Printers and bookbinders visit Special Collections and Archives

Special Collections and Archives recently hosted visits of the British Printing Society (South Wales branch) and the Society of Bookbinders (South West England branch). Both groups were particularly interested in our large collection of privately printed books, by presses such as Kelmscott, Eragny, Cuala, Ashendene, Essex House and Doves.

 

Both groups were delighted to have the opportunity to examine the collections.  It was fascinating to discuss these examples with members of the present-day book trade, all of whom were highly trained experts in their field.

In the footsteps of Dante

In 1302 the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy, was permanently banished from his beloved Florence, the city of his birth. Forced to spend the rest of his life in political exile, Dante travelled throughout Italy wandering from city to city, and was eventually inspired to write about his journeys in the largely autobiographical Commedia.

Any scholar hoping to follow in Dante’s footsteps would do well to study these beautiful hand-coloured maps, produced in 1892 by the English artist Mary Hensman and now held in our Private Presses collection. They include all the places supposedly visited by Dante in his exile or named in his works. The first map shows the whole of Italy in the time of Dante, “Onorate L’Altissimo Poeta”, surrounded by an elaborate border made up of Guild emblems, while the other highlights Tuscany and central Italy.

The maps were produced in London by Charles Robert Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft as coloured photolithographs, printed on a single large linen-backed sheet and folded into a maroon buckram case with Hensman’s preface and gazeteer mounted on the front pastedown. The hand-colouring was apparently completed by Hensman herself with Ashbee’s assistance.

On the morning of Christ’s Nativity

“On the morning of Christ’s nativity” was composed by John Milton in 1629 when he was just 21 years old.  According to Thomas Corns (2003, 216), the poem has “…generally been recognized as Milton’s first manifestation of poetic genius…” which is an impressive accolade for one so young.  As a celebration of Christ’s birth it is also part of a trilogy commemorating important Christian events which assured his popularity as a poet in the 17th century even before he wrote Paradise Lost.

This edition, produced in a print run of only 100 copies, was published in 1930 by the Pear Tree Press, which was founded by the poet and printmaker James Guthrie in 1899 at Ingrave, Essex.   This volume is one of the Black Letter Series;  the covers of this series are black and silver decorative paper covered boards, with a paper label for the title. 

Inside this volume are black and gold illustrations which were drawn by Sheila M. Thompson, she was also the one who hand printed the volume for the press.  Thompson illustrated many of the Pear Tree Press books, whilst learning the printing trade from Guthrie, and was known as a close friend of his.

[Corns, Thomas. "'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity', 'Upon the Circumcision' and 'The Passion'" in A Companion to Milton. Ed. Thomas Corns. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.]

Private presses printer’s devices

Eragny Press

At the end of the summer we completed cataloguing the Private Presses within the Cardiff Rare Books collection.  With a wide range of presses represented we also had a delightful array of (modern) printer’s devices.  Printer’s devices are symbols or vignettes that identify the printer or press, acting as their trademark.  Fust and Schöffer were the first to use such a device in 1462 and by the end of the 15th century the idea was firmly established.  Ranging from simple designs based around initials, to much more elaborate engravings, devices were useful and popular for several hundred years.  Originally conceived to help prevent against the pirating of books, the opportunity to produce ornamental designs was soon grasped.  Placed in the colophon or on the title-page the devices advertised who was responsible for the book.  In the modern period the printer’s device has mainly been replaced by publisher’s logos, and even by the end of the 19th century they were not utilised to a great extent.

Bronze Snail Press

Boars Head Press

The exception to this was with the private presses that emerged as part of the Arts and Crafts movement, and were attempting to create books that were objects of beauty.  The presses embraced the concept of printer’s devices and devised many artful creations, reflecting their names, intials, locations and concepts.

Swan Press

Ashendene Press

Dolmen Press

Astolat Press

Caradoc Press

Full cataloguing of Cardiff’s private presses collection now complete

We are very happy to report that cataloguing of SCOLAR’s extensive collection of private press books has now been completed and that all 1,300 items are available to view on Cardiff University’s Library Catalogue. We hold books by all the major presses of the Arts and Crafts movement, including near-complete runs of publications from the Golden Cockerel Press, Cuala Press and William Morris’s Kelmscott Press.

