Old Stile Press

For decades, Old Stile Press in Monmouth (https://www.oldstilepress.com/), has been run by Nicolas and Frances McDowall.

They have produced many beautiful and unusual books. I own only two, The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/warwick_carter/30819495297/in/photolist-Rz3afM-NXpYdz/), and Equus (https://www.flickr.com/photos/warwick_carter/32535347357/in/photolist-Rz3afM-NXpYdz/).

I received the following sad message in an email:-

"As many of you may, by now, have heard, my dear wife and the ‘other half’ at The Old Stile Press, Frances died on October 25th 2019. This was the inevitable consequence of the cancer she had been living with for at least seven years but it still came as a shock and a deep sense of loss to our family and, of course, to myself."

Vale Frances

What a shame. Lord bless them. She was in her 80's and leaves behind a body of work to be very proud of. Their work on the Book of Job is still my favorite.

I don't own any of their books but would love too. People like her (and her husband) are world treasures and it's sad when there time is over. But they leave their mark behind in their books. Best wishes to the family (both by blood and book) who are feeling this loss.

May she live on in the pages of her delicate work and the immortal letters of her books.

I have collected a number of the OSP books over the years and on occasion had the pleasure of calling and talking with Frances McDowall regarding books I was interested in and considering for purchase. She was unfailingly cordial and patient in answering my questions, with obvious enthusiasm and pride in the books she and Nicolas had created. Speaking with her for a few minutes was an instant time warp back to a different era - a calmer and friendlier one.

I had the joy of speaking with Frances on a few occasions while buying Old Stile books. I have so much admiration for the McDowalls' work; their "Lens of Crystal" is perhaps my favorite binding of any book I own. Jveezer put it perfectly: They and their work are world treasures. Best wishes to all who knew her well.

I feel a bit of thread revival is justified here, as Roger Grech is printing new volumes for Old Stile Press. He has completed a run of ten new copies of Black Marigolds, and seems to be hinting that there are other titles on the way. The new copies will be debuted at the Oxford Fine Press Fair. More info at this link.

>7 Shadekeep: It’s not new work, just binding copies of old editions that I guess hadn’t made it past the ‘still in sheets’ stage.

>8 ChestnutPress: Aww, dang, I was hoping it was fully new stock. Ah well, still nice to have new-ish finished editions I suppose.

>9 Shadekeep: Totally not new stock, just decent bindings by Roger

>10 ChestnutPress: A shame, but now that I think about it, they'd have to be ramping up a new printing operation as well to produce fully new editions. And have the original type, plates, etc. And recompose the galleys. Wildly unrealistic in hindsight. I blame a case of collector's fancy.

>11 Shadekeep: Perhaps the bigger obstacle would be making new books from beyond the grave.

>12 ChampagneSVP: Yes, I meant if Roger and his team were taking over the job of producing new books. I imagine if the McDowalls were still around and feeling up to it, they'd still be producing work themselves.

Since my "reasoning" (such as it was) about the announcement is unclear, I'll elaborate. I originally took Roger's posting to mean that he and his crew was in the process of reissuing Old Stile works in new printings. As I said above, I see now in hindsight how absurd that is. It makes vastly more sense that he is simply binding existing unbound pages, as @ChestnutPress says.

Still, the upside is that there will be additional bound copies for sale, for folks who aren't especially interested in binding their own. Which is pretty nice.