"Girl Sleeping" 1929 – Original Wood Engraving by Eric Gill

Arthur Eric Rowton Gill ARA RDI (1882 –1940)

"Girl Sleeping" (also titled Stir Not My Beloved), 1929

Wood Engraving

65 x 90 mm (plate)

196 x 170 mm (frame)

Framed with an oval black mount, this original print by renowned British artist and typographer Eric Gill is a serene and intimate depiction of a sleeping girl. Originally created as a proof illustration for The Song of Songs (Golden Cockerel Press, 1925), this example is an engraving, later used as plate 76 in Engravings by Eric Gill, published by Douglas Cleverdon and printed by The Fanfare Press in 1929.

This impression was printed from the original block and is one of 400 copies printed on specially manufactured paper for the 1929 edition. It bears the number "76" in the top right corner, as issued. The complete sheet has been folded to house within the frame and not cut down. This piece captures Gill’s hallmark style—simple, sensual, and contemplative—and remains a sought-after example of early 20th-century British printmaking.