Ralph Nicholas Chubb (8 February 1892 – 14 January 1960) was an English poet,

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

and artist. Heavily influenced by Whitman,

Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

, and the

Romantics Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, his work was the creation of a highly intricate personal mythology, one that was anti-

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...

and sexually revolutionary.

Life

Ralph Chubb was born in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...

, Hertfordshire. His family moved to the historic town of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

before his first birthday. Chubb attended St Albans School and

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

, before becoming an officer in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He served with distinction but developed

neurasthenia Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον ''neuron'' "nerve" and ἀσθενής ''asthenés'' "weak") is a term that was first used at least as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves and became a major diagnosis in North A ...

, and he was invalided out in 1918. From 1919 to 1922 Chubb studied at the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London. It was there that he met

Leon Underwood George Claude Leon Underwood (25 December 1890 – 9 October 1975) was a British artist, although primarily known as a sculptor, printmaker and painter, he was also an influential teacher and promotor of African art. His travels in Mexico a ...

and other influential artists. He went on to contribute several articles and poems for Underwood's magazine, ''The Island''. Although his work was displayed at such venues as the

Goupil Gallery Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...

and the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

of Art, his paintings did not sell. There are several in public collections in Britain. His major painting ''The Well'' (1920) is in Wakefield; Southampton has bathers with boys wrestling, and there are nudes at Leamington, all illustrated in the Public Art Foundation catalogues. He moved with his family to the village of

Curridge Curridge is a village in the civil parish of Chieveley in the English county of Berkshire. Geography Curridge is located in the south-east of the parish, adjoining Hermitage. The chief population areas are Curridge village, Longlane and Denis ...

, near Newbury in Berkshire. He began to devote his artistic talents to the printed works which would remain his chief labour in life. His books were created in several chief phases. His typeset books of the twenties were a humble offering, exhibiting Chubb's talent for woodcutting and his quaint, visually inspired poetry. Even at this early stage, Chubb's lifelong obsession with adolescent males was beginning to become apparent. He expands upon this theme more explicitly in ''An Appendix'', a pederastic and

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

manifesto duplicated from a cursive manuscript. ''An Appendix'' was the first of his printed works to be printed in his own hand; he soon followed this with the first of his opulent

lithographic Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

books, ''The Sun Spirit''. Throughout the nineteen-thirties, Chubb's books became more elaborate and appealing. ''Water Cherubs'' crystallises Chubb's aesthetic of the youthful male form, and ''The Secret Country'' unfolds like an illuminated manuscript, recounting stories of Chubb's family and his journeys among the

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

in Hampshire. Chubb's printing press was interrupted by the war, but in 1948 he entered into the third period of career with two massive volumes: ''The Child Of Dawn'' and ''Flames of Sunrise''. Each page of these two volumes is crowded with obscure digressions on Chubb's mythology and drawings of symbolic significance. Briefly summarised, Chubb's vision was a prophecy of the redemption of '

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

', or England, by the boy-god Ra-el-phaos, of whom Ralph claimed himself to be the prophet and herald. This echoes an earlier announcement to be found in ''The Heavenly Cupid'':

I announce a secret event as tremendous and mysterious as any that has occurred in the spiritual history of the world. I announce the inauguration of a Third Dispensation, the dispensation of the Holy Ghost on earth, and the visible advent thereof on earth in the form of a Young Boy of thirteen years old, naked perfect and unblemished.

Other themes run through all of Chubb's work. He was forever haunted by the memory of a young chorister at St Albans who disappeared from Chubb's life just as he had summoned up the courage to speak to him. Similarly, a brief sexual relationship with another boy when Ralph was 19 seemed to serve as a template for future visions of paradise. Chubb's books become progressively more self-involved and paranoid. Seeking to articulate his pederastic desires, he created a personal mythology which explained everything in terms only he could understand. Nonetheless, Chubb's work is of fascinating psychological significance; each of the various angels, knights, seers, and boy-gods in his dream world represents an aspect of his introspective and persecuted self. Chubb, like many other artists of his generation, resented science for its intrusion into his imagination. He disparaged the scientists, orthodox theologians, and politicians of world, accusing them of squelching his personal thirst for liberty. In 1927 he wrote:

Existence, besides being a miracle, is a symbol. Albeit here for inscrutable purposes the spirit is only to be discerned as it were in a distorting-glass. (''The Book of God's Madness'')

Chubb sought to persuade his readers in ''An Appendix'' of the verity of his solipsism by illustrating some examples of serendipitous events from his life. His aim is more on the mark when he excoriates the taboos and frustrations of modern life.

The green green hills, the blue blue sky, blue sea, great golden SUN, yellow dandelions, the pink naked beauty of ripe boyhood, deathless free and happy, brimming with health. This I must have. Nothing less than this can ever satisfy me! GIVE ME MY HEAVEN! GIVE ME MY HEAVEN! (''Water-Cherubs'')

Failing in health and facing continuing legal and financial difficulties, Chubb abandoned his controversial works in the mid-fifties, and began to collect and reprint his early poems and childhood memories. ''Treasure Trove'' and ''The Golden City'' (published posthumously) are devoid of the usual profusion of naked, lissome youths, but instead offer a glimpse into his youthful imagination, and some of his most charming poetry. In the final years of his life he donated his remaining volumes to the national libraries of Britain. He died peacefully at Fair Oak Cottage in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and was buried next to his parents at the Kingsclere Woodland Cemetery in Hampshire. Chubb's own assessment of his work conforms to the general critical reaction:

I do not necessarily claim to be a great artist or writer; but I claim to be a true spirit – this is a subtler test. Seek me out; but you may not find me. (''An Appendix'')

Works

None of the editions of Chubb's books exceed more than 200 copies, and some of his lithographed masterworks exist in only 30 or 40 copies, of which a mere six or seven are meticulously hand-coloured by Chubb. The dates and titles of Chubb's printed works are given below.

Early typeset works

*1924 ''Manhood'' *1924 ''The Sacrifice of Youth'' *1925 ''A Fable of Love & War'' *1927 ''The Cloud & the Voice'' *1928 ''Woodcuts'' *1928 ''The Book of God's Madness'' *1929 ''An Appendix'' (duplicated hand-written text) *1930 ''Songs of Mankind''

Lithographed texts

*1931 ''The Sun Spirit'' *1934 ''The Heavenly Cupid'' *1935 ''Songs Pastoral and Paradisal'' (illustrated by Vincent Stuart; script by Helen Hinkley) *1936 ''Water Cherubs'' *1939 ''The Secret Country''

Post-war prophetic texts

*1948 ''The Child of Dawn'' *1953 ''Flames of Sunrise''

Juvenilia and early romances

*1957 ''Treasure Trove'' *1960 ''The Golden City''

Posthumous works

*1965 ''The Day of St Alban'' *1970 ''Autumn Leaves''

References and further reading

*Cave, Roderick (1960), 'In Blake's Tradition: the Press of Ralph Chubb', ''The American Book Collector'', 11 (2), pp. 8–17 *Cave, Roderick (1960). 'Blake's Mantle', a Memoir of Ralph Chubb', ''Book Design and Production''. 3 (2), pp. 24–28 *D'Arch Smith, Timothy (1970). ''Love in Earnest''. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. *Rahman, Tariq (1991), 'Ephebophilia and the Creation of a Spiritual Myth in the Works of Ralph Nicholas Chubb', ''Journal of Homosexuality'', 20 (1–2), pp. 103–27 *Reid, Anthony (1970). ''Ralph Chubb: The Unknown''. Reprinted from ''The Private Library''. 3 (3–4).