Private press editions of some favourite authors: 1. Edward Thomas

For anyone unfamiliar with the name there is plenty to check out online but the website of the Edward Thomas Fellowship would be a good place to start. This posting is principally a pictorial essay.

From the Belmont Hall Press, the linocuts in this volume are by Angie Jordan:





Personal Letters, one of a number of Thomas titles printed at the Whittington Press:





Also from Whittington:



From the Waseley Hills Press, with their trademark hand-coloured initial letters:





Privately printed at the Tragara Press for the publisher Alan Clodd:



A miniature from David Butcher's Cherub Press:





And finally, for the Gruffyground Press printed at the Rocket Press:

The Gregynog Press Chosen Essays, 1926 (Harrop 5). A rather plain and workmanlike book, and not the greatest copy, although the wood engravings by Maynard and Bray are rather good, in my view (they are always overshadowed by the more famous names that succeeded them at the Press, viz. Agnes Miller Parker and Blair Hughes-Stanton). With the most extravagant of the Press devices at the colophon, but displaying to perfection the book's bad reputation for foxing and spotting especially around the first and last few pages. I don’t yet have a copy of the Selected Poems (Harrop 6) which was published the year after.

>2 BillWoodbridge: I like the engraving of Thomas used here, it captures his reflective and somewhat melancholic temperament. Though my favourite portrayal (in a book I sadly no longer own) was Robin Guthrie's in To The Memory of Edward Thomas (Pear Tree Press).

>1 duncjl:

A "must have" is an edition called "Words into Word' that John Grice and his Evergreen Press designed and printed for the Edward Thomas Fellowship in 2010. There were 200 standard and 50 special copies. As usual with Grice, the letterpress printing is impeccable.

http://www.evergreenpress.co.uk/words-into-wood.html

The Folio Society also issued an attractive collection in 2017 printed letterpress. Originally issued at $300, it can always be found heavily discounted and it is a bargain.

Six Poems by Edward Eastaway, better known as Edward Thomas, his first published poems by his friend James Guthrie at The Pear Tree press. H

Barbarian Press produced a pamphlet on Thomas, “Loose Canons Three: Edward Thomas: The Child on the Cliffs”, which appears still to be available to order.
http://www.barbarianpress.com/catalog/loose-canons-3.html

>5 TudorBlackPress: The Belmont Hall Press also printed an edition of the Eastaway poems in 2017 to mark the centenary of Thomas's death:

>6 Son.of.York: Wonderful pamphlet (unsurprising, given it's Barbarian).

My go-to is the Folio Society LE that commemorates the War Poets --

https://www.foliosociety.com/row/edward-thomas-selected-poems







Letterpress printed with illustrations by David Gentleman who also signed --
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gentleman

It was limited to 1250 numbered copies, and although sold out you can find copies on the second-hand market for basically retail. Well worth it!

Words into Wood (>4 dlphcoracl:) was available direct from the ET Fellowship as recently as last January, when I bought it for £50.

>1 duncjl: My thanks for this thread, there are one or two items I need to acquire.

>4 dlphcoracl: The earlier FS letterpress edition These things also are Spring's from 1988 is also worth a place here - the illustrations are by James Bostock.

>10 affle: Yes, it remains in print and the ET Fellowship are selling copies on eBay too

https://ebay.us/m/y2f1Z8

I'm assuming from your location you will probably have visited the Petersfield Museum; is it recommended?

>2 BillWoodbridge: "Chosen Essays", Edward Thomas, Gregynog Press (1926) One of 33 specially bound copies to a design by R. A. Maynard.

Luckily, no foxing present.

>10 affle: Good point! Yes, that is a lovely letterpress production limited to 1000 copies, part of the FS letterpress editions to commemorate their anniversary. The War Poets was three books, all beautifully illustrated and also letterpress.

>12 Sport1963: Wow! I think this was the only Gregynog book where the special binding was also done on a different paper (the first 50 copies, including all the special bindings, were on Batchelor's handmade) - so you get the additional benefit of no foxing compared to the ordinaries, like mine, on the more problematic Van Gelder paper.

>14 BillWoodbridge: You are correct. Photo of said Batchelor handmade with watermark:

>15 Sport1963: Nice photo! And I've just noticed the prospectus is on Abbey Mills (Harrop E24, which just says 'hand-made')

>16 BillWoodbridge: If it’s Abbey Mills then it’s a machine-made, not handmade.

>17 ChestnutPress: Thanks - I didn't realise that had to be the case. I'll make a note in my Harrop!