My friend Andrew Judd, who has died aged 76, was an exemplary letterpress printer, binder and artist. His love of literature, particularly poetry, resulted in distinctive limited edition books, as well as linocuts, pamphlets and ephemera. He established a studio in his back garden in Malvern, Worcestershire, and christened it Belmont Hall; the name was used on publications that are noted for their strong typography and Andrew’s evocative illustrations.
Andrew exhibited paintings and linocuts before turning to printing in 2011, working with a Ludlow typograph, on which the type was cast, and an AutoVic platen press. He produced editions in collaboration with the poet Philip Sharpe, but Andrew’s admiration for Thomas Traherne, Herefordshire’s 17th-century mystic poet, led to his magnum opus, a series of volumes reprinting the sections of Traherne’s Centuries of Meditations.
These were embellished by Andrew’s lyrical linocuts of his native landscape, many drawn from the Malvern Hills region. He had an affection for pastoral England that made him an ideal publisher of Edward Thomas and Richard Jefferies, among other writers.
Andrew was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, and brought up in nearby Thornbury, the son of Jack Judd, known as John, who worked in local government, and Eileen (nee Alpass). He was educated at King’s school, Worcester, where he excelled at cricket, instilling a life-long love of the game, and he sang in the cathedral choir.
In the late 1960s he went to study fine art at Newcastle University, in a progressive department led by the artist Kenneth Rowntree. Newcastle’s cultural life was formative for Andrew, who attended the famous poetry readings at the Morden Tower; performers there included Basil Bunting, Ted Hughes and Allen Ginsberg. It was an experience reprised years later when Andrew, by now living in Malvern, found himself living next door to the poet and doctor Gael Turnbull. Gael hosted famous literary friends there, and Andrew heard Ginsberg, Bunting and Omar Pound, son of Ezra, declaiming their work over the garden fence.
In the 70s Andrew taught art in local schools; towards the end of that decade, he went to Sheffield University to study landscape architecture. From the early 80s he worked as a landscape designer and contractor to subsidise his artistic endeavours.
He was known in Malvern as an educator and for his desire to make visual art more accessible in the community. This he achieved though a successful print-making group at St Peter’s church, where countless students developed their craft. It was at St Peter’s that he met Kim Goodenough, his partner since 2005. Thanks to his vision and energy, which particularly shone over a pint of beer, contemplating the next project, Andrew epitomised the art of fine printing.
He is survived by Kim, his son, Merlin Duff, from a relationship with Vienna Duff, and his siblings, Matthew, Lydia and Simon.
