Whittington Press ~ England
(John & Rose Randle)

Broadside by Whittington Press
Fine Press Books by Whittington Press
Matrix publications available
Type & Typography collaboration with Mark Batty

British Private Press Prospectuses 1891-2001
By David Butcher
Herefordshire: Whittington Press, 2001. Edition of 350.

This is a special copy ("C") bound in Oasis leather with three facsimile prospectuses. 8 x 11", 147 pp. in the back board pocket. Marbled endpapers. 20 prospectuses in separate pocket folder bound in paper and buckram. Includes 16 colored plates. The two volumes are in buckram slipcase with Oasis spine. #XXIX of 40 copies of a total edition of 350.
$1,875

Comments from Whittington Press about this publication:
The catalogues and prospectuses issued by private presses are not only often beautiful examples of printing in themselves, but they can also offer fascinating clues to the development of the titles they are promoting. Many are printed on hand-made paper and from the original engravings, and can encapsulate the germ of the idea that later (sometimes much later, occasionally never), and after much labour, becomes the book itself.

Such prospectuses have become popular with collectors partly because of the insight they offer into the activities of the presses concerned, and partly because they can be satisfying substitutes when the book is rarely available, or only at a price that puts it out of reach of most. They will usually have been printed at the Press concerned, with all the thought and care that is lavished on an object which is designed to sell the book.
In this survey of private press prospectuses of the last hundred years, David Butcher summarizes the output of the main presses and reveals some of the fascinating stories behind the books. Prospectuses give a unique insight into the printers' attitudes and aspirations, and provide tantalizing glimpses of the books which might-have-been.

During the last fifteen years the Whittington Press has been collecting prospectuses and catalogues, from Doves and Golden Cockerel to those issued by contemporary presses, as they are still genuinely ephemeral. We have been fortunate in being able to acquire two large collections which will allow us to include original prospectuses and catalogues in portfolios accompanying the seventy-five special copies. In addition the book will contain illustrations of some of the most interesting prospectuses.

The increasing price of prospectuses and catalogues in booksellers' catalogues are evidence of the steady popularity of such items, and this will be the first time that they will have been described and evaluated as separate and important adjuncts of the private press movement.

Books from The Whittington Press 1999 2000 2001
By Whittington Press
Herefordshire: Whittington Press, 1999.

Pamphlet style in brown pictorial wrappers. The wood-engraving on the front cover is by John O'Connor. Engravings on pages 1, 6, 7, 10, and 15 are printed from wood.

Attempts to list all projects the Press has for 1999, 2000, and 2001. Projects included in the catalogue are

People & Places
Travels in the Cevennes
Busy as a Bee
Fine Papers at the Oxford University Press
Letters between Edward & Helen Thomas
London Scene
British Private Press Prospectuses, 1890-1990
Wine from my Garden
Chinese Ceremonial Papers
A View of the Cotswolds
The Diary of Gwenda Morgan, 1930-1946
Ebble Valley

$15

Click image for more

The Whittington Press
A Bibliography 1982-93.
Compiled by David Butcher
Herefordshire: Whittington Press, (1996). Edition of 380 copies.

Of the edition of 380, 244 were printed without tipped-in specimen pages. In dark green paper covered board slipcase.

Introduction and notes by John Randle. Includes titles produced for other publishers, minor publications and ephemera, catalogues and prospectuses, posters and broadsides. An appendix with a checklist of books published from 1972 to 1981 is included along with indices to tiles, names, and subjects. Illustrated with examples from various works.
$250

Click image for more

Printing at The Whittington Press 1972 - 1994
By John Randle
1994. Edition of 2500.

6 x 9" with 63 pages. Woodcut tip-in by Miriam Macgregor as well as woodcut on front cover by Macgregor. Printed by letterpress at the Stinehour Press with design by Jerry Kelly.

An Exhibition at the Grolier Club, New York. 28 September - 18 November 1994 with essays by John Randle, John Dreyfus & Mark Batty. An annotated exhibition catalogue describing the production of the Whittington Press with illustrations.
$20

Matrix: A Review for Printers & Bibliophiles
Edited by John Randle
Herefordshire, England: Whittington Press

An annual review for printers and bibliophiles. Always features informative articles plus any of variety of illustrations in many forms-etchings, pochoir, wood engravings, various papers, tipped-in photographs, and prints - the works!

Matrix 23. Winter 2003.
Edition of 800: 715 standard in stiff wrappers; 85 quarter-bound in Oasis leather and paper marbled by Christopher Rowlatt.

Set in Caslon, Cohin, Bell & Romulus types. Printed on Sommerville Laid, Hahnemühle Ingres and Creator papers. Colour plates printed by The Cloister Press and J. W. Northend.

Contains twenty-five articles plus book reviews, including: Anthony Dowd "Fine Press and the Bookbinder"; Miriam MacGregor "The Forgotten Pleasure of Hand-Printing"; Lucy Archer "Working with Olive Cook"; Michael Caine "My Concatenation of Types"; Dennis Gould "Latterday Letterpress Printer"; and Simon Lawrence "Aspects of Golden Cockerel". Illustrated and with tipped in specimens on special paper, engravings, photographs. color plates. Frontispiece is a 1937 Matisse "Woman's Head".

This is the deluxe version with a facsimile of the 1920 Klingspor Calendar.
$775

Other Matrix issues available:
Matrix 26 (2006) $265

 
Matrix 23 
Click image for more