hours press

1 ALDINGTON, Richard. £100.00 THE EATEN HEART.Chapelle-Reanville: The Hours Press, 1929 First edition. Foolscap 8vo 18pp. The poem was hand set by Nancy Cunard on her old Mathieu press, but there were some problems with the binding, as the gold lettering of the title did not stamp well onto the green marbled boards. Another problem occurred while actually on the way to the bindery at Evreux. Cunard, Henry Crowder and the folded sheets were involved in a car accident. Crowder was blamed, fined 1000 francs and sentenced to one month in prison (suspended). This is the fourth book issued by The Hours Press. Limited edition No. 146 of 200 in Caslon old-face on hand-made Canson-Montgolfier paper and SIGNED by the author. Gilt blind stamped titles to front board. Some very light foxing to pages, else a good uncut copy, bound in original cloth-backed, green marbled paper boards, slightly surface rubbed, edgeworn and faded to brown at edges.EatenHeart_200_li mitation.jpg2 ALDINGTON, Richard. £80.00 LAST STRAWS.Hours Press, Paris, 1930 First edition. Royal 8vo 61ppHour s Press, <Missing: Despite the total limitation reading 700 copies the accepted wisdom is thatLastStrawa_200_li there were 200 signed copies, and 300 unsigned; see Hugh Ford 'Published in Paris', Nancy Cunard's 'Those were the Hours' and the 'Hour's Press Booklet' mitation.jpg> put together by Wyn Henderson. While Nancy was away on holiday, Mrs. Henderson chose the bindings for the two editions of 'Last Straws'. The signed <Missing: edition is bound in jade-green suede, and the unsigned is in light-brown paper LastStrawa_200. boards with designs by Douglas Cockerell. The story is about three English army officers who meet in a Paris night club, and begin to discuss the war that jpg> they have been through, at the end, one of them returns to England and shoots his wife's lover and himself. 'Last Straws' sold well and Mrs. Henderson decided to send Aldington a cheque for advanced royalties. Surprisingly, Aldington sent back the cheque with an angry letter stating that he had given the story to Nancy Cunard to publish and not the manager. Limited edition No. 84 of 200 copies, SIGNED by the author, from a total limitation of 500. Slight bowing to boards, and suede covering scuffed and worn [as usual], internally very good.

3 ALDINGTON, Richard. £40.00 LAST STRAWS.Hours Press, Paris, 1930 First edition. Royal 8vo 61pp. <Missing: Last- Despite the total limitation reading 700 copies the accepted wisdom is thatStraws_500_limitat there were 200 signed copies, and 300 unsigned; see Hugh Ford 'Published in Paris', Nancy Cunard's 'Those were the Hours' and the 'Hour's Press Booklet' ion.jpg> put together by Wyn Henderson.While Nancy was away on holiday, Mrs. Henderson chose the bindings for the two editions of 'Last Straws'. The signed <Missing: Last- edition is bound in jade-green suede and the unsigned is in light brown paper Straws_500.jpg> boards with designs by Douglas Cockerell. The story is about three English army officers who meet in a Paris night club, and begin to discuss the war that they have been through, at the end, one of them returns to England and shoots his wife's lover and himself. 'Last Straws' sold well and Mrs. Henderson decided to send Aldington a cheque for advanced royalties. Surprisingly, Aldington sent back the cheque with an angry letter stating that he had given the story to Nancy Cunard to publish and not the manager. Limited edition No. 429 of 300 numbered. but unsigned copies, from a total limitation of 500. Bound in light brown paper boards designed by Douglas Cockerell and black paper title label to front board, missing spine label. Some slight bumping to top and tail of spine, else this is a near fine unopened copy.4 ALDINGTON, Richard. £50.00 LAST STRAWS.Hours Press, Paris, 1930 First edition. Royal 8vo 61pp. <Missing: Last- Despite the total limitation reading 700 copies the accepted wisdom is thatStraws_500_glass there were 200 signed copies, and 300 unsigned; see Hugh Ford 'Published in Paris', Nancy Cunard's 'Those were the Hours' and the 'Hour's Press Booklet' _limitation.jpg> put together by Wyn Henderson. While Nancy was away on holiday, Mrs. Henderson chose the bindings for the two editions of 'Last Straws'. The signed <Missing: Last- edition is bound in jade-green suede and the unsigned is in light brown paperStraws_500_glass. boards with designs by Douglas Cockerell. The story is about three English army officers who meet in a Paris night club, and begin to discuss the war that jpg> they have been through, at the end, one of them returns to England and shoots his wife's lover and himself. 'Last Straws' sold well and Mrs. Henderson decided to send Aldington a cheque for advanced royalties. Surprisingly, Aldington sent back the cheque with an angry letter stating that he had given the story to Nancy Cunard to publish and not the manager. Limited edition No. 221 of 300 numbered, but unsigned copies, from a total limitation of 500. Bound in light brown paper boards designed by Douglas Cockerell with black paper title label to front board and spine. Some slight bumping to top and tail of spine, else this is a near fine copy in the original, rare glassine jacket.

