Escaping into the Creative Imagination: A Case Study of James J. Guthrie and the Pear Tree Press

This paper focuses upon the collection of works by Scottish printmaker James J. Guthrie (1874-1952) housed in the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center. The collection includes numerous prints, drawings, and book plates from the Pear Tree Press, the private press Guthrie operated in England from 1899 until his death. My research will in part analyze the influence of the Romantic period in Guthrie’s work, particularly that of William Blake, as well as the connection between Guthrie’s own creative autonomy and the Romantic movement’s notion of poetic genius. It will examine this revival of Romantic poetry in comparison to the emerging modern fantasy genre within the first half of the 20th century, asking how these parallel forms of escapism inspired by nature and folklore give their respective creators access to cultural roots within a post-industrial, modernized world.