Stone was a self-taught wood engraver, which makes his achievements more remarkable. He had little difficulty moving from the graver and tools of the wood engraver to the chisel and mallet of the stone carver. Most of the commissions discussed above were wood engravings, as was most of his work. His bookplates are distinguished particularly by the flowing elegance of the lettering. He produced over 350, 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. His work stood out from that of other wood engravers, who illustrated more books than Stone. Many of his commissions were for single engravings, even for books. It was a mark of distinction to have a Stone engraving on the title page or colophon. He did, however, illustrate a number of books treasured by collectors. In 1935 he produced 42 headpieces for
The Shakespeare Anthology for the
Nonesuch Press and, in the same year, 12 wood engravings for ''A Butler's Recipe Book 1719
for the Cambridge University Press. 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. In the same year he illustrated Old English Wines and Cordials
for the High House Press. He illustrated Lucretia Borgia'' for the
Golden Cockerel Press in 1942. 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. The result was
Boxwood (1957), a limited edition of 500 copies, an extended new edition of which was published in 1960. Stone continued with
A Sociable Plover by
Eric Linklater (1957) and
The Skylark and other poems by
Ralph Hodgson (1958). For the
Limited Editions Club he illustrated Herman Melville's
Omoo in 1961. He also illustrated
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1969) and
The Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1974) for the club. 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. Stone illustrated a number of books and portfolios for Warren Editions. The first was
The Other Side of the Alde (1968), the first use of his
Janet typeface. This was followed by
ABC, an Alphabet (1974),
The Old Rectory (1976) and a posthumous new edition of
Boxwood (1983). 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. It appears on the title page of the book, and a tailpiece woodcut is published at the end. ==An overview of his life and work==