The Quince Tree Press

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The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. [1]

Contents

[edit] History of the press

When Carr took 2-year leave of absence from teaching in 1967 his aim was to see if he could make his living by selling decorated maps of English counties and small, illustrated pocket books of poets and idiosyncratic dictionaries. [2] These he published from his house at Mill Dale Road in Kettering, Northamptonshire under the imprint The Quince Tree Press. The quince is a fruiting tree native to the Caucasus.

At the age of 76 years and unhappy with the six different publishers of his six novels to date and with the advance that he had been offered for his seventh novel, Carr decided to publish the next book himself. What Hetty Did was published as a paperback by the Quince Tree Press in 1988 in an edition of 3,000 copies and was soon reprinted in the same number. [2] Carr followed this novel four years later with Harpole & Foxberrow General Publishers in an edition of 4,000 copies. Carr sold his books directly to booksellers and by mail order direct to readers, often signed, and offered copies of his other novels that he had bought as remainders from his previous publishers.

In his life time Carr bought back the rights to the novels How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup and A Month in the Country and published them under the imprint of the Quince Tree Press. Since Carr's death in 1994 his son Robert Carr has run The Quince Tree Press with his wife Jane, and they have reprinted all his father's novels and continue to publish some of the pocket books and maps.

All Carr's small books are 16 stapled pages, usually about 12.5 x 9.5 cm, with decorated card covers. A few are numbered; some are dated. Carr wrote: 'These books fit small envelopes, go for a minimum stamp and are perfect for cold bedrooms - only one hand and a wrist need suffer exposure'.

In each of his novels published by the Quince Tree Press Carr cited words by Beatrice Warde, an eminent American typographer:

"This is a Printing Office, cross-roads of civilisation, Refuge of all the Arts against the Ravages of Time. From this place Words may fly abroad, not to perish as waves of sound but fix'd in Time, not corrupted by the hurrying hand but verified in Proof. Friend, you are on Safe Ground: this is a Printing Office."

[edit] Novels by J.L. Carr

[edit] Illustrated Maps

Carr drew his first map in 1943, of England and Wales, while stationed in west Africa during the Second World War.[2] Rather than being geographical, the maps give brief biographical details and quotations in Carr's quirky style about people and historical events related to places in the old counties of England, before they were reorganised. The maps are meant to be read and framed and to stimulate conversation.[2]

Carr's illustrated maps published by the Quince Tree Press were printed on single sheets of thick paper of various types and range in size from 50 to 65 cm high and 35 to 55 cm wide, depending on the approximate shape of each county. The early maps were in monochrome; later maps are coloured. The number of different versions published as of August 1987 is shown in parentheses below[1] and at least three new maps (Buckinghamshire, Westmoreland and Wiltshire) were added after then; there may be more maps and more versions. The versions of most county maps were not numbered or dated, so the order in which they were published is not known. Versions may be distinguished by the number of sheets printed, which was usually recorded on later maps, and assuming that the number was different for each version. If the number of sheets issued was recorded on the version then each sheet was usually numbered by hand although unnumbered copies are known. Some maps may be signed. The number of sheets of the versions seen or held in public collections are given below and range from 350 to 982 with an average of about 750.

[edit] Poets

[edit] Poems

  • Border Ballads. The death of Parcy Reed and from The Battle of Otterburn. Cover by J.L. Carr.
  • A Christmas Book. An anthology of words and pictures.
  • The Hearth and Home Reciter. Elizabeth Welbourn's Celebrated Reciter for all Occasions. Sixteen poems plus guidance for elocutionists.

[edit] Dictionaries

  • Ambrose Bierce. The Devil's Dictionary. 223 entries selected by Mike Hill.
  • J.L. Carr. Gidner's Brief Lives of the Frontier. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 88 entries. Note: Gidner is the name of the main character in The Battle of Pollocks Crossing.
  • J.L. Carr. Carr's Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English cricketers. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 126 entries.
  • J.L. Carr. Carr's Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English cricketers, Volume 2. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 80 entries.
  • J.L. Carr. Carr's Dictionary of English Queens, Kings' Wives, Celebrated Paramours, Handfast Spouses and Royal Changelings. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 91 entries. No. 84
  • J.L. Carr. Carr's Dictionary of English Kings, Consorts, Pretenders, Usurpers, Unnatural Claimants and Royal Athelings. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 107 entries
  • J.L. Carr. Welbourn's Dictionary of Prelates, Parsons, Vergers, Wardens, Sidesmen and Preachers, Sunday-school teachers, Hermits, Ecclesiastical Flower-arrangers, Fifth Monarchy Men and False Prophets. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 129 entries. No. 85. Note: Welbourn was the family name of Carr's mother's family.[2]
  • A.J. Forrest. Forrest's Dictionary of Eponymists. 135 entries.
  • R.G.E. Sandbach. Sandbach's Dictionary of Astonishing British Animals. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press. 145 entries collected by R.G.E. Sandbach, edited by J.L. Carr.

[edit] Artist's picture books

  • Thomas Bewick. Thirty-four prints and biographical extracts.
  • Myles Birket Foster. Seventeen engravings
  • Joseph Crawhall. The Babes in the Wood and 22 prints.
  • George Cruikshank.
  • Clare Dalby
  • Edwina Ellis. Twenty-seven prints.
  • Hilda Frank. Nineteen prints.
  • Marie Hastley
  • Joan Hassall. Thirty-two prints.
  • George Mackley
  • Săsa Marinkov.
  • Sarah van Niekerk. Her Picture book.
  • Hilary Paynter. Twenty-one prints.
  • Monica Poole. Twenty prints.
  • Gwen Raverat.
  • Yvonne Skargon.
  • Ian Stephens. Twenty-four prints.
  • Margaret Wells.
  • Sarah van Niekerk. Ninenteen prints.

[edit] Other picture books

  • A Little Book of Bookplates. Thirty-six bookplates selected by Brian North Lee. No 71.
  • The Good Children's Book. Seventeen prints illustrating moral behaviour. A facsimile of an 1820 edition.
  • The Pleasing Instructor.

[edit] Inflammatory evangelical tracts

  • The Poor Man's guide to the Revolt of 1381. No. 50?
  • The Young Woman's Old Testament. Verbatim extracts from King James's version typical of their authors' attitude towards women. No. 85.

[edit] Others

  • Forefathers by J.L. Carr. A brief essay on Anglo-Norse carvings.
  • The Territory versus Fleming. Transcript of a murder trial edited by J.L. Carr from an 1887 Dakota newspaper.
  • The Song of Songs. Extracts from The King James's Bible.
  • An inventory and history of The Quince Tree Press to mark its 21st year and the sale of its 500,000th small book. August, 1987. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press, pp 24.


[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Carr, J.L. (1987) An inventory and a history of the Quince Tree Press to mark its 21st year and the sale of its 500,000th small book. August 1987. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Rogers, Byron. (2003). The Last Englishman. The Life of J.L. Carr. London: Aurum Press.

[edit] External links

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