Mainstone Press Books & Prints

MAINSTONE PRESS MAINSTONE PRESS

BOOKS AND LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

SUZANNE COOPER PAINTINGS UNDER THE SPARE-ROOM BED

In the 1930s Suzanne Cooper was a rising star of British modernism. While studying at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art she began showing paintings and wood engravings in prestigious West End galleries; reviewers singled out her work for praise. She became the protégé of her tutor Iain Macnab and art dealer Lucy Carrington Wertheim. Then came the Second World War. Cooper became a volunteer nurse, and then a wife and mother. She continued to draw on occasion but abandoned her artistic ambitions.

Only in recent years has Cooper’s work been rediscovered, attracting comparisons to the work of Eric Ravilious and Christopher Wood. This beautiful new book showcases Cooper’s remarkable talent. A commentary on each work is provided by Andrew Stewart, while Lucy Hughes-Hallett and Jenny Uglow reflect on Cooper’s life and place in 1930s British art.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-8-0

Quarter-bound cloth hardback

112 pages, 24 x 28 cm 120 illustrations

£35

BOUTIQUES

BY LUCIEN BOUCHER

The first book in the Mainstone Press’s Parisian trilogy celebrates the city’s charming boutiques. Originally published in 1925,  Boutiques paired the jewel-like illustrations of Lucien Boucher with the surreal text of Pierre Mac Orlan. Snapped up by collectors, Boutiques sold out on publication and is a classic of the art deco period. The book was also coveted by artists, including Eric Ravilious, whose High Street (1938) owes a great debt to Boucher’s style.

149

In this updated edition, Boucher’s 37 timeless shops are reproduced alongside new captions by Andrew Stewart. Mac Orlan’s text is also included, in an English translation by Shaun Whiteside. A richly illustrated essay by James Russell explores the fascinating world of Boucher, Mac Orlan and publisher Marcel Seheur. We end with notes on the printing of the book by the print aficionado Neil Philip.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-7-3

Cloth hardback with label

280 pages, 22.5 x 18.5 cm

c. 150 illustrations

A limited edition of 500 copies

£100

100 special editions

Price on application

70 bound in navy cloth, numbered + limited edition print

30 bound in leather, numbered + 3 limited edition prints

‘ Those of us who love beautiful books enjoy few things more than the hunt for a rare volume, and few modern books are as rare or as beautiful as Boutiques.’

BOUTIQUES LITTÉRAIRES

BOUTIQUES

BOUTIQUES DE LA FOIRE

BY LUCIEN BOUCHER

The success of Boutiques led to a sequel the following year –Boutiques de la foire – featuring 37 enchanting lithographs by Lucien Boucher depicting Paris’s fairground rides and stalls. Again, the book was an instant hit and sold out on publication. Our new edition presents Boucher’s images alongside newly commissioned captions by Andrew Stewart that give an insight into the 1920s world of the funfair and the attractions depicted. In a beautifully illustrated essay, Pascal Jacob discusses the history of the fairground and its influence on 20th-century art, early cinema and picture books.

Mac Orlan’s original fairground text is translated by Shaun Whiteside and accompanied by stunning photographs of Paris’s fêtes foraines taken by Mac Orlan’s friend, the photographer Marcel Bovis. We end with notes on the printing of the book by Neil Philip.

ISBN 978-1-7392889-0-7

Cloth hardback

with label

280 pages, 22.5 x 18.5 cm

c. 150 illustrations

A limited edition of 500 copies

£100

100 special editions

Price on application

70 bound in apple-green cloth, numbered + limited edition print

30 bound in leather, numbered + 3 limited edition prints

BOUTIQUES LITTÉRAIRES

BY HENRI GUILAC & P IERRE MAC ORLAN

Imagine if the literary greats of 1920s Paris were not in fact writers but shopkeepers. This is the delightful premise of Prochainement ouverture de 62 boutiques littéraires, a visual jeu d’esprit played by Pierre Mac Orlan and Henri Guilac. Sixty-two authors from the Parisian literary scene are reimagined standing in the doorway of their own shops, each of which is named after a play on their most famous work. This, the final book in our Parisian trilogy, was originally published in 1925. For our centenary edition, Lauren Elkin discusses the genesis of the book, the life of Guilac and the hallowed place the shopfront holds in Paris, with reference to the surrealists and contemporary photography. Andrew Stewart provides a fascinating insight into the lives of each of the 62 writers depicted by Guilac, and Neil Philip concludes with notes on the making of the book.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-9-7

Cloth hardback with label

300 pages, 22.5 x 18.5 cm

c. 100 illustrations

A limited edition of 500 copies

£100

100 special editions

Price on application

70 bound in sunshine-yellow cloth, numbered + limited edition print

30 bound in leather, numbered + 3 limited edition prints

‘ This slim landscape quarto is a hugely elegant production... There has always been something rakish about Brighton. Piper’s urgent scribbly line and collaged newsprint does the town modern justice.’