5 CUNARD, Nancy. £1,000.00 BLACK MAN AND WHITE LADYSHIP - an anniversary.Np. [Zurich], 1931 First edition. 8vo 12pp.<Missing: black- In 1928 (after a two-year affair with Louis Aragon) Cunard began a relationship man.jpg> with Henry Crowder, an African-American jazz musician who was working in Paris. The relationship caused a major scandal and the couple moved to Austria where the pamphlet was written. Nancy also became an activist in matters concerning racial politics and civil rights in the USA, and visited Harlem. The result was this political manifesto, an attack on racist attitudes, American lynching practises, the atrocity of slavery, the persistence of the Colour Bar, the blindness of intellectuals, and the hypocrisy of an outdated aristocracy afraid of losing its empire, as exemplified by Cunard's mother, whom Nancy quoted as saying \"Is it true that my daughter knows a Negro?\". This is probably the scarcest of all Nancy Cunard's publications, it is also the most personal. Some very fine conservation and restoration work has been carried out on this copy, the pamphlet has been taken apart, washed and clever restoration has been carried out to the corners and edges of various pages. Bound in original red soft wraps showing the faint crease marks where it had once been folded, also the red dye from the front and rear wrappers has bled through onto the first and last pages of the text, leaving some light pink staining which does not obscure the text in any way otherwise this is a very good copy of an extremely rare piece of Cunard ephemera, additionally, now protected in a hand made archival envelope.6 DOUGLAS, Norman. £180.00 ONE DAY.Hours Press, Reanville, 1929 First edition. Royal 8vo 55pp. <Missing: Douglas was given a commission of three hundred pounds by the GreekOne_day_200_tp. government to write something about Greece. This 60 page essay is the result. Because of its length Cunard had to send Henry Crowder to Paris for a jpg> considerable amount of extra monotype, the resulting return journey, with such a large weight of lead nearly destroyed his car springs. Published in two <Missing: different limitations - 200 numbered and signed by Douglas, 300 numbered butOne_day_200.jpg> unsigned, and without the photographic endpapers. Title stamped in gilt on scarlet leather. The endpapers are a reproduction of a photograph that Douglas took of the Temple of Bassae with Edward Hutton (to whom the book is dedicated) in the foreground. The other two photographs, one as the frontispiece and one in the text, are of Douglas. Originally published at three guineas. Printed on Velin de Rives. Limited edition No. 26 of 200, SIGNED by the author. A very good copy.

7 DOUGLAS, Norman. £100.00 ONE DAY.Hours Press, Reanville, 1929 First edition. Royal 8vo 55pp. <Missing: Woolf (A 29a) records: \"Douglas writes in 'Late Harvest', (pages 55-56): 'ThisOne_day_300_limi little book had an odd Genesis. Early in 1920 a suggestion reached Mr. Venizelos, then Prime Minister of Greece, that a volume dealing with his tation.jpg> country in the manner of my 'Old Calabria' would be an attractive addition to its travel literature and that I was the proper person to write it. the result of this <Missing: suggestion? Venizelos was delighted. And what would I be pleased to acceptOne_day_300.jpg> by way of remuneration? Three hundred pounds. Done! Greek money of course\". Douglas never wrote the proposed volume and published \"One Day\" instead. Because of its length Cunard had to send Henry Crowder to Paris for a considerable amount of extra monotype, the resulting return journey, with such a large weight of lead nearly destroyed his car springs. Published in two different limitations - 200 numbered and signed by Douglas, 300 numbered but unsigned, and without the photographic endpapers. Bound in 'puce coloured boards' with title and facsimile of Douglas's signature in gilt on upper board, fore and bottom edges uncut. This limitation published with no photographic endpapers. The other two photographs, one as the frontispiece and one in the text, are of Douglas. Limited edition No. 241 of 300, printed on Vergé de Vidalon. A near fine copy.8 GUEVARA, Alvaro. £600.00 ST. GEORGE AT SILENE.Hours Press, Reanville, 1928 First edition. Large 4to 4pp. <Missing: The second book of the Hours press. The design on the heavy grey paperAlvaro_limitation. covers is by Alvaro and the original published price was 10s 6d. Alvaro actually gave the poem to Cunard during the 1914 - 18 war. Cunard hand set the four jpg> page poem herself, but printing the covers and end papers tripled the labour. However the book was available by Christmas 1928, the deadline that she had set herself. The poem was highly praised by Ezra Pound, who reviewed it in The Dial. Guevera was a close friend of Edith Sitwell's and his painting of her hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. Limited edition No. 23 of 150. SIGNED by Alvaro. Hand set on Velin de Rives with 16pt. Caslon Old Face. A fine copy of a scarce item in its original soft wraps.<Missing: Alvaro. jpg>

