Thy Sweet Love Remembered

Bill Greer illustrates Shakespeare's Love Poems & Sonnets, 1968

The fourth Hallmark book illustrated by Bill Greer—I’ve written about The Touch of You: Amy Lowell’s Poems of Love and Beauty and The Poems of Doctor Zhivago (he illustrated two completely different editions of this) before—is Thy Sweet Love Remembered: The Most Beautiful Love Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare. The second to be published (after the first, black-and-white Doctor Zhivago), this beautiful little book came out in 1968 from the Hallmark Editions imprint.

Hallmark Editions launched in 1967, premiering with twenty-four special gift books covering a diverse collection of source material from John F. Kennedy: Words to Remember to Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack to selected writings on The Beauty of Motherhood. Over the next few years, new titles appeared in stores every few months; one such release in 1969 included diverse themes such as Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass: Selected Poetry and Prose and Robert F. Kennedy: Promises to Keep, which featured passages from Kennedy's speeches and writings. While titles like the RFK book used photographs, the majority incorporated illustrations by artists who also worked with Hallmark on greeting card designs, as Fred Edwards, advertising manager for Hallmark, told the Chicago Tribune: “Hallmark has defined a clear cut market for quality gift books, and we feel that we'll be able to make greater use of the talents of our creative and editorial people." The books gave artists, designers, typesetters, editors, and creative directors a much grander canvas to explore than a simple card. With the printing done in-house by Hallmark’s top-of-the-line presses, it truly feels that every whim was explored and tested.

“LAST-MINUTE holiday shoppers have been rescued for the past several holiday seasons by the Hallmark people, who have been publishing colorful, delicate and inexpensive hard-cover editions of short classics, random thoughts, poetry and prose. Selling for $2.50 each—with another small grouping available for $2 each—the attractive, beautifully illustrated volumes are available both in book stores and in stationary departments.”

- The Sun, December 21, 1969

Unlike the previous books of Bill Greer’s illustrations I’ve scanned, this one is all simple ink drawings. Lovely and sweet, the delicate, swirling line drawings are the perfect match for the romance and emotion of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

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