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. [caption id="attachment_763" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 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[/caption] This binding on Jo Spaul's Urban Birds (Incline Press, 1999) was done by Designer Bookbinders member, Jeanette Koch. It won the 2009 J Hewitt & Son Prize for interesting treatment of leather.  Not only is the binding in itself a work of art but I love the way in which it evokes both bird feathers and an urban, industrial landscape, making it a fitting compliment to the contents of the book (even if the striking colours conjure, for me, images of Birds of Paradise than the usual avian inhabitants of Britain's cities). Spaul's pictures themselves are frequently framed in black or blue, so the colours harmonise too.  The binding is made from a variety of leathers, including ostrich skin and goat's skin. The title has been blind tooled on the front board and little bird's feet have also been tooled on the front and back.  The upper edge is coloured and the endbands made from multicoloured leathers.  Brown paper doublures precede decorated flyleaves. [caption id="attachment_764" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hannah Brown Binding on Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's[/caption] This binding, by Hannah Brown, of a Folio Society edition of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, won the Designer Bookbinders' Mansfield Medal last year.  According to Hannah, her design draws on a specific scene in the book when Holly Go Lightly has a party in her apartment. The front cover shows Holly smoking a long cigarette, surrounded mostly by men. On the reverse, Holly's unnamed cat, who meant more to her than the reader initially thinks, contrasts sharply with the dark blue background. Designer Bookbinders also often show off its members wares on its Twitter feed (@designerbookUK).  

Last two days to catch Trevor Jones exhibition of 58 marvellous bindings never to be seen all together again!@sbf1891 pic.twitter.com/hC2N91KgKA

— Designer Bookbinders (@DesignerbookUK) April 9, 2015

 

Annual Bookbinding Competition entries on show till 24 January. Winning binding: Tom McEwan for The Rubáiyát@sbf1891 pic.twitter.com/4EPmLaGjUn

— Designer Bookbinders (@DesignerbookUK) January 15, 2014

[Updated 03 June 2015. I have made a few silent corrections to this post since it was first published, with the help, sharp eyes and attention to detail of Designer Bookbinders licentiate, Hannah Brown, to whom I have very grateful. Any remaining infelicitations are of course all of my own making.]

 

The Holloway Reading Stand, c. 1892 “For invalids and those accustomed to read themselves asleep it is invaluable..." pic.twitter.com/131m4NMunN

— ✍ Bibliophilia (@Libroantiguo) May 15, 2015

  A few days ago Bibliophilia tweeted this picture. There have been many inventions and gadgets designed to make reading easier over the centuries, but this one has to take the biscuit in terms of completeness and, frankly, its almost robotic nature and appearance. Bibliophilia's tweet prompted a little digging. This particular beauty was marketed by the Holloway Company in Ohio in the 1880s and 1890s after, as the company's 10th edition brochure proclaims, "years of experiment and trial". (The Holloway Company's brochure has been digitized by the good people at The Internet Archive.) Apparently, it sold well - certainly well enough for the company to keep producing it. "Book readers", the company proclaims "know the tiresomeness of holding books in the best position for comfortable reading and the disinclination to lay aside an interesting book to hunt up the dictionary for the pronunciation or definition of unfamiliar words. Such words should be looked up when we meet them." The 'Holloway Reading Stand and Dictionary Holder' was the answer, then, to the reader's prayers, for it held "the open dictionary by your side, only a turn of the head being required to consult it, while the book you are reading is held open before you". Books too heavy to hold when reading? Especially those dang big bibles and encyclopedias? The Holloway Company recognised that "heavy books are little used for want of a suitable holder". Its Reading Stand came to the rescue. "The Reading Stand will hold them at any angle and it affords a permanent holder for your unabridged dictionary, for ready use" by family and friends. There were also health and safety considerations. Holloways were concerned that "many readers, and especially children, contract the unhealthful habit of bending forward when reading...developing serious diseases of the vital organs and an ungraceful form of the body, while eyesight is not unfrequently impaired by reading from books held at an unsuitable angle or focus." The Reading Stand and Dictionary Holder solved all these problems, allowing the reader to adopt "a healthful, comfortable position" and making reading "an intellectual luxury". Nor was the stand for the home only. In the office "where reading is subject to frequent interruption, the hook [on the Stand] may be pushed away from you by the slightest movement of the hand" and the book is "kept open and in place, ready to be resumed at any time". The table part of the stand and the reading-book rest were made of wood finished with a polished natural grain while the rest of the contraption was metal "of a light and artistic design, finished in black polished japan, ornamented with first grade of French gold-leaf bronze." Surely, this was not a device for the masses! The book rest had an independent circular motion allowing it to be tipped to any pitch by using a small lever - the brochure proudly asserts that there are no thumbscrews! The only physical effort required of the reader was to turn the leaves of the book. The Reading Stand could also be used as a writing table and made easy the job of taking notes when reading, when adjusted as shown in the picture above.  "The book and magazine racks on the sides will hold six or eight ordinary-sized books...students and writers will find the above use of the stand of great convenience". It could also be used to assist in the care and entertainment of invalids. Holloways tell their customers that, adjusted for table use, it can be used "for serving refreshments or medicines to invalids sitting or reclining. The table may be quietly turned to or from the bed with a slight push...without moving the stand. Very useful in the sick room".  And adjusted appropriately, the stand could also facilitate reading two books at once.                   And just in case you wanted even more from your Reading Stand, Holloway offered 'optional extras' including the addition of an 'ornamental gold bronze chess board upon [the] upper surface'. In 1892, the year this particular brochure was produced, the Reading Stand and Dictionary Holder was offered for $14.00 (that's about $370 today) and could be shipped all over the world.  The addition of the chess board cost a further $1.00, making a grand total of $15.00. But Holloway were not the only ones to offer the reading public ways to make reading easier, healthier and more enjoyable.  Take a look at a few of these devices!