9 HENDERSON, Wyn. £1,000.00THE HOURS PRESS BOOKLET; Being a List of Books Published by Nancy Cunard at the HoursPress During 1929 & 1930 with a Detailed Description of Each.Hours Press, Paris, [1930] First edition. 12mo 14pp. <Missing: Wyn Henderson had previously been Peggy Guggenheim's secretary, and wascunard_booklet01. responsible for the setting up and organising, in 1929, of Guggenheims first London gellery 'Guggenheim Jeune'. She was now drafted in by Nancy Cunard jpg> as the Hours Press's temporary manager while she and Henry Crowder had a long break in the South of France. Put together by Wyn Henderson, and published in the summer of 1930, The booklet was composed before the publication of Brian Howard's 'First Poems' and therefore lists that book under its discarded but suggested title of 'God Save the King'. Bound in soft red wrappers, printed in black, on the front cover, with the titles of various Hours Press books. Some slight creasing to the yapped edges, else a near fine copy of a rare ephemeral item. <Missing:cunard_booklet. jpg>10 HOWARD, Brian. £650.00 FIRST POEMS.Hours Press, Paris, 1931 First edition. 4to 40pp. <Missing: Though dated 1930 on the spine, the book was published in January 1931.howard_GSTK_ba Cover designs by John Banting, a friend of Howards and one of the first London surrealists. They were \"executed in large black letters in a striking sort ck.jpg> of false perspective, with indications of small branches in between, printed in dull red on duck's-egg blue paper boards\". The upper cover bearing the words 'First/Poems/Brian/Howard' and the lower cover 'God/Save/The/King', the title of one of the poems. Limited edition of 150, this copy un-numbered, but SIGNED by the author. Some slight rubbing to the top and tail of the spine, and hinge edges, else a very good, clean, tight copy. <Missing:howard_GSTK_fro nt.jpg>

11 MOORE, George. £180.00 PERONNIK THE FOOL.Hours Press, Réanville, 1928 1st Paris ed. Large 8vo 63pp. <Missing: The colophon states that this was the first publication of the Hours Press, inPeronnik_limitation fact it had been preceded by two small trial plaquettes, firstly, a small two page essay by Richard Aldington, entitled 'Hark the Herald', and secondly, a six .jpg> page essay of Norman Douglas's entitled 'Report on the Pumice-Stone Industry of the Lipari Islands'. It would perhaps be fair to say that 'Peronnik' <Missing: was the first scheduled publication of the press and Nancy Cunard who was in Peronnik.jpg> awe of George Moore was constantly worrying about whether she could print a book that would win the great man's approval. After much effort and discussion, including four revisions of the title page, Moore was satisfied. The book was a great financial success, paying for itself within ten days of publication. Limited edition No. 196 of 200, SIGNED by the author and hand set and bound in blue linen boards. Some slight darkening of the spine, else a near fine unopened copy of a scarce book. [Gilcher A50b].12 MOORE, George. £600.00 THE TALKING PINE.Paris, Hours Press, 1931 First edition. Royal 8vo 8pp. <Missing: The final publication of the 'Hours Press'. A two leaf plaquette, bound in lightTalkingPine_Sig. beige paper covers, containing a prose / poem that Moore had told to Nancy in his studio in Ebury Street. Moore had agreed to sign all 500 copies but later jpg> changed his mind on the grounds that he was unwilling to make money out of such a piece of trivia and he refused to allow its publication. Nancy was furious <Missing: and thought that Moore's behaviour was 'monstrous'. The plaquette was neverTalkingPine.jpg> put onto the market. 2 leaves folded to make 8 pages. Hand-set and printed on Maillol hand made paper, printed in brown ink. Limited edition No. 213 of 500 hand numbered copies. A SIGNED presentation copy from Nancy Cunard to A. H. Cardew, (Lord Carlow, founder and owner of the Corvinus Press). Includes an inserted subscription form for 'Passport to Freedom - 7 poems to 7 Countries' by Nancy Cunard and which appears to have never been published. Because the books were never officially issued, only a few copies were bound into their outer wrappers. This is a fine copy in the rare original printed light beige folded over wrappers, and a protective acetate dust wrapper. The final publication of the 'Hours Press'. (Gilcher A58a).

