Exhibitions
The Book Beautiful: Exhibition Cases
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Kelmscott Press
William Morris's Kelmscott Press (1891-8) has been described as peerless, 'far and away the most splendid of all private presses'. It arose from the Arts and Crafts movement to make well-designed products in a craftsmanlike way. William Morris (1834-96) laid emphasis on fine production. To this end, spurning the cheap machine-made paper of his day and greyish British ink, he had paper and vellum made to his own specification and imported ink from Germany. Morris designed founts of type, borders, and 384 ornamental letters, looking back to the incunabula period of the second half of the 15th century as the time of the finest printed books. He set out to prove the readability of gothic characters, and his founts included two gothic typefaces, called 'Troy' and 'Chaucer' after the texts in which he first used them. The Press's main illustrator was Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98). The Press, which inspired the creation of several other private presses, produced 53 books, comprising 1,800 copies in all; the Sterling Library is fortunate to possess a complete set of its publications.
Matrix
Matrix: a Review for Printers and Bibliophiles began publication in 1981, and reached its 22nd issue in 2002. Published by the Whittington Press of Risbury, Herefordshire (see case 9), it is a miscellany of articles, inserts and samples relating to all aspects of fine printing and book production. It is a part of the Library's Private Press collection by the very nature of its production (fine printing, excellent illustrations, the quality of its paper and limited numbered 'editions') and in the contents which, amongst other topics, describe and illustrate the Private Press movement. In the first issue of Matrix the editors quote from the first and only issue of The Thing (1939) and the words of Edward Walters and Michael Sewell to give some indication of their intention in starting the journal: 'The racks and galleys of the printing-office accumulate many things which the printers would like to disseminate: a periodical affords a convenient outlet', hence the inclusion of samples of paper and printing ephemera as well as articles and illustrations. An index to nos. 1-21 (1981-2002) has been completed, making accessible the 500 articles published in the 4,000 pages of Matrix during those years. The Library was fortunate to be able to acquire the early issues formerly owned by Ruari McLean which complement its own subscription copies, making a complete run of Matrix to date.
The Doves Press
The Doves Press was founded in 1900 by T J Cobden-Sanderson (1840-1922). Cobden-Sanderson had given up the law to become a craft bookbinder of great elegance and originality, and in 1893 had set up the Doves Bindery. Although an admirer of William Morris, he thought that the Kelmscott books were excessively decorated and disliked their heavy Gothic type.
Cobden-Sanderson first set out his own ideas on fine book creation at a meeting of the Art Workers Guild in 1892, when he delivered a paper on 'The Book Beautiful.' He became determined to produce such books: 'I must,' he wrote in 1898, 'before I die, create the type for today of "The Book Beautiful", and actualize it - paper, ink, writing, printing, ornament and binding. I will learn to write, to print and to decorate.'
Cobden-Sanderson took into partnership Emery Walker, who had a wide knowledge of both the technical and commercial aspects of fine printing. They developed a type based on the Roman type of the great 15th-century Venetian printers, Nicholas Jenson and Jacobus Rubeus. In October 1900 the first small book came off the press, Tacticus's Agricola.
Milton's Paradise Lost (1902) and The English Bible (1903-5) are considered the finest of the Doves Press books. The initials drawn by Edward Johnson complement the austere typography and layout to produce the quintessential Book Beautiful.
Golden Cockerel Press
The major achievement of the Golden Cockerel Press (1920-1961) was to inspire a revival of English wood-engraving, especially through the services of the stone-carver, engraver and typographer Eric Gill (1882-1940). Other illustrators/engravers employed include John Buckland-Wright, Blair Hughes-Stanton, Agnes Miller Parker, David Jones and Eric Ravilious. Among private presses, Golden Cockerel was unusual for having three successive managers: firstly Harold Midgeley, who began the press in a large wooden hut behind his house near Twyford; after his death, Robert Gibbings (1925-33); and finally, Christopher Sandford (after 1934).
Vale Press and Eragny Press
These two presses can be considered together as there was a close personal and business relationship between Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) of the Vale and Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944) of the Eragny Press. Early Eragny titles were printed with Vale type, and both men were artist-designers who created entire books from type design to illustration. The Vale Press ran from 1896-1904, and the Eragny Press from 1894-1914; the first Eragny book (The Queen of the Fishes - not exhibited) was issued by Ricketts and his associate the artist Charles Haslewood Shannon (1863-1937) from The Vale in Chelsea, where they where publishing before the foundation of The Vale Press. Pissarro also contributed to their periodical The Dial (Nos 1-5, 1889-1897), which was a very well produced publication combining art and literature, prefiguring art nouveau in style.
The Vale Press's principal motivator was Charles Ricketts, with involvement of Shannon and Thomas Sturge Moore (1870-1944), many of whose papers are held by Senate House Library. Later L Hacon became the business partner of Ricketts. The Press published 48 works, if its complete Shakespeare is counted as one work. Much of the design for the title-pages, illustrations and ornaments was done by Ricketts, and he designed three types used by the Press: Vale, Avon and King's. His researches into the history of letter forms led him to suggest in the Bibliography of the Press: 'I would therefore urge that all attempts to remould our alphabet should be based on a study of Carolingian miniscules, revised and recast.' Ricketts's interest in the complete book also extended to the bindings, some of which share with Eragny books a style of paper boards adorned with patterns with attached printed labels for the title and author.
