Excitement is mounting here . . .

. . . and this is a big hint for our many friends who have been around a bit!


The fact is that, in 2000, we published The Old Stile Press . . . in the twentieth century which gave the history of the Press and described all the books made up till that point. The cover of this book was taken from a specially commissioned pen and wash drawing by Clive Hicks-Jenkins which took the form of a fanciful and highly romantic vision of Catchmays Court, the home of the Press and of ourselves. Bang in the middle of the spine was a single sheep. The conceit at that time was that, if you put a line of copies on a shelf, then you got a line of single sheep!

To the astonishment of all concerned, ten years have passed and that time has seen the production of a respectable number of serious and major publications . . . which of course do not get a mention in the first Bibliography. So, for most of this year, I have been writing and photographing away towards the production of The Old Stile Press . . . the next ten years which (I am thrilled to say) has already been printed and is with the binder as I write. I am (relieved and) happy to be able to say that it has turned out rather well and we are very happy with it.

At the very last minute (because of pressure of work) Clive H-J managed to complete for us the long-ago asked-for painting for the cover. It is again a fanciful take on Catchmays Court but this time is in full colour (as is the entire book, incidentally) and, yes, on the spine there are TWO sheep.

This post is merely a slight over-boiling of excitement on our part about the imminent arrival of the book and we will be posting again soon with photographs, prices and full descriptions. Ordering can, therefore, wait until then BUT do email, if you would like, so as to get your name down on the reservation list . . .

. . . especially if you might be considering one of the 15 Special Copies (a number are bespoke already) for which Frances has been gathering together sample pages and whatnot of almost all the books made during this period together with many other items.