[Mildred Ratcliffe] Album of original illuminated initials, designs, leaves, and miniatures

[Ratcliffe, Mildred]. Album of original artwork, approximately 25 thick grey leaves with artwork loosely inserted, mounted, or tipped-in on rectos and versos. Circa ~1920-1930.

The album contains more than 75 images in total, including illuminated leaves on vellum, pen & ink drawings, pencil sketches, designs after medieval manuscripts, designs for title-pages, illuminated and decorated large initials, a design for a bookplate, an illuminated pen & ink on parchment nativity scene (and the same design repeated in watercolor and gouache on card), border designs, painted alphabets, a gouache painting of the resurrection, etc. 

Also includes several photographs of illuminated leaves, presumably from professional work and/or exhibitions. A few designs and leaves loosely inserted, including a certificate for leather work from the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes (specifically noting night classes at the Liverpool City School of Art). Some illustrations are annotated by Ratcliffe, with several signed. Several examples include dates, with all appearing to have been produced between 1920-1930. A number of blank leaves at rear.

Original patterned boards, with leather spine and corners (given the certificate, potentially done by Ratcliffe herself). Measures 10.75" x 15.75". Edgewear and rubbing to covers and spine.

Mildred M. Ratcliffe FSSI (1899–1988) was a distinguished English painter, calligrapher, and commercial artist. Born in Rochester, Kent, she initially worked as a wages clerk for the Civil Service before transitioning into her artistic career in the Post Office Savings Bank's publicity unit in the 1920s. Ratcliffe gained recognition for her illuminated manuscript, the "Book of Acknowledgement," created for the Benenden Civil Service Chest Hospital’s Appeal Fund and presented to Queen Elizabeth in 1950.

Her contributions to the field of calligraphy and design were further solidified with her exhibitions at two Royal Academy of Arts summer shows and her fellowship with the Society of Scribes and Illuminators (of which she was a 50+ year member), which was originally formed by students of Edward Johnston.

Ratcliffe's work is preserved in institutions like the Imperial War Museums, The Postal Museum, The National Archives, and the Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery. In her later years, she lived in Loose, Kent, where she continued to contribute to the arts, mentoring children and serving as vice-president of the Civil Service Arts Club. She passed away in 1988, leaving a legacy through both her work and the Mildred Ratcliffe Prize, awarded annually by the Maidstone Art Society.