Andrew Lambirth The Londonist

JOHN PIPER’S BRIGHTON AQUATINTS

Originally published in late 1939, John Piper’s Brighton Aquatints celebrated some of the seaside resort’s most iconic architecture, from the Royal Pavilion and West Pier to its stuccoed terraces and Victorian churches. The volume was the only proper ‘artist’s book’ created by Piper and, with its unique use of the aquatint medium throughout, a pivotal work of its time. With help from John Betjeman, Piper hand-coloured 55 special copies of the edition of 250. This new edition brings Piper’s monochrome and coloured prints together for the first time, alongside his quirky descriptions of the scenes. Alan Powers provides an additional commentary on each plate and an introduction exploring the book’s conception and production.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-6-6

Quarter-bound cloth hardback

112 pages, 23 x 31 cm

80 illustrations

£40

RAVILIOUS: SUBMARINE

Ravilious: Submarine celebrates the creation of a remarkable series of lithographs made by Eric Ravilious during the dark winter of 1940–41. One of the most demanding of the printmaker’s arts, auto-lithography enjoyed a golden period in Europe between the wars, and in Britain this series represents a pinnacle of achievement. In this lavishly illustrated 72–page book, James Russell explores the sequence of events that gave us Ravilious the lithographer, a story that introduces Soviet revolutionaries in Moscow, Russian émigrés in Paris, Jewish immigrants in the East End of London and a host of visionary printers, publishers and designers. All ten lithographs of the Submarine Series are shown, each accompanied by a short descriptive essay.

ISBN 978-0-9552777-9-5

Quarter-bound cloth hardback

72 pages

24 x 28 cm

90 illustrations

£30

‘ This book will be a great addition to the library of Ravilious fans and for those who are new to his work. It will appeal to practitioners, educators and students, as it gives a glimpse into the working process of a great artist, provides inspiration and it is a masterclass in composition and form.’

Derek Brazell The Association of Illustrators

RAVILIOUS: WOOD ENGRAVINGS

Although a brilliant watercolourist, lithographer and designer, Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) was above all a wood engraver. It was in this demanding medium that he first found artistic expression in the early 1920s, and over the next two decades produced some of the finest engravings of the age. In this new 80–page book we have selected illustrations that show the evolution of this remarkable talent. In a manner familiar to readers of Ravilious in Pictures, author James Russell sets out to discover the places that inspired Ravilious, explore the remarkable books he illustrated and meet the people he portrayed. Ravilious: Wood Engravings is both a collection of beautiful, surprising pictures and an entertaining portrait of a wonderful artist and his world.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-5-9

Hardback

80 pages, 24.6 x 18.9 cm

c. 115 illustrations

£20

BOOKS RAVILIOUS IN PICTURES

SUSSEX AND THE DOWNS

The chalk downland of southern England inspired Eric Ravilious to produce some of his finest work. Raised in Eastbourne, he rediscovered the South Downs in 1934 and over the next five years painted a series of watercolours that capture the beauty and mystery of this unique landscape. Twenty-two works are featured in this 48–page hardback book with accompanying essays by author and social historian James Russell, who unravels the intriguing stories behind each painting – stories about Ravilious, his circle of friends and 1930s English culture.

THE WAR PAINTINGS

This book, the second in the series, celebrates and commemorates the wartime career of Ravilious, who died on active service in Iceland at the age of 39. An Official War Artist, Ravilious visited ports, naval bases and airfields around Britain, witnessed the Allied invasion and retreat from Norway and produced watercolours and lithographs of subjects ranging from HMS Ark Royal in action to a mobile pigeon loft interior. This remarkable body of work blends defiance with exhilaration and insists there is a place for beauty in the darkest times.

