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Lee Brown Coye Illustrates August Derleth's Anthology

July 5, 2013, 5:17 pm
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These are some of the illustrations of Lee Brown Coye (1907-1981) for August Derleth's anthology of macabre tales, Who Knocks? Twenty Masterpieces of the Spectral for the Connoisseur (Rinehart, 1945). Coye was well known for his work illustrating Weird Tales in the forties and fifties and this was not the only Derleth anthology he illustrated. For me, they have just the right mixture of illustration and abstraction to match the not/real qualities of a supernatural tale. As his wikipedia page points out, although he was best known for this kind of work he was also a painter, silversmith, photographer, muralist... etc. etc. 







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Albert & Otto: Albert Wainwright's Diary of Love in the 20s

July 6, 2013, 7:12 am
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We have been championing the work of the artist Albert Wainwright here on Front Free Endpaper for a while now which is we are delighted to announce the arrival of Callum James Books latest publication:

Albert & Otto. Albert Wainwright's diary of love in the 20s
edited by Nick Elm and Callum James

Callum James Books, Portsmouth: 2013
ISBN: 9780957450127
84pp, 250mm x 201mm. Softcover.

"The artist, Albert Wainwright (1898-1943), left behind him a series of sketchbooks, diaries and manuscripts, that detailed the private and intimate side of his life all illustrated by hand. They included details of his homosexuality and his passion for young men and it is thought that much of this material was destroyed on Albert’s death by his family. However, one or two items escaped and in this book three of Albert’s sketchbooks have been reproduced. They are a remarkable survival: a visual documentary of Albert’s relationship with a young German called Otto during the 1920s. Two of the sketchbooks record summer trips to Germany hiking and sight-seeing with Otto and a third sketchbook presents a very personal insight into a return visit by Otto to Yorkshire. So very little personal material of this kind remains today that the sketchbooks constitute an important piece of gay history.

Wainwright was an artist whose talent was once compared favourably with that of his school friend Henry Moore, but whilst Moore went on from their shared Wakefield school days to international fame and reputation as a sculptor, Wainwright remains little known today. Wainwright poured his prodigious talent into teaching, book illustration, theatre costume and set design as well as portrait painting. In his lifetime he exhibited work several times but never quite fulfilled the potential of his talent, his work is only now  slowly garnering an appreciative audience and being noticed by galleries, collectors and auction houses."

You can buy this book is a number of different ways.
1. Copies are available from amazon.co.uk or on amazon.com and those links will take you directly to the book's page.

2. From your local independent (preferably) or multiple (if you have to) bookshop, simply provide them with the ISBN number and they will be able to get it from their wholesaler.

3. Direct from the publisher (that's us!) at a special publisher's price of 21.00GBP plus shipping (UK: 3.00GBP; EU countries: 5.00GBP, The Rest of the World: 7.50GBP) Simply email us at callum@callumjamesbooks.com and we will happily send a paypal invoice or provide details of cheque payments.












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Callum James Books Paperbacks

July 15, 2013, 2:59 am
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Having just released our latest, Albert & Otto. Albert Wainwright's Visual Diary of Love in the 20s, which has been well received by you all: thank you, I thought it might be a moment to remind everyone of the other titles we have available in paperback format. The top two are both available from Amazon, or through your local independent bookseller from their wholesaler: just quote the ISBN number. The Vincent O'Sullivan hasn't yet been upgraded to an ISBN but it can be bought direct from Callum James Books, just drop us a line using the email link to the right.


A Carnal Medium. Fin-de-siecle essays on the photographic nude. 
by Joseph Gleeson White, Robert H Cust, and James Rooth. 
Edited and with an introduction by James Downs.
ISBN: 9780957450103
BUY IT FROM AMAZON




The Romance of a Choir Boy
by John Gambril Nicholson
ISBN: 9780957450110
BUY IT FROM AMAZON




Aspects of Wilde
by Vincent O'Sullivan
BUY IT FROM CALLUM JAMES BOOKS

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Sheila Bishop illustrates Moon Magic

