Herbert John Hodgson (2 June 1893,

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

– 10 August 1974,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is regarded as one of the most skilled printers of the twentieth century. After serving in the First World War, with Roy Manning Pike he printed the rare 1926 subscribers' edition of ''

Seven Pillars of Wisdom ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' is the autobiographical account of the experiences of British Army Colonel T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") while serving as a military advisor to Bedouin forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empi ...

'' by

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...

. From 1927 to 1936 he worked at the

Gregynog Press The Gregynog Press, also known as Gwasg Gregynog, is a printing press and charity located at Gregynog Hall near Newtown in Powys, Wales. Early years Founded in 1922 by the sisters and art patrons Margaret and Gwendoline Davies, guided by Thom ...

for fine books in mid-Wales.

Service in the First World War

Hodgson joined the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

before the outbreak of war in 1914 and was assigned to the 24th (County of London) Battalion (The Queen’s), The London Regiment. After training he was sent to the front in France. In March 1915 he was in reserve at the battle of

Neuve Chapelle Neuve-Chapelle () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France It was the site of a First World War battle in 1915 about northeast of Béthune and southwest of Lille. History In the Battle of Neuve Ch ...

. His first front-line engagements were at the battles of

Festubert Festubert () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France southwest of Lille. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert ...

and

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert d ...

in May 1915. At Givenchy he was part of a group that held a German trench overnight under heavy fire and suffered heavy casualties. Among this group were Lance-Corporal Leonard James Keyworth, who won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

for his role in that engagement, and Captain Donald Figg, who was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

for his bravery that night. Hodgson was later involved in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

in September 1915 and the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916. In 1917 he was slightly injured and he convalesced in England. He married Rebecca Moore in Southwark on 15 September 1917. Returning to the front he was transferred to the 9th

Royal Irish Fusiliers The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry (later changed to light infantry) regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess ...

. As a result of a further engagement in April 1918 east of

Wulverghem Wulverghem (also known as Wulvergem) is a Belgian village. It is the smallest village in the Heuvelland Municipality, with 260 people, and a total area of 350 hectares. History The area experienced many major battles during World War I, as part o ...

near

Messines Messines may refer to: * Mesen (in French: Messines), a village in Belgium **Battle of Messines (disambiguation), World War I battles * Messines, Quebec, a municipality in Canada * São Bartolomeu de Messines São Bartolomeu de Messines, also ref ...

he fell into a shell hole and found a mud-encrusted book. He stuffed this into his pocket and carried on, but he was knocked out by a shell explosion. When he became conscious he discovered that the book was a Bible. An officer told him to keep it for luck. 92 years later the original owner of the Bible was traced. Suffering from shell-shock, Hodgson was consigned to light duties for the remainder of the war.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Trained as a skilled printer, in 1923 Hodgson was contracted by Roy Manning Pike to help print the valuable subscribers' edition of ''

'' by

. The book had illustrations by

Eric Kennington Eric Henri Kennington (12 March 1888 – 13 April 1960) was an English sculptor, artist and illustrator, and an official British official war artists, war artist in both of the world wars. As a war artist, Kennington specialised in depictions ...

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

, Paul Nash,

Blair Hughes-Stanton Blair Rowlands Hughes-Stanton (22 February 1902 – 6 June 1981) was a major figure in the English wood-engraving revival in the twentieth century. He was the son of the artist Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton. He exhibited with the Society of Woo ...

and his wife

Gertrude Hermes Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes (18 August 1901 – 9 May 1983) was a British wood-engraver and sculptor. Hermes was a member of the English Wood Engraving Society (1925–31) and exhibited with the Society of Wood Engravers, the Royal Academy an ...

Gregynog Press

After completing work on the ''Seven Pillars'' in 1926 Hodgson moved in 1927 to the

near

Newtown, Powys Newtown () is a town in Powys, Wales. It lies on the River Severn in the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It was designated a New towns movement, new town in ...

, which specialised in the production of fine books. He remained there urntil 1936. In her history of the Gregynog Press, Dorothy A. Harrop reports that Robert Maynard (the Controller of the Press) "came to be of the opinion that Hodgson was probably the best pressman in the country at that time. … Hodgson’s name appears for the first time in the Colophon and his masterly touch is already apparent. … The printing of these…… represents a triumph for Hodgson."''A History of the Gregynog Press'', by Dorothy A. Harrop, 1980.

Return to London

Concerned about the employment prospects of his growing family, Hodgson returned to London in 1936. In the

London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

he lost one of his sisters. His wife died of cancer in 1956. Hodgson continued to work as a printer until he retired in 1963. He died peacefully in 1974, leaving four sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Herbert John 1893 births 1974 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Southwark London Regiment soldiers Royal Irish Fusiliers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British printers Territorial Force soldiers