Talking books at the Stonemasons’ Arms

Tags

bookaddiction, Bookselling, bookshops, lloyds of kew, Talwin Morris, Wimbledon Rare and Collectible Books

London is full of charming, specialist second hand book shops offering booklovers and collectors alike a labyrinthine plethora of gorgeously crafted and quirky finds.  Last night it was my pleasure to meet the owner of one such book shop, Helen Edwards, the force behind of Lloyds of Kew.

Lloyds of Kew has been an established part of the London book trade for over 40 years.  Situated only yards from the iconic Kew Gardens,  it was founded in 1973 by the well known and botany and horticulture specialist, Daniel Lloyd (although there had been bookshops under different names offering a range of horticulture and gardening books on the same site for some years previously, operated originally by John Chancellor and then Mary Bland).  Helen has maintained the shops specialities – a logical choice given its location – and now offers a range of botany, horticulture, botanical illustration and art and photography books (as well as good select in travel writing, poetry and literature).

We met in the Stonemasons’ Arms in Hammersmith (great gin, good service, not so good on the vegan food offering – chips was about as good as it got), together with the rather wonderful bookseller, Lucy FishWife and magician extraordinaire, Mr O, who had brought us all together. Ostensibly the purpose of the gathering was to explore whether we could bring Lloyds of London and BookAddiction closer together and collaborate to improve the offering we both make to our wonderful clients and customers.  But we also had a lot of fun swapping stories of book finds and strange book trade encounters and enthusing about the wonders of books illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and crackingly fine book designers such as Talwin Morris and Ethel Larcombe.

Our book business talk was good too.  Lloyds of Kew do not at present offer any of its books online, something which BookAddiction excels at; and in turn Lloyds of Kew may be able to help Wimbledon Rare and Collectible Books extend the range and quality of gloriously beautiful books offered to our clients all over the world.  A heady mix, then, of gin and business and beautiful books, making for a fine evening out.

Lloyds of Kew, at 9 Mortlake Terrace, Kew, London, is open 10.00am to 5.00pm, Tuesday to Saturday and makes the perfection addition to any visit to Kew and Kew Gardens.  BookAddiction is open 24/7 to clients from all over the world.  You can browse our books at anytime.

Advertisements

Colouring Special Collections

Tags

Book Illustration, colorourcollections, colouring, colourourcollections, rare books, special collections

The Lady of the Lake

From 1st-5th February 2016, guardians of rare and beautiful books on both sides of the Atlantic invited colourers and crayonists to colour some of the wonderful illustrations and decorations they care for. It’s rare (has it happened before?) for curators and librarians to encourage people to take their crayons to precious, unique pages.  We’re more used to strict injunctions for ‘pencils only’ in the reading room, bag inspectors guarding against fountain pens and sharp objects and the dubious habit of handing with white gloves.  Colour Our Collections steps away from such limiting, albeit necessary, constraints and actively encourages fulfillment of rainbow imaginings by applying crayons, brushes and pastels to historic pictures.

Stacking the Shelves the Book Addict’s Way, Or Several Steps in BookAddiction

Tags

baron brampton, beautiful books, book addiction, books, books on parliament, harriet staunton, lord norton, orna ross, penge mystery, secret rose, sir henry hawkins, w b yeats

I seem to have acquired an extraordinary number of books for my personal collection in the last couple of weeks, fueled in part by the brilliant and much appreciated generosity of friends bearing bookish birthday gifts.  Some wee jottings and cataloguing is very much overdue – and made urgent by the imminence of tomorrow’s trip to the Oxford Fine Press Book Fair which will hopefully result in a couple more treasures making their way to a new home in Wimbledon.

Crime and Justice in Late Victorian London

A heavy, two volume set of the Richard Harris edited Reminiscences of Sir Henry Hawkins, Baron Brampton (Edward Arnold, 1904) was one of the treasures to arrive this month, purchased from John Taylor Books via ABE.