July 15, 2013, 3:21 am
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These are some of the illustrations from Moon Magic. A Tale of Adventure by Hampden Gordon (John Murray, London: 1949), a kind of sub-Narnian fantasy about travelling to the moon by magic and the adventures to be had there, which resemble rather closely adventures one might have in classical Greece or some other mythic period. I am always tentative about saying things like, 'I can find little about Sheila Bishop' because one of you good people usually shows me some vast hoard of information freely available online that I have missed. But, I can find little about the illustrator: she doesn't feature in any of my reference books and I can find only one mention of her illustrating another book in online databases. Having said that, the name sounds very familiar and I can't shake the feeling that I've come across her before. Anyway, it's a shame not to know more because here are some wonderfully stylish and attractive illustrations and it would be nice to see more of her work.






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Don't Try This At Home...

July 15, 2013, 5:05 am
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A short while ago I was enjoying a print from a medical book with a rather handsome young man being prodded all over by diagrammatic arrows diagnosing what ailments he may have. So I'm equally happy to receive these two images this morning of a strapping young man being given first aid and having the flow of his blood stopped in various ways. Don't try this at home because we have moved on from the days of tourniquets in first aid boxes I believe...
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Vintage Men, Some in Swimwear

July 19, 2013, 7:00 pm
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It's been a little while since we've had a gratuitous posting of vintage young men on this blog so, in the spirit of idling that the current UK heatwave seems to be engendering: may I offer these three images that arrived this morning.





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An Edwardian Ghost Photograph

July 20, 2013, 2:56 am
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It's not unusual to find vintage photographs with 'ghosts' in, but the inverted commas are important because in the vast majority of cases these ghosts are accidental double exposures which, with vary degrees of success, cause an interesting result.

It is much more unusual to find a deliberate double exposure used to create the effect of an actual ghost in an image. It's a technique that has been used almost as long as photography has existed and it was used either to try and deceive, to provide a 'proof' of spectral or paranormal activity, or simply to create a narrative image. The latter is the case here in this photograph I found in an album the other day. On the verso is written, "The Gambler's Doom No. 2 observe the pistol" and, rather sweetly, we are given the participants names "Maurice and Norah". So this is not so much a morality play as a morality vignette. Sadly, the original is small and even with digital enhancement I can't quite be sure of the pistol is one of the objects on the table, or the thing in the gentleman's hand. Nonetheless, some shade of his past seems to be warning or welcoming or lamenting his action.
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Chinese Printed Texts

July 21, 2013, 6:12 am
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Given my love of typography and of all things ephemeral, these Chinese texts on tissue thin paper pressed quite a few buttons for me. I don't read Mandarin but as the pink one has the reference for a biblical text penned in English at the top I imagine these could be biblical translations used during the early 20th surge in Christian missionary work in China. The notion of these flyaway pieces of printed tissue paper surviving all that time with a message on them which obviously meant a lot to someone who decided to preserve them, is quite touching.



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How would you have fared in a Victorian School?

July 22, 2013, 3:28 am
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Every now and again, a little piece of ephemera comes along that catches the imagination. This is the midsummer exam paper for 1894 at Trinity College, Glenalmond in Scotland: The General Paper. I've been having fun all weekend trying the different sections so I decided to share the fun today. I'm not offering any prizes, nor will there be any answers given as definitive by me but, if you want to have a bash or ask questions of others, you are more than welcome to use the comments below. Of course, Google will be your friend in sorting out more obscure answers but give it at least one go 'under exam conditions'.

So, quiet in the hall please, turn over your papers and begin....



I. In what works do the following characters appear:
1. Bardolph
2. Mr Pecksniff
3. Porthos
4. Mulvaney
5. Dominic Sampson
6. Gavin Dishart
7. Denys
8. Dr Watson
9 Alan Breck
10. Sir Toby Belch
11. Dr Primrose
12. Glumdalclitch
13. Ali Baba
14. Iago
15. Harry Warrington
16. Jeanie Deans
17. The Sieur de Marsac
18. Salvation Yeo

II. What are the distinctive national punishments of: 
1. Russia
2. France
3. England
4. Turkey
5. Spain
6. Japan

III. Who said:
1. They need is greater than mine
2. I die happy
3. We owe a cock to Aesculapius
4. England expects every man to do his duty
5. All taps is vanities
6. Is this a dagger which I see before me?
7. Remember Mitchelstown!
8. Paris is worth a mass
9. The butter's spread too thick
10. A sophistical rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity
11. Remember!
12. L'etat c'est moi
13. Ill mak'siccar

