A Book of Posters printed at Whittington (Whittington Press, 1996)

A Book of Posters printed at Whittington collects a selection of letterpress posters and broadsides printed by the Whittington Press from its inception until 1996. It was the first of two such collections, followed in 2013 by Posters from Whittington, 1996-2013. The former book, which I am looking at here, was issued in a limited edition of 125 copies across three states. Here I’ll be looking at one of the 50 “B” copies, with twenty five posters.

The first thing that must be said is that the book is monumental, measuring 627mm × 437mm (about 24½″× 17¼″). I love big books! This vast size and heft can make it a bit awkward to get to book out of its accompanying slipcase, which is of green paper sides over brown cloth ends. Once released, we find that the volume follows the same design language, being quarter brown cloth over green paper sides. An engraving by Hellmuth Weissenborn is printed on the front board. On the spine is a bevelled leather title label blocked simply with “POSTERS”; it somehow helps to give everything a premium finish.

We breeze past moss green laid paper endpapers to find that the book is assembled from two different paper stocks. Firstly, comes the introductory textual material, which is printed on a quite delightful antique paper recovered after the shuttering of the Oxford University Press. This paper, whose page size is a little smaller than the rest of the bookblock has a warm antique colouration and is most pleasant to handle.

The title page reads simply “A Book of Posters Printed at Whittington with an introduction by John Randle“. It is printed in black and russet and makes use of a Caslon swash face held by the press. There is a three-page introduction that describes the place of posters in Whittington’s output and explains that most of the posters here have been reprinted, where possible on the same papers as the originals. Tipped-in is a broadside from the St Dominic’s Press whose founder, Hilary Pepler, was an early proponent of fine press poster printing. There are two further text leaves: one with a list of the posters, and a second with the colophon, which reads as follows:

This edition of 125 copies is keyboarded and cast in 18 and 20 point Caslon (the latter almost identical to William Caslon I’s 22 point of 1732, one of the earliest and best designs in the Caslon family). The 96 point Caslon swash capitals on the title page were designed by T. M. Cleland for American Type Founders.

The text paper is a deckle edged wove acquired from Oxford University Press among a large collection of hand- and mould-mades in 1985. The paper used for the tip-ins is Zerkall Bütten-Karton mould-made, and the posters themselves are printed on a variety of papers as described in the text.

Edition A, numbered 1-50, contains thirty-five posters, and a separate portfolio of about ten assorted loose posters.

Edition B, numbered 51-100, contains twenty-five posters.

Edition C, numbered 101-125, contains six assorted posters.

The wood-engravings used here and on the half-title page are by Hellmuth Weissenborn. Keyboarded and cast at WHittington by Peter J. Sanderson, and bound by The Fine Bindery.
December 1995. This is copy no: [hand numbered]

Now we reach the posters, mounted on Zerkall mould made paper of a heavy weight—necessitated by the large page size and the need to carry some heavy-duty posters. It is much closer to white in tone than the antique stock used for the text, but still with a slight warmth to its colouration. Each two page spread includes some notes on the verso leaf and the poster mounted to the recto leaf. Many of the posters need to fold to fit inside the book. But they are folded at most once and open out across the facing page so that the entire dimensions of the poster generally fit within the bounds of the open spread. I prefer this to tip-ins that fold out into the void beyond the book—who knows what dangers await out there!

The book is a sensory delight! Apart from the two types of paper already mentioned, the posters are printed on a wide range of different supports, from coarse and highly tactile to smooth and refined; light and delicate the positively chunky. There are a wide range of design styles on display, many with space to deploy large type sizes not often seen in book work. The posters bear a variety of engravings, linocuts, and pochoir material in a range of colours. It’s hard to pick out favourites, but a few highlights include:

• Breath lightly, featuring a drawing by Richard Kennedy, and printed on a positively sublime F. J. Head hand made paper dating to 1948.
• Linocuts by Hellmuth Weissenborn, featuring a large linocut and printed on heavy and bright yellow Jim Dine hand made paper from Wookey Hole.
• The Whittington Press, with a hand-coloured linocut of the press by Howard Phipps, printed on oatmeal coloured Barcham Green Crisbrook hand made paper.
• Our England is a garden, with a large hand-coloured linocut by Judith Verity (who has signed and numbered the poster), and printed on oatmeal coloured Barcham Green Crisbrook hand made paper.
• Fågelperspektiv över The Whittington Press, with Miriam Macgregor‘s detailed plan of the press, printed on a pleasingly coarse Armatruda hand made paper.
• The Vale of Andoversford, essentially part of Miriam Macgregor’s dust jacket from Whittington: Apects of a Cotswold Village, here printed along with some descriptive text.
• Whittington Court, with a three-colour linocut by Howard Phipps, on Zerkall mould made paper.

Besides these show-stoppers, there are also some fun additions, such as a sign directing press visitors to a display of typesetting and drystone walling. I daresay Whittington is the only place on earth where one can observe these two crafts at once.

All too soon we come to the end of the collection of posters. The last, fittingly, is a broadside advertising the very book we have been leafing through. I so very much enjoyed my time with this book that it’s a shame to see it end. But, happily, it’s the type of book one can immediately start afresh, its tactile and aesthetic pleasures in no way diminished on a second reading. Then there’s the sequel, which I plan to review soon; follow the blog to be sure you don’t miss it. For now, this one’s a real favourite. ■

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