ISBN 978-0-9552777-3-3

Jacketed hardback

48 pages

24 x 28 cm

22 illustrations

£25

ISBN 978-0-9552777-4-0

Jacketed hardback

48 pages

24 x 28 cm

22 illustrations

£25

A COUNTRY LIFE

In 1932 Ravilious and his wife Tirzah moved to the Essex village of Great Bardfield, and for the remaining decade of his life they lived within an easy cycle ride of the village, first in Castle Hedingham and then at Ironbridge Farm, near Shalford. In north-west Essex Ravilious sought out the beautiful and the unusual, and the watercolours in this volume provide a unique record of village life that includes everything from the splendid Georgian architecture of Castle Hedingham to abandoned steam engines and other relics of the past.

A TRAVELLING ARTIST

During the 1930s the quest for new subjects took Ravilious around Britain and beyond, on a decadelong journey of discovery. Inspired by places such as Dungeness in Kent and the Welsh valley of Capel-y-ffin, he sought out unusual locations and strange perspectives. Following his habit of painting in series he drew the ports of Bristol, Rye, Newhaven and Le Havre; he painted lifeboats and dockside inns. The accompanying essays not only introduce characters and stories hidden behind the scenes but provide a compelling portrait of Britain pre-WWII.

ISBN 978-0-9552777-6-4

Jacketed hardback

48 pages

24 x 28 cm

22 illustrations

£25

ISBN 978-0-9552777-8-8

Jacketed hardback

48 pages

24 x 28 cm

22 illustrations

£25

‘

In a time when we are so used to viewing images at speed on devices, there’s something to be said for taking them in via the slower medium of a substantial, well-designed book. We have author, Martin Salisbury, to thank for compiling this affectionate yet not uncritical review of John Minton’s illustration and fine art output.’

Association of Illustrators

THE SNAIL THAT CLIMBED THE EIFFEL TOWER AND OTHER WORK BY

JOHN MINTON

John Minton (1917–1957) may be best known today as a gifted painter of the neo-romantic movement, but he produced some of his most inspired work as a commercial illustrator. One hundred years after his birth, this book gathers together – for the first time –Minton’s commercial graphic work, including many rare and previously unseen pieces, to celebrate a major force in the distinguished history of British illustration. Spanning book illustration, dust-jacket design, illustrations for magazines, journals and advertising, and posters for film studios and airlines, author Martin Salisbury celebrates a truly extraordinary talent.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-3-5

Hardback

240 pages

30 x 24 cm

c. 350 illustrations

£40

BOOKS EDWARD BAWDEN

‘ The Mainstone Press has published

Are you Sitting Comfortably? The Book Jackets of Edward Bawden, which with its King Penguins and Gulliver’s Travels, is a delight. Buy 10 copies and declare your Christmas shopping done.’

Laura Freeman

Art Review, Sunday Times

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?

THE BOOK JACKETS OF EDWARD BAWDEN

Who else but Edward Bawden (1903–1989) could have illustrated East Coasting, a charming collection of travel essays published by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1930? Here, Bawden’s comic genius ran riot. The title page alone boasts such quirky seaside-themed illustrations as a tent flapping open in a gust of wind, revealing the bather changing within, and a giant lobster snatching an old lady from her bath chair while holding a top hat in its free claw. East Coasting is among more than 100 titles featured in this new volume on the book jackets and selected illustrations of Bawden, who worked with many of the leading publishers of the 20th century. Introductory essay by Peyton Skipwith and captions by James Russell.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-4-2

Cloth-bound hardback

176 pages

28 x 25.5 cm

c. 350 illustrations

£35

‘

...at least half the examples, beautifully reproduced in this lavish limited-edition book, have not been seen in public in living memory.’

Alan Powers, Country Life

‘ The Lost Watercolours, a 2016 Book of the Year’

Michael Prodger

The Sunday Times

THE LOST WATERCOLOURS OF EDWARD BAWDEN

Edward Bawden is hardly a ‘forgotten artist’ yet one aspect of his career has been neglected until now: his role in the 1930s as a critically-acclaimed modern painter. In The Lost Watercolours of Edward Bawden author James Russell and publisher Tim Mainstone aim to set the record straight by bringing together the largest collection of the artist’s pre-war watercolours. Most were originally exhibited at one or other of Bawden’s major solo shows – at the Zwemmer Gallery in 1933 and the Leicester Galleries five years later – exhibitions that impressed critics and delighted collectors.

