Nov 8, 2016

BOWIE/COLLECTOR

On the 10th November 350 works from David Bowie’s personal art collection go under the hammer in three sales at Sotheby’s, London. Until then this superb and eclectic collection can be viewed at the auction house. There you will see paintings by many of the major British artists of the 20th century including Frank Auerbach, Henry Moore, Stanley Spencer, Barbara Hepworth and Damien Hirst. There are superb pieces by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass, paintings by Jean Michel Basquiat, sculpture by Elizabeth Frink, an altarpiece from the studio of Venetian Renaissance artist Tintoretto, plates by Picasso. The list goes on and is truly impressive.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the collection of the legendary David Bowie.

Nov 8, 2016
US Election Special
For better or for worse, do your damnedest this evening America!
#whichwouldyouvotefor?

US Election Special

For better or for worse, do your damnedest this evening America!
#whichwouldyouvotefor?

Nov 3, 2016
GEORGE ELIOT SERIES
We wanted to be fresh, imaginative and create a beautiful new series for George Eliot. We looked at the work of Anna Atkins, a contemporary of Eliot. Atkins perfected the cyanotype and could be considered the first woman...

GEORGE ELIOT SERIES

We wanted to be fresh, imaginative and create a beautiful new series for George Eliot. We looked at the work of Anna Atkins, a contemporary of Eliot. Atkins perfected the cyanotype and could be considered the first woman photographer.

Cyanotypes are made using a printing process that produces a blue print made by placing the specimen on coated paper which is then exposed to light. Atkins was both a botanist and a photographer and her cyanotype prints are largely of algae, ferns and other plants species. Inspired by Atkins we looked at the work of contemporary photographer and film-maker, Zeva Oelbaum, who creates stunning cyanotypes and we worked with her on the covers.  

These Vintage Classics are published today

Nov 1, 2016
THE MARVELLOUS (BUT AUTHENTIC) ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN CORCORAN - Alfred Assollant
The classic French adventures of a seafaring hero and his faithful companion tiger, Louison, have been lovingly translated by Sam Miller for a 21st-century reader. The...

THE MARVELLOUS (BUT AUTHENTIC) ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN CORCORAN - Alfred Assollant

The classic French adventures of a seafaring hero and his faithful companion tiger, Louison, have been lovingly translated by Sam Miller for a 21st-century reader. The hardback cover design for Vintage Classics is a colourful twist on turn-of-the-century popular fiction books - using vibrant contasting colours rather than a typical Victorian colour palette.

Oct 31, 2016

THE START OF SOMETHING - Stuart Dybek 

Stuart Dybek is a master of the unexpected turn, the twist of surprise and the casual overturning of narrative convention. It was this very skill in taking the reader to a destination never so much as glimpsed at the outset of the story, that led to the commission of Dutch artist, Marion de Man. Her collages of short pencils with their jagged layouts pointing this way and that, seemed to match the twists in the narrative.

Marion’s brief was to produce a red pencil cover with a few odd coloured ones thrown into the mix. Marion supplemented the few she had with pencils from the Dutch public library and Ikea. Once they had been sharpened to size, it was as simple as pushing the pencils into the book’s format. Appropriate fonts were replicated, and the tone adjusted to make the type shine like foil. 

Whilst visiting Marion in her studio in Amsterdam last week, it was amazing to discover that her pencil collages don’t exist as permanent pieces. Nothing is stuck down. They are always temporary, and swept away after they have been photographed. Her collection of pencils are all stub ends sharpened to a point by a knife. They are given to her by her artist husband, who obsessively draws with them until they almost don’t exist. Marion experiments with the pencil stubs, pushing them into squares and triangles, and then photographing them, under natural daylight to give them a softer edge.

In her studio she also has a large collection of beautiful paper, tickets, and notebooks. These too are frequently collaged together, photographed and put away.

The Start of Something is published by Jonathan Cape on 3rd November

Oct 31, 2016
GHOST STORIES - E. F. Benson
‘Overhead the thunder cracked and roared, and when it ceased and the deathly stillness succeeded, I heard the rustle of movement coming nearer me, and, more horrible yet, perceived an odour of corruption and decay. And...

GHOST STORIES - E. F. Benson

‘Overhead the thunder cracked and roared, and when it ceased and the deathly stillness succeeded, I heard the rustle of movement coming nearer me, and, more horrible yet, perceived an odour of corruption and decay. And then a hand was laid on the side of my neck, and close beside my ear I heard quick-taken, eager breathing.’

Settle down this halloween with some chilling Ghost Stories by E. F. Benson, introduced and selected by Mark Gatiss. There’s nothing to be scared of. Nothing at all.

Oct 27, 2016

THE INVENTION OF ANGELA CARTER & THE BLOODY CHAMBER

In this fascinating new biography, Edmund Gordon follows in Angela Carter’s footsteps to uncover a life rich in incident and adventure, and as modern and unconventional as anything in her fiction. With unrestricted access to her manuscripts, letters and journals, and informed by dozens of interviews with her friends and family, this major biography offers a definitive portrait of one of our most dazzling writers.