Book Wheel, 1588

In the late 16th century, engineer Agostino Ramelli described a "book wheel", a device -admittedly a little large for the average modern home - to enable easy access to several books at once in his The Various and Ingenious Machines of Captain Agostino Ramelli (1588).  Remarkably for the time, the Book Wheel featured multiple shelves built to ensure the books stayed at the right angle as the wheel rotated. It seems he never actually built the machine, spending much of his career designing and making military siege machines.  

Microfilm Readers, 1935

In 1935 the magazine Everyday Science and Mechanics offered its readers its vision of the future of reading.  Believing that in years to come all books would be stored on microfilm, it published a picture of what might loosely be called a 20th century equivalent of today's tablet with a glass screen, buttons to turn the pages and hinged screens.   All images of the Holloway Reading Stand and Dictionary Holder are courtesy of the Winterthur Library: Printed Book and Periodical Collection via the Internet Archive.

The Two Nations?

   “Say what you like, our Queen reigns over the greatest nation that ever existed.”

    “Which nation?” asked the young stranger, “for she reigns over two…two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts and feelings, as if there were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by different breeding, are fed by different food, are ordered by different manners and are not governed by the same laws.”

   “You speak of  -" said Egremont hesitatingly.

---

I was reminded of this passage from Disraeli’s Sybil (Book ii, Chapter 5) as I was browsing through a completely different book, The Two Nations: A Financial Study of English History by Christopher Hollis (New York: Gordon Press, 1975, p. v).  The distinction Disraeli draws is between the rich and the poor, and it is in that sense Hollis quotes the passage. Sybil (London: Henry Colburn, 1845) was published with the sub-title Or the Two Nations, and Disraeli, an influential leader of the Tory party who served two terms as Prime Minister, also coined the phrase and framed the concept of one-nation conservatism.  Disraeli’s conception of one-nation toryism was designed to appeal to the working classes, binding them into an organic and evolutionary societal framework putting strong emphasis on the duty of each citizen to have a care to all other citizens and especially on the duty of the upper classes to practice patronage, paternalism and pragmatism. So influential on conservatism was Disraeli’s thinking that one-nation conservatism remains a force within modern politics, albeit it still focussed on bridging what divides the rich from the poor.  London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is quoted as saying “I am a one-nation Tory.  There is a duty on the part of the rich to the poor and to the needy”; and in his 2006 pamphlet published by the One Nation Group of Conservatives, Tory MP Andrew Tyrie described current Prime Minister, David Cameron as pursuing Disraeli’s one nation approach in the 21^st century much as had Stanley Baldwin and Rab Butler in the 20^th century. [caption id="attachment_726" align="aligncenter" width="215"] Benjamin Disraeli First Earl of Beaconsfield[/caption]   I am struck though how easily Disraeli’s analysis in Sybil parallels the current political debate about the future of the United Kingdom and the two nations of England and Scotland within that Union (down to the fact there is once again a Queen on the throne!).  Although Disraeli’s political career may have been glittering I wouldn’t hold him among the finest of novelist of his era.   Yet, it is the way in which his discourse remains relevant, and applicable, even if it is with the assistance of a shoehorn, to contemporary circumstances that lends a timeless quality to his fiction.  And it demonstrates one of the true pleasures and rewards of reading and book collecting: that a serendipitous stumbling can provoke a moment of reflection.  Is there meat in Sybil for those searching for answers around devolution and Scottish independence? I’d need to give the novel a much closer reading to answer that but I’d be prepared to bet it wouldn’t be a bad aperitif even if it doesn’t make an entrée.    

