He had no clear idea of his future, and, at the suggestion of Francis Scott, a young don at Magdalene, almost drifted into a two-year apprenticeship at the Cambridge University Press, where he came under the influence of Walter Lewis and, more importantly, F. G. Nobbs, the overseer of the composing department.
[2] In 1932 he moved to Taunton, where he spent two years working at the printing firm of Barnicott & Pearce, a very different experience from his time in Cambridge.
A common sight in most high streets was the logo that he designed for Dolcis and which featured on the frontage of all their shoe shops.
He had little difficulty moving from the graver and tools of the wood engraver to the chisel and mallet of the stone carver.
He produced over 350,[16] for example for Hugh Trevor-Roper, depicting his home Chiefswood, and for John Sparrow, a nice example of his skill with letters.
He had a very good eye for coats of arms, as shown by commissions from the Royal Family and the British Government as well as private individuals.
For the Gregynog Press he illustrated The History of Saint Louis (1937) and The Praise and Happinesse of the Countrie-Life (1938), the latter being particularly successful.
One of his most successful editions for a commercial publisher was an anthology compiled by Adrian Bell, The Open Air (1949).
Sylvia Townsend Warner wrote poems to complement a series of wood engravings that Stone had already completed.
Stone continued with A Sociable Plover by Eric Linklater (1957) and The Skylark and other poems by Ralph Hodgson (1958).
In 1968 the Chilmark Press published an edition of The Mountains, a volume of poetry and prose by R. S. Thomas to complement a series of wood engravings made by Stone after John Piper in 1946.
For the Compton Press he illustrated A Shepherd's Life by W. H. Hudson (1977) and A Year of Birds by Iris Murdoch (1978).
His last engraving was the only one he managed to complete of a series to illustrate a republication of Sacheverell Sitwell's book Valse Des Fleurs, published in a limited edition of 400 copies in 1980.
[11] His wood engraved illustrations are distinguished by a formality and sureness of cutting, and his bookplates and coats of arms by a clarity and simplicity within the flourishes.
"[21] There have been two collections of Stone's wood engravings, the first by Myfanwy Piper,[22] the second, more definitive, with an introduction by Kenneth Clark.