IV. Give the name of:
1. The Queen who drank a pearl
2. The General who gave his name to a waiting policy
3. The man who made the sun stand still
4. The King who let the cakes burn
5. The boy who stood on the burning deck
6. The Knight who charged at windmills
7. The Emperor who fiddled while Rome was burning
8. The King who turned locksmith
9. The King who had ass's ears
10. The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo
11. ". . . the face that launched a thousand ships / And burned the topless towers of Ilium"

V. Mention one living novelist in:
1. England
2. France
3. Germany
4. Hungary
5. Norway
6. America
7. Russia
8. Italy

VI. What are the following:
1. Blue Peter
2. Blue Pill
3. Bluejacket
4. Blue Stone
5. Blue-coat School
6. Blue Points
7. Blue Ribbonite
8. Blur Ribbon of the Turf
9. Blue Stocking
10. A Bolt from the Blue
11. A "Blue"
12. Blue Book
13. Blue Blood
14. Blue Moon
15. Blue Mountains
16. Blue Rock
17. Blue Ensign
18 "The Blue Pavillions"

VII For what are the following days remarkable:
1. 1st of January
2. 14th of February
3. The Ides of March
4. 1st of April
5. 19th of April
6. 24th of May
7. 29th of May
8. 18th of June
9. 4th of July
10. 12th of July
11. 14th of July
12. 12th of August
13. 20th of September
14. 5th of November
15. 9th of November

VIII. State profession, position, or reason for notoriety &c. (answers in one word where possible) of:
1. Mr Asquith
2. Mr Toole
3. Mr G du Maurier
4. Baron Hirsch
5. Mlle. Sarah Bernhardt
6. Dr. Benson
7. Mr Fry
8. The Duke of Cornwall
9. Mr Alma Tadema
10. Mr Selous
11. Messrs. Mudie & Co.
12. Herr Dowe
13. M. Casimir-Perier
14. Prof. Huxley
15. Signora Duse
16. Mme. Sarah Grand
17. Mr Spofforth
18. Humbert
19. Lord Russell of Killowen
20. Captain Mahan
21. Cesario Santo
22. Florence Nightingale
23. Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co.
24. Mr Bililngton
25. Mr G. M. Fenn
26. Mr Pinero
27. Mr Deibler
28. Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David
29. Sir William Arroll
30. Mr Keir Hardie
31. Mr Andrew Lang
32. Count Caprivi

IX. Complete the quotations:
1. Freinds, Romans
2. In the scene that ensued I did not
3. An arm clothed in white
4. How doth
5. Fools rush in
6. I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I
7. A thing of beauty
8. Footsteps that perhaps another sailing
9. Barkis is
10. All roads lead
11. There is no god but Allah and
12. Good morning, have you

X. Give the names of:
1. An order issued by the Czar
2. An order granted by the Sultan
3. A permit to travel in a foreign country
4. The most famous Cricket ground in England
5. The place where the Derby is run
6. The place where Shakespeare was born
7. The animal that changes colour
8. The material of a Bishop's sleeves
9. The owner of Ladas
10. The state between a caterpillar and a butterfly
11. The fabulous animal that kills at a glance
12. "The last infirmity of noble minds"
13. The colour of the lining of an Oxford M.A. hood
14. The burning of heretics by Spanish Inquisition
15. The material of a Q.C.'s gown
16. The owner of Britannia
17. The instrument for estimating temperature
18. The instrument for estimating humidity

XI. Give the meaning of:
1. H.P.S.
2. S.P.G
3. D.S.O.
4. Sp. Gr.
5. Sus. per. Coll.
6. R.A.
7. R.I.P.
8. R.S.V.P.
9. D.D.
10. MS.
11. K.C.S.I.
12. Q.E.F.
13. S.P.Q.R.
14. L.B.S.C.
15. B.N.C.
16. D.V.
17. da capo
18. Festina lente
19. ff.
20. O.H.M.S.
21. H.M.S.
22. A.A.A.
23. i.e.
24. V.C.
25. e.g.
26. Y.M.C.A.
27. R.T.Y.C.
28. C.U.B.C.
29. F.R.G.S.