The beautiful embroidered binding on Cardiff’s copy of “The Floure and the Leafe” published by the Kelmscott Press

These have been wonderful books for us to work on, with many delightful illustrations and beautiful bindings to enjoy, and there have been some great surprises along the way. We’ve discovered books signed by A.A. Milne, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost and W.B. Yeats, unique proof copies with comments by William Morris, Elizabeth Yeats and Lucien Pissaro, and works finely bound by some of the leading craftsmen of the day.

Illustration from “La belle au bois dormant” by Charles Perrault, printed at the Eragny Press in 1899

With cataloguing finished on the private presses, we are now moving on to SCOLAR’s unique collection of Restoration dramas, many of which are heavily annotated. I will also be continuing to work on our English early printed books, the first 1,000 of which have been added to the catalogue over the first year of the project.

“Samson and Delilah”, printed at the Golden Cockerel Press and bound by Sybil Pye in red morocco with Art Deco inlays

A true collector of the Kelmscott Press

As I was happily working away on some of our Kelmscott Press books, I discovered this wonderfully detailed bookplate in a copy of William Morris’s The roots of the mountains. Although we have yet to learn the identity of Robert Hall, the plate certainly suggests that he was an enthusiastic collector of Kelmscott publications.

On the library table are copies of several well-known Kelmscott works, including  William Morris’s The glittering plain and his 1895 translation of Beowulf. All the books are clearly bound in the distinctive Kelmscott full limp vellum tied with silk ribbons; The wood beyond the world is open to show a Morris-designed woodcut border and frontispiece.

Leaning against the bookcase is a copy of the 1896 edition of Chaucer, the most important publication from the Kelmscott Press and arguably the greatest of all the private press books. If this delightful bookplate provides us with an accurate glimpse into Robert Hall’s private library, then he was indeed a true collector of Kelmscott.

Magnificent bindings by Sangorski & Sutcliffe from the Cardiff Rare Books Collection

“The deserted village” by Oliver Goldsmith (1855), bound in green morocco with gilt and colour inlays by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.

I was recently asked to put out a display of books from our modern fine bindings, which gave me a perfect excuse to rummage through the stacks of the Cardiff Rare Books Collection pulling out some our most beautiful items. We are lucky to have a number of exceptional bindings by some of the leading craftsmen of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including several outstanding examples from the famed London firm of Sangorski & Sutcliffe.

Back cover of “The deserted village”

Formed by Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe in 1901, this bindery was best known for producing elaborate bindings inlaid with gold and encrusted with precious stones. Their most famous work was a fabulous copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, with a lavishly decorated binding designed by Sangorski that took the firm over two years to produce. Finally completed in 1911, the Great Omar was shipped off to America on the maiden voyage of the ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic and was never seen again.

“The book of wonder” by Lord Dunsany, published by Heinemann in 1912 and bound by S&S in full deerskin with a spider web design in gilt.

Back cover of “The book of wonder”.

Detail from “The first crusade” (1945), three-quarter-bound in vellum over orange cloth with a wonderful gilt design.

Ivor Bannet’s “The Amazons” (1948), published by Golden Cockerel Press and three-quarter-bound in brown morocco over marbled paper-covered boards.

These are just a few examples of the fine bindings in the Rare Books collection, with many more waiting to be discovered and featured in future blog posts.

“In comes I,…” – a fine example of a Mummer’s play

Mummer’s plays are traditional folk-plays that were once prevalent in Britain, dating back to Medieval times, although most of the early evidence we have for them only dates back to the 18th century. Generally they were passed down orally through generations, and were performed at key points of the year (such as Christmas, Easter, Plough Monday, and All Soul’s Day) in pubs and public spaces.  The main theme of these plays is a battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and  the killing and resurrecting of the main protagonist, who is usually Saint/King George.  The actors would collect money at the end of the show.  There are a lot of similarities in these plays, but each village tended to have its own variation.  They were extremely popular in the 19th century, and Thomas Hardy features a depiction of one in his novel, The return of the Native (1878), but many died away with the advent of the World wars.  In the later half of the 20th century/beginning of 21st century there has been a limited revival of these performances by various folk groups.

