engravings. He only rarely used line-engravings on copper for book illustrations. Ref; Patience Empson. “The Wood Engravings of Robert Gibbings” Dent 1959.