Minchin, H. Cotton

British Captain Humphrey Cotton Minchin served as editor for The Legion book, which was commissioned by the Prince of Wales as a way to raise funds for the Royal British Legion, a charity organization that donates to current soldiers and veterans, as suggested by King George V. Not much is known about the editor. Some of the writing contributors include Rudyard Kipling, Edmund Blunden, Hilaire Belloc, Sir Henry Newbolt, and Sir Winston S. Churchill, who also wrote The Jungle Book (1894), Undertones of War (1928), The Path to Rome (1902), Vitai Lampada (1897), The World Crisis (1923-31), respectively. There are fifty artistic contributors, which include: Jacob Epstien, who also sculpted St Michael's Victory over the Devil (1958), Muirhead Bone, who also sketched A View in Flanders behind the Lines, Showing Locre and the Tops of Dug-Outs on the Scherpenber (1915), Paul Nash who also painted The Ypres Salient at Night (1917-18), and Sir William Orpen who also painted Zonnebeke (1918). The contributors to The Legion were some of the most talented British subjects in their field, who composed new and special works of art or literature to be compiled into The Legion.

From the guide to the Inventory of The Legion Papers: Rare MSS 00149 ., 1927-1935, (Cushing Memorial Library)

Little is known of the life of Captain Humphrey Cotton Minchin. He served as editor of 'The Legion book' (1929), and in that capacity presumably became acquainted with some of the most prominent British writers and artists of the time.

Eric Gill , noted British sculptor, engraver, typographic designer, and writer, was born on Feb. 22, 1882 in Brighton, Sussex, England, to Arthur Tidman Gill, a clergyman, and Cicely Rose King Gill. He studied for two years at the Chichester Technical and Art School before being apprenticed to the London architect W.D. Caroe in 1899. Gill turned his attention from architecture to letter carving after studying with Edward Johnston at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. In 1904 he married Ethel Hester Moore. Gill moved his family to Ditchling, Sussex in 1906 and to Capel-y-ffin , Wales in 1924. Gill moved again in 1928 to Piggots, near High Wycombe, England, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. Among his followers at Ditchling and Capel-y-ffin was the young Welsh artist and writer David Jones. Although having renounced religion as a result of his fervent Fabian socialism, Gill converted to Roman Catholicism in 1913, an act which was to have a profound influence on his future life and work. From 1914 until 1918 he carved the stations of the cross for Westminster Cathedral. Other major sculpture projects included 'Prospero and Ariel' for the London headquarters of the BBC and 'The creation of Adam' for the League of Nations Assembly Hall in Geneva, Switzerland. in 1915 Gill co-founded with Douglas Pepler St. Dominic's Press, for which he created engravings and lettering and wrote essays on the relationship between religion and art. Later, with his son-in-law René Hague, Gill established the printing firm of Hague & Gill. Perhaps his most famous achievement as engraver and typographer is the 1931 Golden Cockerel Press edition of 'The four gospels' for which he both engraved the decorations and designed the type face. Eric Gill died of lung cancer on Nov. 17, 1940.

From the description of The Eric Gill - H. Cotton Minchin collection, 1928-1929. (Georgetown University). WorldCat record id: 182627286