BibliOdyssey: John De Pol

"Happy is the man who has found his work"
E. Hubbard

"On an occasional day off I made several sketches of Vittel and neighboring towns. Some were made into etchings when I returned home, as was this monastery at nearby Parey-sous-Montfort. It was not functioning as a monastery, but part of it was a school; the elderly woman seen under the archway lived in an apartment next to it. I stood there, sketching, when presently the door opened and she came out, holding a chair. She walked slowly in my direction and, smiling when she reached me, silently offered me the chair. Smiling, I accepted it. A little later that afternoon, children, just let out of class, ran over, surrounded me, and watched me sketch. Soon I pulled some sticks of chewing gum from my pockets, broke them into small pieces and passed them around. Smiles replaced all language barriers.

A buddy, Staff Sergeant Leif Graae and I cycled the countryside to buy fresh eggs for the Major and ourselves. Along the way I gathered subjects for my art. On such an excursion, I visited Domjulien, scene of a later wood-engraving as was another, "GI Stove, Vittel," a view of my office in an old hotel. I made an etching of the monastery tower, the front view of which was the church. From a sketch of Gemmelaincourt I later made a watercolor. Then, one day, as I walked briskly along a tree-lined road, I became elated, for it was a bright, early spring day, it was in France, and, finally, the war seemed to be drawing to a close."

The Observatory, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania

Floating Crap Game

John DePol (1913-2004) master printer, etcher, book illustrator, author, painter, but most importantly, wood engraver, loved his work so much that he did a lot of it virtually for free.

His ~~career~~ passion seems to have taken off when he retired in the 70s. He undertook private press engraving work for which he might receive a couple of copies of the resultant book by way of payment. He was still working up until his death just before Christmas last year. I have to say (not that it doesn't happen every day, one way or another) that I really enjoyed reading about this man and researching his work. He even made a book engraving for the great Dard Hunter.