13 POUND, Ezra. £2,400.00 A DRAFT OF XXX CANTOS.Hours Press, 1930 First edition. 8vo 142pp. <Missing: Both Pound and Cunard agreed that the length of the book (142pp) wouldXXXCantos_pagei make printing it at the Hours Press a rather complicated process, so Pound found another printer - Maitre-Imprimeur Bernouard - to print the book exactly v.jpg> as he wanted it. Technically impressive and, in Nancy Cunard's opinion, 'perfect in taste', the production was honoured, in 1931, by Herbert L. <Missing: Rothchild, who reproduced the first page of Canto Four in his study of private XXXCantos.jpg> presses in America, England and Europe. Pound's earliest cantos appeared in the first American edition of 'Lustra in 1917; additional cantos appeared in 'Poems 1918-21' [Boni and Liveright, 1921]; the first book edition was published privately in Paris by William Bird under the title 'A Draft of XVI Cantos' [Three Mountains Press, 1925]; a continuation, 'A Draft of the Cantos XVII-XXVII' was also published privately in London by John Rodker in 1928. 'A Draft of XXX Cantos' represents the debut of the revised Cantos as a continuous poem, albeit with a provisional title. Limited edition No. 94 of 200 copies, printed on Canson-Mongolfier Soleil Velin Mint R. V. paper with decorative initials by (D)orothy (S)hakespear - the poet's wife. There was also 10 copies signed and printed on Texas Mountain Paper and 2 on real vellum. Some slight marking to the beige linen covered boards and slight darkening to spine, but the spine title is still bright and clear. A near fine copy of a scarce book, and the first appearance of the Cantos in one volume. [Gallup A31a].14 RIDING, Laura. £400.00 FOUR UNPOSTED LETTERS TO CATHERINE.Hours Press, Paris, Nd [1930] First edition. 8vo 50pp. <Missing: A series of essays in the form of letters to a child. Covers, both different, are4Unposted_back. specially designed montages by Len Lye, title gilt lettered on a leather spine. Limited edition No. 111 of 200, SIGNED by Riding. A fine copy in a near fine jpg> original glassine wrap. <Missing:4Unposted_front. jpg>

15 RODKER, John. £600.00 COLLECTED POEMS 1912-1925.Paris: The Hours Press, 1930 First edition. Tall slim 8vo Unpag. <Missing: This is the only Hours Press book to have been printed in England. Its printingRodker_back.jpg> was supervised by Rodker himself and the final productions were sent to Nancy Cunard in France, for final distribution. Contains 21 of Rodker's poems,<Missing: Rodker. chosen by himself for publication. Printed at The Curwen Press, England. jpg> Initials designed by Edward Wadsworth. Construction of cover by Len Lye and photography by Alfred Cracknell. Limited edition 23/200, SIGNED by the author. Some expert conservation work has given the book new front and rear free endpapers [not pastedowns], but this has been well done with the replacements in sympathy with the original paper, also the spine has been skilfully repaired and relaid. Bound in brown gilt quarter leather and pictorial boards. Some sunning to the top edges of the boards and rubbing to leather, else a very good, tight clean copy of a rare Hours Press title, now protected with a new slip case.16 SYMONS, Arthur. £120.00 MES SOUVENIRS.Hours Press, Reanville, 1929 First edition. Royal 8vo 48pp. <Missing: mes- The eighth book printed at Nancy Cunard's Hours Press and one of Symons'ssouvenirs-symons- last works, who - despite his dabbling in decadence and eventual complete breakdown - enjoyed a remarkably long life and career. These three literary limitation.jpg> essays were especially written for Nancy Cunard and the Hours Press. One essay is on 'Verlaine', one on Bohemian Chelsea and the parties given by <Missing: mes- Oscar Wilde, and the third on the Indian poetess Sarojini Chattopadhya,souvenirs-symons- entitled 'The Magic of the East'. The colophon erroneously describes this as the sixth Hours Press title, while cataloguers insist on dating the work to 1931, front.jpg> it was in fact issued in July, 1929, and apparently sold well, priced at two guineas. Limited edition No. 98 of 200, SIGNED by the author and printed on Velin de Rives. Bound in original beige cloth boards, surface and spine rubbed, else a good copy.