1Glacierman
My interest in fine printing lies more towards the history of the private press movement. Consequently, I tend to collect items that are not necessarily prime examples of the craft.
The Caradoc Press was a small private press founded and operated by H. George Webb and his wife, Hesba in December of 1899 at Bedford Park, Chiswick, and later moved to Ravenscourt Square, Hammersmith (now subsumed by greater London) in 1909. The name of the Press was adopted from a prominent hill & ring fort, Caer Caradoc, near Church Stretton in Shropshire which was Mrs. Webb's birthplace. That is, by the by, very lovely country and Church Stretton is a charming little town at the foot of the imposing Long Mynd and from the top of which you get a grand view of the surrounding area including Caer Caradoc.
The press operated for ten years until Mr. Webb went off to war and plans to resuscitate it failed to come to fruition. They produced 20 books in those ten years
The Webb's printed their books on Batchelor's Kelmscott handmade, which is a very nice paper and primarily used a type founded on Jenson with various decorative letters. From the outset, the Webbs did the wood engraving, type setting, printing and binding themselves, unaided. (Thompkinson, G. S. A Select Bibliography of the Principal Modern Presses.... San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1975, p. 23)
Their work has not always fared well under the eyes of critics. Collin Franklin (The Private Presses, London: Studio Vista, 1969, p. 152-153) gives a generally favorable discussion of the press, "I have heard Caradoc Press books described as 'Morris gone wrong', but there is an integrity and success in them which may tempt the collector." Will Ransom had little to say and was somewhat non-committal: "They bear a distinctively individual air..." (Private Presses and Their Books, NY: R. R. Bowker, 1929).
Roderick Cave, on the other hand, was not very appreciative of the quality of their work. While disparaging the work of the Essex House Press, he had this to say about Caradoc: Little that is good can be said about the Essex House Press, which finally closed in 1910, save that it was an honestly meant if misguided enterprise, and that it was by no means the worst of the presses in its misunderstanding of what Morris' 'little typographical adventure' had been about. If one compares an Essex House book with, for example, one of those printed by H.G. Webb at his Caradoc Press between 1899 and 1909, the former will seem a superb example of design and execution.
(The Private Press, London: Faber & Faber, 1971, p. 152-153).
I here illustrate the second book from the Press and you can decide for yourself if Caradoc was an example of 'Morris gone wrong.'
The Old Ballad of the Boy and the Mantle
Title page:THE OLD BALLAD / OF THE BOY AND / THE MANTLE / (pressmark) / MDCCCC
Description: 4-7/8" x 6"; 6 blank + 20 un-numbered + 4 blank pages; bound with cream linen spine over grey boards. Paper copies printed on Batchelor hand-made, edges untrimmed
Limitation: 300 copies on paper, 5 on vellum, not stated. (Thompkinson)
Notes:
My copy has the bookplate of Jack Houston and bears a presentation inscription from him to the noted Montana academician and Rhodes scholar, H. G. Merriam. The bookplate has the motto "Inferni Tintinnabula" or "Hell's Bells".
The penciled in price is not what I paid for it. I paid less.
James Freemantle of St. James Park Press is the author of A History of the Caradoc Press initially published in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of the Private Libraries Association's journal "The Private Library," and reprinted as a limited edition book in 2019 (90 copies w/one leaf from a Caradoc Press book and 10 copies with two). It includes a bibliography of 23 books & prospectuses.
The Caradoc Press was a small private press founded and operated by H. George Webb and his wife, Hesba in December of 1899 at Bedford Park, Chiswick, and later moved to Ravenscourt Square, Hammersmith (now subsumed by greater London) in 1909. The name of the Press was adopted from a prominent hill & ring fort, Caer Caradoc, near Church Stretton in Shropshire which was Mrs. Webb's birthplace. That is, by the by, very lovely country and Church Stretton is a charming little town at the foot of the imposing Long Mynd and from the top of which you get a grand view of the surrounding area including Caer Caradoc.
