“See you at Chelsea”
September 23, 2015
I will be exhibiting 
for the first time at The Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair, held on November 6th – 7th at the stunning Chelsea Old Town Hall in the King’s Road, London SW3 5EE.
The Chelsea fair has become a fixture in the calendar for book and print collectors and dealers from Britain, Europe and America. Warmer than Boston, more intimate than York, less formal than Paris – Chelsea has it all. Customers return year after year to this lively and friendly event.
‘See you at Chelsea’ has become a phrase familiar to everyone in the British rare book and works on paper trade.
I look forward to meeting old friends, established clients and especially new collectors. With Christmas around the corner, are you looking for an unusual and memorable present? Or is there a subject, artist, genre or period of history that especially attracts you? Perhaps you are thinking of collecting books or prints but are unsure of where to start, what to look for, who to approach or what on earth I mean by half calf gilt, aquatint, or slightly foxed…
If so, come and talk to me on the Stage at the back of the Main Hall (Stand 87, you can’t miss it!).
Whether you are in the business, a collector or simply curious about rare, antiquarian and collectable books, prints, maps and ephemera, then the Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair is not to be missed.
The Fair is Open on Friday 6th November 2pm to 7pm and Saturday 7th November 11am to 5pm.
To Find out More: http://www.chelseabookfair.com/
For Free Tickets please click this link: http://www.chelseabookfair.com/register-for-tickets/9e2ec72ab6aeb74beab8efce48491cbb
For a Preview of some of the Stock I will be bringing to Chelsea: https://jenningsprints-public.sharepoint.com/SiteAssets/Bristol%20BF.pdf
People, Prints and Progress – Or, Why are Prints Important?
August 14, 2015
Though relatively scant scholarly attention has been paid to the subject, I would go so far as to suggest that the printed image is at least as important as the printed word to the progress of Western civilisation. The major scientific and technological advances of the post-Medieval world would surely have been impossible without what William M. Ivins called the “exactly repeatable pictorial statement”.
Read more of my article for the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) website.
Link: http://www.aba.org.uk/Book-Collecting-Details.aspx?bcid=102
Backing Beck
July 2, 2015
One of the strongest growth areas of map collecting is London transport, and in particular the diagrammatic maps designed for London Underground by Harry Beck (1902-1974).
Cartographically-speaking, they were revolutionary. Prior to the Beck diagram, the various underground lines were superimposed geographically over a simplified road map.
I bought one of his handy pocket-sized tri-fold designs, published in 1959, from Jonathan Potter Ltd recently. It is I believe the penultimate Beck-designed tube map (correct me if you know better).
1959 Beck Underground map
The first issue of Beck’s iconic map, still so familiar and upon which the current map is still based, was published in January 1933. The ‘electrical circuit’ design dispensed with conventions of scale, accurate bearing and all surface landmarks – apart from the dear old River Thames, whose sinous, stylized curves flow through the lower portion.
2nd edition of the Beck pocket map issued February 1933. Special version for the opening of Southgate and Enfield West stations. Sold recently for £900 at auction.
Beck’s freelance updates were ignored by London Underground after 1960 – sparking a bitter legal tussle. Indeed, his 29-page personal scrapbook, which came up for auction in June, includes a rejection letter from London Transport.
Personal scrapbook of Harry Beck, sold recently at auction for £5,000
The various editions of Beck’s map not only chart the expanding, ever-developing city that is London. They reflect the changing priorities of Londoners and tourists, and the evolving stylistic tastes of pre- and post-war Britain.
My advice: next time you visit a collectors fair or flea market, ferret right down to the bottom of that box of maps.
Fake or Fortune?
May 12, 2015
Last week I gave a talk at Colet Court, the preparatory school of St Paul’s.
I encouraged the boys to take a closer look at the pictures, maps, family scrap albums and illustrated books in their homes. Most people have got an old print somewhere, perhaps gathering dust in the attic, even if they don’t know it.
I gave the schoolboys some pointers to help identify a genuine antique print, and reproduce them here in the hope that you too, dear reader, might unearth a hidden gem.
Let me know if you come up with any interesting finds. Email a pic here: jasper@jenningsprints.com
Happy hunting!