XII Who wrote:
1. Monte Cristo
2. Alice in Wonderland
3. The Bab Ballads
4. Robinson Crusoe
5. Daniel Deronda
6. Esmond
7. The Canterbury Tales
8. The Doll's House
9. Antigone
10. Far From the Madding Crowd
11. Hard Cash
12. Two Gentlemen of Verona
13. The Pilgrim's Progress
14. The King's Quhair
15. Samson Agonistes
16. Childe Harolde
17. Katerfelto
18. Lorna Doone
19. The Inferno
20. The Epodes
21. The Life of Dr Johnson
22. The Moonstone
23. The Odyssey
24. In Memoriam
25. The Pharsalia
26. Utopia
27. The Wealth of Nations
28. The Rivals
29 Cato
30. Tam o'Shanter


XIII. Localise:
1. The Escurial
2. Yale
3. The Coliseum
4. "The Hub of the Universe"
5. La Scala
6. The Nevsky Prospect
7. San Marco
8. The Dent Blanche
9. Unter den Linden
10. The Brocken
11. Broadway
12. K2
13. Stonehenge
14. Hecla
15. The Elysee
16. Fingal's Cave
17. Antannanarivo
18. Charybdis
19. John o'Groats
20. The White House
21. Salt Lake City
22. Seven Dials
23. The Pillars of Hercules
24. The Piraeus
25. The Golden Gate

XIV. Give the number of:
1. Members of the House of Commons
2. Yards in the Quarter of a Mile
3. Legs on a Fly
4. Chief Stars in the Great Bear
5. Verses in the 119th Psalm
6. Books of the Aeneid
7. Individuals actually on the field in a cricket match
8. Volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica
9. Wings on an Apteryx
10. Acts in a classical English tragedy
11. Years the Queen has reigned
12. Direct Heirs to the throne
13. Miles in the Earth's radius
14. The "Beast"

XV. What names are chiefly connected with:
1. Discovery of America
2. Invention of the Spinning-Jenny
3. Introduction of the Potato
4. Law of Gravitation
5. Invention of Balloons
6. Elecropathic Belts
7. Safety Lamp
8. Late Tramp Army in America
9. Salvation Army
10. Chloroform
11. Vaccination
12. Treatment of Hydrophobia
13. The "Liberator" Frauds
14. The Lyceum Theatre
15. The present Budget Bill
16. Introduction of Printing into England.

XVI. Why are they following so called:
1. "Bradshaw"
2. Monday
3. Brougham
4. "Bobby"
5. Omnibus
6. Perambulator
7. Boycotting
8. Buttercup
9. Baedecker
10. Bicycle
11. "Gamp"
12. Tramway
13. Greenback
14. Mob
15. Hansom

HOW DID YOU DO!?
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Strange and Supernatural: A Supplement

July 22, 2013, 1:50 pm
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A little vintage swimwear and sunbathing

July 24, 2013, 4:18 pm
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The UK is still basking in a heatwave so, sitting here in my shorts in the middle of the night with all the windows open, it seemed appropriate to get the vintage swimwear out again. The photo above arrived in the post this morning. The photo below comes from a reader of the blog called Ryan who knows exactly who these handsome sunbathers are and tell us they were catching the rays on a farm house roof in rural southern Indiana in about 1942-3, aged 17 or so. I'm always so grateful to people who send in their photos or snippets to the blog.


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Who said the 1930s was all about the drab?

July 25, 2013, 2:31 pm
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These stunning plates are from Colour Schemes for the Modern Home by Derek Patmore. Modern, in this instance meaning 1934. I suppose there is an image of the interiors of the 30s as full of stodgy brown furniture and brown, and more brown... These images give the lie to that, full of bright pastel colours and light, airy designs. It is true that a lot of the furniture where there is exposed wood uses a dark brown wood and maybe our image of 30s interior design is influenced by the fact that furniture survives more commonly than wall coverings, rugs, upholstery or soft furnishings. 