The Book Addict’s Way, or Ten Steps in BookAddiction

Tags

book buying, bookaddiction, slightly foxed, victorian secrets

Last night I told Darling Husband that I’d try to read some of the books already bought before acquiring more.  Abiding by that resolution, offered unprompted, without pressure and sincerely meant at the time, hasn’t gone so well today.   Yes, indeed, the Book Addict extraordinaire was let out to play!

It was all started by my friend and fellow bookseller, Catherine Hawley, who had the audacity to tweet a link to new releases from a publisher, Victorian Secrets, which I had not come across before.  I am a huge fan of Victorian, especially late 19th century, literature so I couldn’t resist taking a look. Victorian Secrets is ana independent publisher with an impressive list of books from and about the 19th century, produced as much as a labour of love as a commercial endeavour, with strong leaning towards otherwise out of print works by Victorian writers a risk of being unduly forgotten: “Mindful that large publishers are interested only in canonical authors, we devote much of our free time to ensuring that important novels aren’t lost to posterity”.  A quick glance at Victorian Secret’s catalogue confirms that is not an empty promise.

I chose just one book, a copy of Charlotte Riddell’s Weird Stories which promises also a decent introduction by Emma Liggins.  Riddell was close to be being a Victorian publishing sensation.  Popular and influential in her time, she published some 56 novels and short story collections as well as editing and co-owning one of the most prestigious literary journals of her day – St James’ Magazine – yet she’s been largely overlooked by readers and publishers alike for the last few decades.  Having recently read and enjoyed T G Jackson’s Six Ghost Stories (published some 40 odd years later, but with a retrospective Gothic tone), this seemed a good choice. But I could have chosen several more –  Margaret Harkness’s A City Girl, published in 1887 under the pseudonym John Law is tempting. Set in late Victorian London it recounts the experiences of a poor  East End seamstress seduced by a middle-class man, and this edition includes not only a scholarly introduction but also the authors correspondence with Friedrich Engels.

That’s one.

Covered: Beauty & Art in Contemporary Bookbinding

Tags

Book Fair, Bookbinders, Bookbinding, Designer Bookbinders, fine bindings, handbound books, Hannah Brown, jeanette koch, Jo Spaul, julian thomas, Kyffin Williams, London, London International Antiquarian Book Fair, Rare Books London, St Bride Foundation, Truman Capote, Urban Birds

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s fascinating tour of the London International Antiquarian Book Fair (of which more later), led by a member of Designer Bookbinders, I see there is also an exhibition currently running at the St Bride Foundation featuring the work of current Designer Bookbinder fellows, licentiates and members.

Designer Bookbinders is one of the foremost bookbinding societies in the world. Its Fellows are widely credited with an international reputation for ‘a progressive influence on the art, design and technique of the handbound book’ (Julian Thomas in Kyffin: A Celebration, 2008, p.5).  This may well be true – I have not the experience or skills to judge – but what I can be sure of is that the society’s members make some of the most stunningly beautiful books being produced today.  It was such a treat to be able not only to see such well-conceived, achingly visual books but also handle (supervised, and very carefully – I was quite nervous!) a couple during Rare Books London, that a visit to this exhibition to gorge on more is a must for me next weekend.

The ‘Covered: Beauty and Art in Contemporary Bookbinding”  exhibition, which opened on 27 May and continues to 6 June, features the work of more than 30 bookbinders associated with Designer Bookbinders. It’s open daily – from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday and 11.00 am to 4.00 pm on Saturday. It’s a selling exhibition so if you’re feeling flush, you can take a souvenir or two home with you.

Below are two recent prize-winning bindings from Designer Bookbinders members to give you a flavour of what may be in the exhibition.

Urban Birds Published by Incline Press, Oldham 1999.  A collection of cuts by Jo Spaul, with accompanying poems from an English anthology of poetry through the ages. Binding by Jeanette Koch, Designer Bookbinders Fellow