- Signatures: for an artist to sign a print was rare until the late 19th century, and they also often signed reproductions. Instead, look for Latin terms engraved or etched under the image to denote artist, draughtsman, printmaker, sometimes printer and publisher – in Britain this served as copyright.
- Plate mark: can you see an indented line around the outer edge of the image?
- Paper: does it look bright and new or has it dulled or browned with age? Can you see any rust-coloured spots (known as ‘foxing’)?
Hold the paper close to a light: can you see the pattern of vertical lines (‘wire-marks’) crossed by horizontal ‘chain-lines’ from the wires in the papermaker’s tray. This is evidence of ‘laid paper’, widely used in the 18th century before ‘wove’ papers took over, which have no such marks visible. European papers can be approximately dated from their appearance and feel, and often provide evidence of a modern reprint or facsimile.
- The Image: look closely with a magnifying glass: is it made up of a mesh of tiny dots? If so it may be a photomechanical reproduction.
- Other Clues: if the print is framed, is it an old frame and mount, perhaps with the original framer’s or printseller’s label on the backboard?
I will be “popping up” at Middle Temple Library in London on 23rd April (12.00 – 14.00) as part of a worldwide series of Pop-Up book fairs endorsed by UNESCO.
On this day in 1616 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died. Centuries later this day marked the date of birth or death of prominent authors like Vladimir Nabokov, Haldor Laxness, Maurice Druon and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.
And each year, on 23rd April, UNESCO celebrates World Book and Copyright Day with a series of worldwide events. Now, for the first time, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) will be a part of it!
A WORLD FIRST – ACROSS THE WORLD
From Sydney to Tokyo to Cape Town, from Moscow, London and all the major European capitals to New York, Washington, Chicago and the Pacific Northwest of the United States ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs, organized by the world’s expert antiquarian booksellers, will appear on 23rd April, 2015.
WHERE? In a woolshed in the Australian bush, at central stations, on boats, in museums, libraries, streets, private clubs, cocktail clubs, brew pubs, on roof terraces, at the top of skyscrapers. On UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day ILAB booksellers will bring rare books to the people in the most unexpected places!
HOW? Like a Mexican wave starting the day in Australia and, as the sun goes down, finishing the day in the United States, scores of rare book dealers will be organizing Pop Up Fairs – a mixture between bookish flash mob and speed dating for book lovers, lasting only a few hours at unusual, but busy locations where passers-by will discover a stunning selection of rare books, prints, manuscripts and ephemera to promote the trade of old and rare books and to support the UNESCO literacy projects in Africa.
Official websites www.ilab.org and www.unesco.org/new/en/wbcd.
Please contact Sally Burdon (Sally@AsiaBookroom.com) or Barbara van Benthem (editor@ilab.org), if you need any further information.
At Her Majesty’s (Reading) Pleasure
July 25, 2014
I was this morning invited, along with other arts/heritage bloggers, to preview the Royal Childhood exhibition at Buckingham Palace as part of a visit to the State Rooms, before they open to the general public for the summer season tomorrow.
A privilege to be able to wander through the gilded opulence of Nash’s theatrical interiors in select company, unhindered by hordes of the great unwashed. In fact the very polite and helpful staff in their smart uniforms considerably outnumbered the visitors.
A pity that the exterior of the Queen’s London residence – a somewhat austere and faintly institutional-looking building I always think – gives no hint of the lavish warmth and gaiety that greets the visitor within. But that’s by the by.
The exhibition itself didn’t spark much interest personally – a couple of displays of toys, family gifts and childhood outfits, padded out with photographs and film footage of royal kiddies, centred on the ballroom. A lot of smiling Will and Kates posing with little George, for the tourists.
The only item I could find of mild interest to the bibliophile or ephemerist was the below invoice addressed to Queen Victoria from bookseller, publisher and photographer Joseph Cundall (1818-1895), of 12 Old Bond Street.
His bill, dated 1845, itemises exclusively children’s books, for the royal progeny.
Cundall traded from addresses in Old and New Bond Streets (in collaboration with others) in the course of an illustrious career in the book and photographic arts, before accepting the post of supervisor of publications at the South Kensington Museum (later the V&A) in 1866.
He specialised in children’s illustrated books and in the later 1840s became increasingly interested in the photographic possibilities of illustration. He was a founder member of the Royal Photographic Society of London.
Prints, People and Progress 