In our Private Press collection we have a copy of a Mummer’s play printed by St. Dominic’s Press.  In this example, the play was collected in Sussex in 1921, and features the traditional characters of Father Christmas, Twin Twan, King George, Turkish Knight, Valiant Soldier, Doctor and Musicians.  Costume suggestions are given, for example Father Christmas should be in a white umpire’s coat or old smock, a top hat with Christmas cards stuck in the band, and carrying a long staff with a bunch of holly on top.  King George should wear a suit of ‘cretonne’ (printed cotton cloth) with baggy breeches, gaudy stockings and a round black hat decorated with feathers and gold braid, and carrying a sword.  As we can see from these descriptions, the costumes are stylised and not quite how we would probably dress those characters today.

This copy also includes instructions for performers who are told they must “keep to the traditional methods in costume, declamation and action.  The actors should almost chant their words in a monotonous sing-song voice with little or no expression.  Action must be of the very simplest…actors march on stage…[and] then form a semi-circle, facing the audience, each as his turn comes marching forward three paces to deliver his oration, finally returning to his original station.”

Within this pamphlet a few bars of music have been added to give a tune to the lines that are sung.

According to  Schneidman’s exhibition catalogue for Eric Gill (1882-1940) as Printmaker, Artist, Typographer, Writer & Book Designer (30 March-25 April 2009), this book is “very rare in any edition”

By Oak, Ash & Thorn

In times of austerity one’s imagination can often be the key to making a dream become reality.  In 1928 Geoffrey Higgens, honourary secretary of the Brighton based Apollo Arts Club, shocked at the prices of printing presses decided to construct his own – from a piece of oak, a tombstone and a flat iron!  He published the club’s magazine, The Delphic, and called it  The Oak, Ash & Thorn Press.  It is possible this name originated from Kipling’s story ‘Weland’s sword’ from Puck of Pook’s Hill which was published in 1906, where the line ’by oak, ash and thorn’ appears.

We only have a couple of items from this small press, one of which is a collection of six hand printed rhyme sheets in a decorated folder.  Only 5o copies were printed.  Each sheet is decorated with one main illustration above the poem, and one smaller vignette at the base of the sheet.  The woodcuts were by Geoffrey Higgens himself, as were two of the poems; the others being by Maurice Elford and Kathleen Moore.  A mixture of styles and themes, it is Tripedence by Mauric Elford that stands out for its glorious use of nonsense words.

Tripedence by Maurice Elford

Peace in the candle shop hugs
The mysterious blan of fendestuous sequins
(Hooting with nargic distribulancy)
Till the toll of the tull tells tales
Of Sharness in sibisticism.

An aristocratic gift

In 1859 John Etherington Welch Rolls gave his son-in-law, John Taylor Harding, a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1844 by the Chiswick Press.  

John E.W. Rolls became the High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1842 and lived at the family home, The Hendre, a fine Victorian Mansion.  His son John Allan Rolls, an MP, became Baron Llangattock of the Hendre in 1892; meanwhile his daughter Patricia (Patty) Rolls married John Harding of Pentwyn on 25th June 1857; he was a vicar of Rockfield (Monmouthshire), and canon of Llandaff. 

Apart from turning The Hendre into “…the grandest and most important Victorian park and garden in Monmouthshire”. [Elisabeth Whittle, Welsh Historic Gardens Trust: Bulletin Autumn 2003], the Rolls family are also known for the exploits of Charles Stewart Rolls (Patty’s nephew) who co-founded Rolls-Royce, was a keen balloonist, and has the unfortunate accolade of being the first person to be killed in an aviation accident (in 1910).

This Chiswick ‘Book of common prayer’ was one of a set of seven editions of different historical versions, ranging from Edward VI, 1549 up to the ‘modern’ Victoria edition of 1844.  It was done for the publisher,William Pickering of London, by Charles Whittingham the younger at the Chiswick Press. It is bound in vellum, with gold tooling and dark morocco labels on the spine.

The inscription to John Taylor Harding from his father-in-law has been done in decorative lettering in red and black ink, to tie in with the design of the text inside.

In addition, inserted into the book is a hand made bookmark; made of pink satin with a cross stitch pattern on a card base (in the shape of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper), saying “Watch and pray”.  Made by Patty perhaps?