1booksforreading
Are there any limited series of books that you own and enjoy reading?
An excellent website, A Series of Series (https://seriesofseries.com/), has tons of information about books printed in the 20th century, but it does not differentiate between limited letterpress books and mass-produced simpler series.
I personally enjoy reading hand-made, limited editions books, though they do not have to be expensive.
So I will introduce you to the Woburn Series. (I have also posted this information in the Fine Press group -- sorry for somewhat double post!)
Woburn Books, 1928-29
Published by Elkin Mathews & Marrot, London
Printed by Robert MacLehose & Co. Ltd. at the University Press, Glasgow on handmade papers in beautiful hand-set types.
All books are signed by their respective authors!
The first four books were printed in Imprint Shadow; every other one was printed using a different font for each book.
All are limited to 530 numbered copies with 500 copies for sale and 30 for presentation.
All seem to be the first editions of their respective works, although some stories (such as The Linhay on the Downs and The Firing Gatherer by Henry Williamson) appeared in literary journals prior to the publication in a book form.
The review in Times Literary Supplement (November 22, 1928) was critical of the first, third, and fourth books in the series in terms of the size of the font and the quality of writing, but I completely disagree. These stories are wonderful short works: profound, sentimental, and thought-provoking. The letterpress work looks great to my eyes.
The series features a good variety of styles, genres, and subjects from some of the best 18 authors of the time!
The original price was 6s per book, which, if translated to dollars of today, is roughly equal to about $23 – unless I am seriously mistaken. While several of the Woburn books can still be purchased for under $100, and some can be found for under $40-50. Other titles are more expensive, and some are very expensive, with asking prices $200+ (for books by Robert Graves and Algernon Blackwood, for example) or $700+ for books by Chesterton and H. D. Lawrence in fine conditions.
If one does not strive to have the entire series, even the cheapest books here will give a reader a lot of joy.
I like most of the stories below.
LIST OF TITLES
1. The Sword of Wood - G. K. Chesterton
2. The Dewpond – T. F. Powys
3. A Wedding Morn – Sheila Kaye-Smith
4. Portrait of the Misses Harlowe – Martin Armstrong
5. The Apple Disdained – R H Mottram
6. The Man Who Missed the Bus – Stella Benson
7. Rawdon’s Roof – D. H. Lawrence
8. The Old Dovecote – David Garnett
9. The Male Impersonator – E. F. Benson (this story is a part of Benson’s Mapp and Lucia series)
10. Alice; The Lost Novel – Sherwood Anderson
11. Full Circle – Algernon Blackwood
12. The Linhay on the Downs; The Firing Gatherer – Henry Williamson
13. Fame – May Sinclair
14. The Goldfish Under the Ice – Christopher Morley
15. A Ghost in the Isle of Wight – Shane Leslie
16. The Shout – Robert Graves
17. Trial by Armes – Joseph Hergesheimer
18. Some World Far From Ours; ‘Stay, Gorydon, Thou Swain’ – Sylvia Townsend Warner
An excellent website, A Series of Series (https://seriesofseries.com/), has tons of information about books printed in the 20th century, but it does not differentiate between limited letterpress books and mass-produced simpler series.
I personally enjoy reading hand-made, limited editions books, though they do not have to be expensive.
So I will introduce you to the Woburn Series. (I have also posted this information in the Fine Press group -- sorry for somewhat double post!)
Woburn Books, 1928-29
Published by Elkin Mathews & Marrot, London
Printed by Robert MacLehose & Co. Ltd. at the University Press, Glasgow on handmade papers in beautiful hand-set types.
All books are signed by their respective authors!
The first four books were printed in Imprint Shadow; every other one was printed using a different font for each book.
All are limited to 530 numbered copies with 500 copies for sale and 30 for presentation.
All seem to be the first editions of their respective works, although some stories (such as The Linhay on the Downs and The Firing Gatherer by Henry Williamson) appeared in literary journals prior to the publication in a book form.
The review in Times Literary Supplement (November 22, 1928) was critical of the first, third, and fourth books in the series in terms of the size of the font and the quality of writing, but I completely disagree. These stories are wonderful short works: profound, sentimental, and thought-provoking. The letterpress work looks great to my eyes.
The series features a good variety of styles, genres, and subjects from some of the best 18 authors of the time!
The original price was 6s per book, which, if translated to dollars of today, is roughly equal to about $23 – unless I am seriously mistaken. While several of the Woburn books can still be purchased for under $100, and some can be found for under $40-50. Other titles are more expensive, and some are very expensive, with asking prices $200+ (for books by Robert Graves and Algernon Blackwood, for example) or $700+ for books by Chesterton and H. D. Lawrence in fine conditions.
If one does not strive to have the entire series, even the cheapest books here will give a reader a lot of joy.
I like most of the stories below.
LIST OF TITLES
1. The Sword of Wood - G. K. Chesterton
2. The Dewpond – T. F. Powys
3. A Wedding Morn – Sheila Kaye-Smith
4. Portrait of the Misses Harlowe – Martin Armstrong
5. The Apple Disdained – R H Mottram
6. The Man Who Missed the Bus – Stella Benson
7. Rawdon’s Roof – D. H. Lawrence
8. The Old Dovecote – David Garnett
9. The Male Impersonator – E. F. Benson (this story is a part of Benson’s Mapp and Lucia series)
10. Alice; The Lost Novel – Sherwood Anderson
11. Full Circle – Algernon Blackwood
12. The Linhay on the Downs; The Firing Gatherer – Henry Williamson
13. Fame – May Sinclair
14. The Goldfish Under the Ice – Christopher Morley
15. A Ghost in the Isle of Wight – Shane Leslie
16. The Shout – Robert Graves
17. Trial by Armes – Joseph Hergesheimer
18. Some World Far From Ours; ‘Stay, Gorydon, Thou Swain’ – Sylvia Townsend Warner