Pissarro was an experienced artist and had trained as an engraver, and used these skills in creating his books. He took great pains over printing using gold leaf and colour in illustrations and print, and he felt that he had improved on the general effect of printing on vellum by the use of the more absorbent Japanese vellum. By 1903 he had designed his own typeface, the Brook. Pissarro worked closely with his wife, Esther, who assisted greatly with the engraving and printing. The 'wholeness' of his books is perhaps best seen in those incorporating colour, the Brook type and a French theme, for example Some Old French and English Ballads, edited by Robert Steele (1905).
Essex House Press
The Essex House Press formed an integral part of the Guild of Handicraft founded by C R Ashbee (1863-1942) in 1888, and its first book was published from the eponymous Essex House in the Mile End Road in 1898. The Guild and Press moved to Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire in 1902. The Press's Bibliography published in 1909 lists 83 publications, and a few more were to be printed after that date.
The Essex House Press and the Guild were part of the tradition of British socialism influenced by John Ruskin and William Morris that sought a return to craftsmanship, co-operation and a meaningful engagement with work which had been lost during the process of industrialisation. The Guild Rules of 1899, drawn up by the members, underlines the link with that tradition, as quoted by Ashbee in Craftsmanship in Competitive Industry (Chipping Campden: Essex House Press, 1908): 'The Guild of Handicraft is a body of men of different trades, crafts and occupations, united together on such a basis as shall better promote both the goodness of the work produced and the standard of life of the producer. To this end it seeks to apply to the collective work of its members whatever is wisest and best in the principles of Co-operation, of Trade Unionism or of the modern revival of Art and Craft… '.Essex House not only continued the ideals of the Morris tradition, but also absorbed some Kelmscott workers and acquired the two Albion presses Morris had used. The Press produced a wide range of work some using Caslon type and some with Ashbee's own type designs, Endeavour and Prayer Book. Among Essex House's notable publications not included here are the 'great poems' series, printed on vellum in Caslon with hand coloured frontispieces and illustrated monographs for the London Survey Committee. The Essex House Press chose white pinks (dianthus) as its symbol, and the flower can be spotted in many of the works on display.
C R Ashbee had broad interests, including the conservation of buildings and he was also involved in the early work of the National Trust. The Guild of Handicraft had a shop in London and also founded the Campden School of Arts and Crafts, where local young people were taught useful skills. The Guild had financial problems after about twenty years of existence, and had to be reorganised around 1908; annual reports of the School continued until 1913.
The Gregynog Press
The Gregynog Press was founded in 1922 by the sisters Margaret and Gwendoline Davies. The private press, named after the sisters' country home in Wales, produced many fine works relating to Welsh language and literature, and with a Celtic theme, and many more besides. Senate House Library has a complete set of specially-bound Gregynog Press works, presented in 1965 by Professor Sir David Hughes Parry, Chairman of the University Court from 1962 and Vice-Chancellor 1945-1948. The Press ceased work in 1940, but was revived in 1978 as Gwasg Gregynog, to continue the tradition of fine printing in a contemporary vein. Senate House Library has continued to acquire works in limited editions. Dorothy A Harrops's History of the Gregynog Press (Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 1980) and the Gregynog Press website at provide more illuminating detail.
The Dolmen Press
The Dolmen Press was founded in 1951 by Liam Miller and published many fine works until it closed in 1988 shortly after Miller's death. The original mission was to print, in limited editions, works reflecting Irish literature, history and literary life. The output of the press included fine editions of leading Irish literary figures such as Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), and modern interpretations of important works in the Irish literary heritage, such as Thomas Kinsella's translation of the Tain, illustrated by Louis Le Brocquy and others. Senate House Library holds one of the most complete collections of Dolmen Press publications in the United Kingdom.
The Whittington Press
The Whittington Press is one of the most active private presses currently operating in the United Kingdom. Since its formation in 1971, in the eponymous village in the Cotswolds, John Randle and his associates have produced some 150 titles. The Whittington Press is now based in Herefordshire. Its website describes the work of the printer John Randle, administrator Rose Randle, compositor Miriam Macgregor and typecaster Peter Sanderson, and their major output in belles-lettres.
The Old Stile Press
The Old Stile Press is the partnership of Frances and Nicolas McDowell. Having founded the Press in 1979, Nicolas is the designer and printer, working with the artists and authors; Frances handles publicity and promotion, and, as often as time allows, makes paper on which some of the books are printed. The Press is based in the Wye Valley, near Tintern Abbey, and the McDowalls have been inspired by earlier private presses to 'carry their standards and their creative spirit forward into this new century'. Senate House Library holds a considerable number of Old Stile Press works.
For more information, see Dorothy Harrop et al, The Old Stile Press in the Twentieth Century: a Bibliography 1979-1999 (Monmouth: Old Stile, 2000); and the website.
The Fleece Press
The Fleece Press was founded in 1980 by Simon Lawrence, the grandson of the craftsman Stanley Lawrence. The Fleece Press, based near Huddersfield, is essentially a one-person operation, producing three or four books annually. Simon Lawrence describes on its website how he was inspired to take up printing and publishing hand press books, and reports there that his particular interests lie in works illustrated by or about wood-engravers, and also in collections of literature.