The jacket features illustration by Olaf Hajek, whose work also adorns a new Vintage Classics hardback edition of The Bloody Chamber

Both books are available now from Penguin Random House

Oct 24, 2016
YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY HATE - Antoine Leiris​
You Will Not Have My Hate is a powerfully defiant memoir by Antoine Leiris, whose wife Hélène was murdered in the Bataclan attack in Paris last November.
Published by Harvill Secker and out now

YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY HATE - Antoine Leiris​

You Will Not Have My Hate is a powerfully defiant memoir by Antoine Leiris, whose wife Hélène was murdered in the Bataclan attack in Paris last November.

Published by Harvill Secker and out now

Oct 21, 2016

BOULTINGS VÉLOSAURUS - Ned Boulting

The language of cycling is vibrant, sophisticated, often impenetrable and extrememly French. Find yourself confused, nodding along when a rouleur relates how le biscuit was effrité (crumbled)? How today they’re feeling Angers (past caring)? Fear no more, for Boulting’s Vélosaurus will illuminate, enlighten and, frankly mislead.

ITV Tour de France commentator and cycling writer Ned Boulting provides the ultimate lexicon of nonsense terminology surrounding the esteemed Tour de France. It’s the ideal companion to all things peloton for linguistically-challenged fans of non-automotive two-wheeled sport.

We commissioned Jennifer Wick to illustrate the cover and also worked with Robbie Porter for each chapter opening. The boards of the book feature an inverted version of the cover design.

Boulting’s Vélosaurus is available now.

Oct 20, 2016
THE SONG MACHINE – John Seabrook
A hook-like tonearm on a hypnotic turntable. An investigation into a fascinating and cut-throat industry. If you care about popular music, you need to read The Song Machine.

THE SONG MACHINE – John Seabrook

A hook-like tonearm on a hypnotic turntable. An investigation into a fascinating and cut-throat industry. If you care about popular music, you need to read The Song Machine.

Oct 13, 2016
BOB DYLAN
This is Bob.
He’s just won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
We salute you!

BOB DYLAN

This is Bob.
He’s just won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
We salute you!

Oct 13, 2016
FAR & AWAY – Andrew Solomon
In 1991 Andrew Solomon faced down tanks in Moscow with a band of Russian artists protesting the August coup. We find him on the quest for a rare bird in Zambia in 1998, and in Greenland in 2001 researching widespread...

FAR & AWAY – Andrew Solomon

In 1991 Andrew Solomon faced down tanks in Moscow with a band of Russian artists protesting the August coup. We find him on the quest for a rare bird in Zambia in 1998, and in Greenland in 2001 researching widespread depression among the Inuit. In 2002 he was in Afghanistan for the fall of the Taliban. He was brought in for questioning in Qaddafi’s Libya in 2006. In 2014 he travelled to Myanmar to meet ex-political prisoners as the country fitfully pushed towards freedom.

Our cover features a cross-section of Andrew’s photographs revealing the astonishing cultural, political and spiritual journey he undertakes as he chronicles the uncertainty of lived experience and delves into the heart of extraordinarily diverse lives. A multitude of photographs documenting a multitude journeys gave us the enjoyable problem of deciding which ones to use. The result being a joyous mixture of texture, colour, people, wildlife and circumstance. This however, is just a taste. You’ll need to read this wonderful book to sample the true flavour of travel.

Far and Away is published by Chatto & Windus.

Oct 11, 2016

BRIDGET JONE’S BABY THE DIARIES - Helen Fielding

In the 20th anniversary year of the original diaries and eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, Bridget is back with a bump.  Based on Helen Fielding’s original columns in the Independent newspaper, the story which gave birth to the hit movie, Bridget Jones’s Baby, is published as a gloriously funny new novel.

This cover fittingly follows on from Mad about the Boy published in 2013

Out today

Oct 10, 2016

VINTAGE PAST

Revisit the past with our latest set of Vintage Classics.

To complement the theme of the past, the set of 9 Vintage Past books were inspired by the traditional method of marbling, said to originate from 12th century Japan. The pattern making technique is often used on a variety of surfaces including book covers and endpapers; making it especially fitting for the cover design. Marbling normally results in each print being completely unique. The variations that can be achieved in the method are reflected in the range of imagery on each cover, which we obtained from a variety of sources.

When the books are turned over and aligned correctly, they come together to form a collection of ornamental line breaks. The decorative horizontal line is also used through the centre of book spines.

 All 9 books published internationally are available now.

Oct 3, 2016

METROLAND - Julian Barnes

This week sees the publication of our special archive edition of Julian Barnes’ very first novel Metroland, which was originally released in 1980.

Inspiration for the project came from the instantly recognisable original patterns for the London Underground seat fabrics. The Moquette designs created by artists including Enid Marx, Marion Dorn and Paul Nash, were predominantly geometric and brightly coloured. 

Lino-cut illustrator Clare Curtis was commissioned to create a repeat pattern hinting at both the content of the novel, and the London Underground seat patterns. We asked Clare to write a couple of sentences about working on the project:

I loved the concept. Having lived in North London and frequently visited the London Transport Museum I was already familiar with the Underground and the upholstery fabric associated with it. Likewise ‘Metroland’ and all that the word conjures up; suburbia, the middle class, safe uniformity, the semi detached, rows and rows of identical houses. This, I thought, would suit the repeat pattern and geometry used in woven textiles. My main challenge was to keep the design simple so I redrew my idea on graph paper paring it down to its most basic geometric elements. Once this was done making the linocut and repeating the pattern was relatively straight forward.

Metroland is published by Vintage books on October 6th

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