While browsing in my local independent bookshop, the wonderfully welcoming Wimbledon Books and Music, I noticed a flyer promoting a Pop-Up Bookshop. Anthony Smith, Associate Member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, will be having his second (how come I missed the first?) Pop-Up Bookshop on Thursday 28th May at the offices of the publishers, John Murray at 50 Albemarle Street.   Smith promises to offer a range of rare and collectible books, including art & architecture, fiction, biography, history and travel with a thematic highlight on the lives of Anglo-Americans in Italy in the 20th century, featuring the editor's copy of Iris Origo's autobiography, Images and Shadows, with their correspondence, and a presentation copy of Lina Waterfield's Castle in Italy.     But it is perhaps his selection of pre-1978 Oxford World Classics that will tempt me to go along.  Many of course will be familiar with the red and white branded modern paperback Oxford World Classics series, with their scholarly but accessible apparatus, but the series dates back to 1901 when it was founded by the publisher Grant Richards.  The imprint was purchased by Oxford University Press in 1904. Some 620 titles (plus some small spin-off sub-series such as the 'Boys Classics" issued between 1904 and 1908 and the omnibus volumes of the 1930s) were published in dust-jacketed hardback prior to 1978 before the series was relaunched in paperback in 1980. If you haven't discovered these lovely little clothbound books yet, there's a treat in store for you.  As the publisher's catalogue proudly proclaimed in 1907 "The best recommendation of 'The World Classics' is the books themselves, which have earned unstinted praise from all the leading critics and the public.... Only the world's literary masterpieces have been, and will be, included series".  But what gives them more appeal to me is their handy yet elegant pocket-size, achieved without compromising the contents and making them perfect for reading on the go. Anthony Smith's pop-up bookshop will have some 150 of these perfect little volumes on offer! Do let me know if anyone is thinking of going. Delighted to meet up. I shall, hopefully, be popping along during my lunch hour. Anthony Smith Pop Up Bookshop will be a John Murray, 50 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BD from 10am to 6.00pm on Thursday 28th May 2015. Nearest tube station is Green Park  

Helen Giltrow’s impressive debut novel, The Distance, is a rare thing: a pacey and shocking thriller with plot twists aplenty which also hits home with a lacing of disruptive juxtaposing.  Somewhere in the northern reaches of London, there’s a prison. It purportedly operates an innovative and benign rehabilitation programme for the most egregious offenders. It is in fact run by a criminal gang whose currency is a calloused cruelty, a lethal blend of torture, intimidation and persecution.  The impenetrable barriers surrounding the enclave invite the belief that this is some sort of special place, not quite real, a removal into another time and another place, not our London.  But Giltrow allows her readers no such comfort blanket for around the prison, and in sight of the detainees, ‘free’ London goes on, normal, familiar, and safe, a constant reminder that beyond the novel and outside the prison, chaotic and gruesome mob rule is sometimes only a wire fence away. The Distance dances, albeit occasionally with left foot-leading, on the murkier fringes of the world of Spooks and officially-sanctioned intrusion and assassination. It’s brave but not brash: the physical and psychological violence (and there’s a lot of it) is shockingly, if not surprisingly, real.  This is not one for the faint-hearted, but there’s nothing gratuitous. Charlotte Alton is a sort of modern ”M” on the wrong side of the tracks and re-imagined for a more cynical 21^st century audience.  Elegant, wealthy, clever and driven, she lacks Bond’s licence to kill but doesn't let that bother her. She operates, largely vicariously through supreme mastery of technology, manipulating killers, players and victims alike, Subbuteo-style: the true play is almost always a distance away. One of Charlotte’s alter egos comes out of retirement to engineer one of her contacts into the prison in order to kill an a women who may not even be there, with a cover-story which is perhaps the most improbable element of the whole charabang, but all does not go swimmingly; Charlotte herself has reservations, and an unresolved attraction to her chosen human weapon, Simon Johanssen, who himself has much to prove and too much morality to prove it unquestioningly.  His undercover mission is impeded by the menacing Quinlan and his side-kick, the sub-human monster, Bryce, as well as multi-layered webs of deceptions, misjudgments and undisclosed connections which work their way with a dreadful fatalism towards not one but two showdowns, one of which has already happened.   This may not be the most credible premise, nor the most original, but it is sound and in Giltrow’s very capable hands, it is crafted into a relentless, absorbing, seat of the pants thriller. Charlotte is surrounded by a cast of characters, good and bad among them but it’s not always clear which is which. Questioning not just where the divide between good and evil lies but whether it even exists at all is one of the binding, and most rewarding, elements of the story: Giltrow constantly challenges the righteousness of motivation and isn’t afraid to let to allow the reader judgement. (The cast list is long and many of the players are lightly-drawn, so much so that it can be challenge to keep them all straight.) The Distance was Wimbledon Village’s Book Group’s choice for May 2015.  The consensus among group members was that it was an engrossing thriller at times scary and at times disruptive, but always an enjoyable read.  A cut above the average thriller, providing plenty of substance for discussion, many members thought the novel would work very well, perhaps even better, as a film. Certain unresolved elements in the story, especially around the relationships between characters, left the distinct impression that there will be a Charlotte Alton 2 (which the author has since confirmed), and the group would be keen to read the next one. I am most grateful to the author for providing a copy of her book for this review.  I am even more delighted that Helen signed it! One to treasure, I think. Helen Giltrow used to be a bookseller and has worked as a editor.  She has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award and the Daily Telegraph’s Novel in a Year competition. The Distance is her first novel. It was first published in the UK by Orion Books in May 2014 (and in paperback in February 2015).  It was published in the US by Doubleday in September 2014.  You can follow Helen on Twitter - @helengiltrow.