Some of these rooms are by significant names. The photo above, for instance, is by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell and it was shown at the galleries of Messrs. Alex Reid and Lefervre Ltd. We are very familiar with the amazing rooms they created together, to live in, at Charleston in Sussex, and clearly a gallery is not a department store, but it is news to me at least that their idiosyncratic sense of interior design was shown in a commercial setting at all. The photo directly below is of a room by Eric Ravilious, for Sir Geoffrey Fry's flat in Portman Square: the most noticeable Ravilious element, of course, being the paintings of people playing tennis in the wall panels. 

Whether the designer is famous or not, these rooms and room give a very different picture of life in the 30s in the UK than is often suggested.



















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Japanese (style) Menu Cards

July 27, 2013, 7:40 am
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I bought a large box of ephemera and photographs yesterday and I think I paid too much money for it. However, that won't stop me enjoying some of the contents. Among them, these blank Japanese style illustrations on menu cards. Probably 1910s or 20s and quite lovely in their own muted way




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The Lengths by Howard Hardiman

July 29, 2013, 4:34 pm
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A strange piece of synchronicity came to pass yesterday. For a couple of years I have had on my shelf a set of comic books called The Lengths, complete in seven issues, that I bought and didn't so much read as inhaled all that time ago. I have no idea why they haven't featured on Front Free Endpaper before now. The Lengths is based on interviews conducted by the artist with escorts in London and it tells the story of art school drop-out Eddie, his friends, lovers and clients. All of the characters in the book are dog-headed anthropomorphic figures: this is the masterstroke that allows the universal to be present in the specific and thus creates a piece of artwork. But, the synchronicity...

As regular readers will know R and I live in Portsmouth and the ancestral seat is on the Isle of Wight and so we often cross the narrow stretch of sea called The Solent to visit 'home'. This weekend past the Island has laid on an Artists' Open Studio weekend and so among a number of other venues we visited The Depozitory, a converted chapel, now art space in Ryde. And one of the exhibiting artists was Howard Hardiman, the author/artist of The Lengths. A charming and sweet man he has only recently moved to the Island from London and it was lovely to be able to chat with him about The Lengths and his other work. I have something of a thing for anthropomorphism anyway but Howard's images of the Minotaur and the dancing antler-headed young man (all viewable at his website) really struck a chord. 

I can heartily recommend The Lengths. It is a brilliant piece of work that begins by asking the question, 'what lengths might you go to in order to fulfill your desires?' and becomes a meditation on the interplay between choice and compulsion in our desires. It is also laugh-out-loud funny in places, dense with references and by turns both tragic and heartwarming: it leaves you imagining that the streets of London are full of fit, furry-faced young men.




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Vintage Swimwear: John and Ken

July 30, 2013, 6:33 am
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It's 1938, we're at Lake Placid in August and these two handsome chaps are called John and Ken. All this from the verso as well as their surnames. It's a real joy when people but proper notes on their family photos. I can't tell you the unwarranted trouble and expense I've had getting this photo but it has finally arrived and can now finally be shared with you all.

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More Menu Cards

July 30, 2013, 7:55 am
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Gay City Volume 5: Ghosts in Gaslight, Monsters in Steam

July 30, 2013, 4:53 pm
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Ghosts in Gaslight, Monsters in Steam (ISBN 9781489580146) is the Gay City Anthology No. 5: a kind of gay steampunk collection of prose, artwork and poetry. It was my first introduction to the Kickstarter website where commercial, community, artistic or charitable projects in need of funding put up their details and hope the 'crowd' will see the merit of their endeavour and, in return for rewards, offer some money towards the project. In this instance I got the book, my name is inside as a supporter, I received also a poetry book from the Minor Arcana Press and a Gay City Supporter jockstrap (no, no, I won't be modelling it for the blog, I'm sorry but just no... now stop asking!). I've really enjoyed the whole Kickstarter thing and I'm now actively looking around for another project to support.