The press operated for ten years until Mr. Webb went off to war and plans to resuscitate it failed to come to fruition. They produced 20 books in those ten years
The Webb's printed their books on Batchelor's Kelmscott handmade, which is a very nice paper and primarily used a type founded on Jenson with various decorative letters. From the outset, the Webbs did the wood engraving, type setting, printing and binding themselves, unaided. (Thompkinson, G. S. A Select Bibliography of the Principal Modern Presses.... San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1975, p. 23)
Their work has not always fared well under the eyes of critics. Collin Franklin (The Private Presses, London: Studio Vista, 1969, p. 152-153) gives a generally favorable discussion of the press, "I have heard Caradoc Press books described as 'Morris gone wrong', but there is an integrity and success in them which may tempt the collector." Will Ransom had little to say and was somewhat non-committal: "They bear a distinctively individual air..." (Private Presses and Their Books, NY: R. R. Bowker, 1929).
Roderick Cave, on the other hand, was not very appreciative of the quality of their work. While disparaging the work of the Essex House Press, he had this to say about Caradoc: Little that is good can be said about the Essex House Press, which finally closed in 1910, save that it was an honestly meant if misguided enterprise, and that it was by no means the worst of the presses in its misunderstanding of what Morris' 'little typographical adventure' had been about. If one compares an Essex House book with, for example, one of those printed by H.G. Webb at his Caradoc Press between 1899 and 1909, the former will seem a superb example of design and execution.
(The Private Press, London: Faber & Faber, 1971, p. 152-153).
I here illustrate the second book from the Press and you can decide for yourself if Caradoc was an example of 'Morris gone wrong.'
The Old Ballad of the Boy and the Mantle
Title page:THE OLD BALLAD / OF THE BOY AND / THE MANTLE / (pressmark) / MDCCCC
Description: 4-7/8" x 6"; 6 blank + 20 un-numbered + 4 blank pages; bound with cream linen spine over grey boards. Paper copies printed on Batchelor hand-made, edges untrimmed
Limitation: 300 copies on paper, 5 on vellum, not stated. (Thompkinson)
Notes:
My copy has the bookplate of Jack Houston and bears a presentation inscription from him to the noted Montana academician and Rhodes scholar, H. G. Merriam. The bookplate has the motto "Inferni Tintinnabula" or "Hell's Bells".
The penciled in price is not what I paid for it. I paid less.
James Freemantle of St. James Park Press is the author of A History of the Caradoc Press initially published in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of the Private Libraries Association's journal "The Private Library," and reprinted as a limited edition book in 2019 (90 copies w/one leaf from a Caradoc Press book and 10 copies with two). It includes a bibliography of 23 books & prospectuses.
2Shadekeep
What a splendid book! Love that seahorse border. Very nice capitals and ornaments as well. And clever of the colophon to be arranged in the shape of a chalice. Thanks for sharing this.
3ChestnutPress
>1 Glacierman: Some of their larger works are actually really well done and quite handsome indeed. Additionally, some of the Caradoc books printed on vellum are astonishing and the finest printing on vellum I have seen.
4Glacierman
>3 ChestnutPress: Thanks! I forgot to mention that Franklin felt that four works were their "best produced": The Vicar of Wakefield, The Compleat Angler, Sir Philip Sidney's Defense of Poesie and Certain Sonnets, and Lord Brooke's (Fulke Greville) Life of the Renowned Sir Philip Sidney.
11 copies of The Life of ... Sidney were printed on vellum; 14 on vellum for each of the other three mentioned above.
Bindings vary on available copies. Some of these books ain't cheap!
NOTE: I edited my original post and added under NOTES a blurb about James Freemantle's history of the Press.
11 copies of The Life of ... Sidney were printed on vellum; 14 on vellum for each of the other three mentioned above.
Bindings vary on available copies. Some of these books ain't cheap!
NOTE: I edited my original post and added under NOTES a blurb about James Freemantle's history of the Press.