It has taken three years to assemble this remarkable collection of pictures, many of which were, as the title of the book suggests, lost. Privately-owned artworks can be hard to find after eighty years and this book not only describes the quest to find and identify the paintings but explores Bawden’s fascinating life and career in the 1930s.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-2-8

Cloth-bound hardback with slipcase

192 pages 30 x 28 cm

130 illustrations

Limited edition 850 copies

£120

‘ Our friends at Mainstone Press in Mile End who are famous for their illustrated books of the works of Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious have just published Jonny Hannah’s Fast Cars & Ukuleles. Every page of this eccentric alphabet book is full to bursting, crammed with visual detail and graphic delights celebrating the artist’s personal obsessions.

Spitalfields Life

FAST CARS & UKULELES

AN ABC BY JONNY HANNAH

Dive into the pages of Fast Cars & Ukuleles and immerse yourself in a world where British tradition and the quintessentially English meet Celtic folklore and Americana. Jonny Hannah’s beautifully crafted typography leaps and dances from page to page, bursting with irreverent energy and creativity. By the time you reach Z and beyond, expect your sense of fashion, music and culture to have been turned –delightfully – inside out and upside down forever.

ISBN 978-0-9576665-1-1

Hardback with jacket

64 pages

28 x 17.5 cm

£20

& ERIC

The Cornfield

John Nash

Image size 45 x 50.2 cm

Paper size 62.2 x 67.5 cm

Limited edition 500 copies

£220

Chalk Figure Near Weymouth

Eric Ravilious

Image size 40 x 50 cm

Paper size 57 x 67 cm

Limited edition 500 copies

£220

Greenwich Observatory

Eric Ravilious

Image size 19.5 x 27 cm

Paper size 30 x 37 cm

Limited edition 500 copies

£85

Greenwich Pier at Night

Eric Ravilious

Image size 19.5 x 27 cm

Paper size 30 x 37 cm

Limited edition 500 copies

£85

Interior at Furlongs

Eric Ravilious

Image size 39.9 x 53.4 cm

Paper size 56.4 x 70.4 cm

Limited edition 500 copies

£220

Lifeboat

Eric Ravilious

Image size 42 x 50 cm

Paper size 59.8 x 67 cm

Limited edition 700 copies

£220

Newhaven Harbour

Eric Ravilious

Image size 55 x 75 cm

Paper size 66 x 91.5 cm

Limited edition of 500 copies

£240

Train Going Over a Bridge at Night

Eric Ravilious

Image size 30 x 37.4 cm

Paper size 44 x 51.7 cm

Limited edition 500 copies

£155

Appledore

Suzanne Cooper

Image size36 x 43.6 cm

Paper size 50 x 60 cm

Limited edition of 750 copies

£180

Bloomfield Terrace

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 44.5 x 37 cm

Paper size 60 x 50 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£180

Brixham Harbour

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36.1 x 43.3 cm

Paper size 50 x 60 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£180

Renwick Coals

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36.1 x 54.5 cm

Paper size 50 x 70 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£200

Royal Albion

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36.1 x 43.3 cm

Paper size 50 x 60 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£180

Still Life

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36 x 43.3 cm

Paper size 50 x 60 cm

Limited edition 700 copies

£180

Street Scene

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36 x 43.2 cm

Paper size 50 x 60 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£180

Thames in October

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36.1 x 55.3 cm

Paper size 50 x 70 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£200

Yellow Horse

Suzanne Cooper

Image size 36.1 x 43.3 cm

Paper size 50 x 60 cm

Limited edition 750 copies

£180

London Shopfront: Arthur Beale

Eleanor Crow

Paper size 25 x 30 cm

Limited edition 50 copies

£70

London Shopfront: Fortnum & Mason

Eleanor Crow

Paper size 42 x 30 cm

Limited edition 200 copies

£90

THE MAINSTONE PRESS

A small, independent publishing house based in East London. Each year we produce several books on a select group of artists who worked during the early 20th century, including Eric Ravilious (1903–1942), John Piper (1903–1992) and Edward Bawden (1903–1989). Our authors, contributors, designers and printers work together to produce a series of beautifully tactile and distinctive books that look and feel wonderful. Each volume is a vivid and detailed exploration of a particular artist, their work and the times in which they lived.