I haven't had time to read the whole book yet but if you think, as I confess I did, that gay steampunk poetry might be a bit of a tall order, think again, the poetry I've read in this anthology so far has been superb. Also, not so much a graphic novel as a graphic vignette by Jon Macy in which a gent finds a faerie at the bottom of his garden (in the person of a beautiful naked young man). The fact that the gentleman can't find anything for the faerie to eat but that it drinks all his perfume is a touch of genius I think. Add to this a glowingly rich cover by Mr John Coulthart that makes the whole production look like a casket of treasure, and we're off to the races. I can't wait to get further into the collection.

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Keith Vaughan in Monochrome

July 31, 2013, 5:26 pm
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There's never any need to have a reason to post pictures by Keith Vaughan. These are just a few of my favourites from John Lehmann's The Penguin New Writing in the 1940s, where Vaughan's work features a lot. I don't think the monochrome reproduction actually hurts them as much as it might with other artists. The titles, from top to bottom, are given as: Elegiac Figure, Study for a Painting, Head of a Boy and Foreshore With Two Bathers.




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A Handful of Lehnert and Landrock

August 5, 2013, 1:21 pm
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R and I have been out and about this weekend and among the many places we visited were a series of antique shops and stalls in the Farnham/Alton area of Hampshire. Didn't find all that much of interest although I did pick up a handful of postcards by the German photographers Lehnert and Landrock, whose images R and I have been collecting for years. The one at the top is very typical of their desert images and I particularly liked the note written on the back (which works best if read aloud in a plummy BBC Home Service kind of voice): "Darling, Don't you think this a fine picture? There is nothing more picturesque, surely, than camels in the desert". No indeed!






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Frederick Rolfe Centenary: Letters

August 6, 2013, 11:46 am
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This year sees the centenary of the death of Frederick Rolfe Baron Corvo. To mark this, from now until the actual anniversary on the 25th October I shall be posting about the Baron and his life and work on a regular basis here on Front Free Endpaper.

This is my own set of the Centenary Edition of the letters of Frederick Rolfe. I'm particularly proud of these because they all have their original, and very scarce, glassine wraps which means the buckram boards have survived in beautiful, bright, clean condition. But beyond this display of geek-collector-bravado, these books are also still the only place you can easily access this treasure trove of Rolfe's epistolatory genius. It has been suggested on more than one occasion that Rolfe's literary genius did indeed lie first and foremost in his letter-writing and if you have only ever read Rolfe as a novelist, you should certainly try and lay hands on a volume of his letters.

In fact the three books are:

Letters to C. H. C. Pirie-Gordon (Nicholas Vane, London: 1959)

Letters to Leonard Moore (Nicholas Vane, London, 1960)

Letters to R. M. Dawkins (Nicholas Vane, London, 1962)

They were issued in a limited edition of 330, 290 and 290 copies respectively. They were edited by that Doyen of Corvine studies, Cecil Woolf with meticulous scholarship and a real tenacity to ensure that all the obscure references in Rolfe's sometimes baroque letter-writing style were properly footnoted and explicated. Clearly, these were published around the 1960 centenary of Rolfe's birth and so they seemed an appropriate way to ease ourselves in to the 2013 centenary blog posts. These are beautifully produced volumes and I've had them a long time and still refer to them even now. But it was only recently that I had the opportunity to see the prospectus for the series and realised just what ambition there was behind what was originally intended to be a ten volume set. The work involved in sourcing, permission-ing, editing, footnoting and publishing just the three volumes that exist is enough to make most publishers/editors quail in their boots but the notion of ten volumes produced to this level with a single editor beggars belief. Sure enough, the other seven volumes never came to pass and it has been left to others over the years to publish Rolfe's 'letters to so-and-so'.

So, in honour of the vision and the achievement, I thought I would share, from the prospectus, what could have been. The plan was to publish one volume every nine months starting in April 1959. In fact, as you will see below, even the first three didn't quite go to plan:

I: Letters to C. H. C. Pirie-Gordon

II: Letters to Leonard Moore

III: Letters to J. J. Walsh

IV: Letters to H. C. Bainbridge

V: Letters to Fr. C. S. De V. Beauclerk S. J.

VI: Letters to Messrs Barnard & Taylor

VII: Letters to Grant Richards

VIII: Letters to R. M. Dawkins

IX: Letters to Masson Fox

X: Letters to Various Correspondents


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