Book blurb: "For several years Mr F. L. Alexander has been compiling and collecting material and working on the manuscript of this book. His work was nearly completed when he died in July I971. The final version of his manuscript - he had revised it repeatedly - still contained extra pages and slips of paper with afterthoughts and notes. These have all been incorporated in the appropriate places. Mr Alexander had also arranged for photographs of the graphic works that he had selected as illustrations. Information relating to artist, title, technique, size and owner were on these prints, as well as other remarks and occasional suggestions as to size of reproduction. Unfortunately these photographs were apparently taken on 35mm film with the result that the photographs were not always of the standard that one would wish to see. The four colour plates were reproduced directly from the original graphic work. Those parts of the manuscript dealing with technical aspects have been adjusted and in parts rewritten. I drew illustrations of tools, etched sample plates for the gravure techniques and added illustrations regarding techniques and history where I considered them necessary. I did not, however, change the opinions or judgements of Mr Alexander, nor his selection of works. As for the selection, the reader could be referred to page 14 of the book. In spite of the state of completion of the work, a surprisingly large amount of work still had to be done. The death of Mrs Alexander shortly after that of her husband left us with literally nobody who could furnish information on problems that had to be solved. All this caused delays in publishing. The author’s list of acknowledgements was, in our opinion, not complete; we also assumed that a fair proportion of the work discussed had conceivably changed hands and the danger of mistakes in attributing ownership of copyright was rather big. For that reason we decided to be not too specific. We are confident that Mr Alexander had made proper arrangements with all concerned and we can only trust that where a name has been left out of our list, the person involved will appreciate that it was not intentional. Being the first comprehensive account of South African graphic art published, Alexander’s book fills a gap in our art literature. As interest in graphic art is growing, the chapters and passages on history and techniques provide valuable background information. Where the author passes judgement or expresses a view - admittedly, sometimes very individual - he is refreshingly honest. One feels his conviction; his statements are crisp and clear. ROMAN WAHER OCTOBER 1973"