An important archive of print history ephemera with provenance to the estate of Derek Law, the General Manager of the Scolar Press, Ilkley which was founded in 1965 by Robin Alston, lecturer in English Language and Medieval English Literature at the University of Leeds. Inspired by his belief that undergraduates should read set texts in their original editions The Scolar Press began by printing inexpensive facsimiles of importance to the history of the English language and later became renowned for publishing important academic and scholarly books by established authors, building up a reputation as a press which contributed to the long tradition of combining fine printing with scholarly publishing. Included in the archive are:
1 The Scolar Newsletter numbered 1, 2, 3,4 and 11 (dated between Jan 1972 and May 1977).
Scolar Press Catalogues dated 1968, 1971, 1977, 1977-1978, 1978 -1979, 1979 - 1980 and 1980 -1981.
2 Elephant Folio solander drop back box containing printed ephemera including a bi folium facsimile reproduction of a section of EM Forster’s handwritten manuscript ‘Commonplace Book’ and a facsimile printed verso and recto from William Morris’s ‘Canterbury Tales’.
3 Promotional material and order forms for facsimile editions printed and bound by The Scolar Press including 3 x William Adam’s Vitruvius Scoticus ; 3 x Vues du Rhin; 5 x Medieval Romance Literature in Early Texts; 1 x Renaissance Literature in Early Texts; several British Birds part 1 by CLE Perrott.
4 2 x prospectus and proposal documents created for the acquisition of The Scolar Press, Ilkley from Bemrose Uk Ltd dated June 1980 (Scolar had merged with The Bemrose Corporation in 1972). Both sets boxed in green hardback folders with Derek Law bookplates to interiors. Each contains a hard backed proposal outlining the company’s history and profile, structure, profit and loss, cash flow etc and a glossy promotional prospectus containing the story of The Scolar Press and circa 15 examples of work including colour imprints of early illustrations, letters and documents. Several additional stand alone copies of the promotional prospectus are also included. All in excellent condition.
5 The Scolar Press promotional folder offering Screenless Lithography for the Facsimile Reproduction of Manuscripts and other Similar Types of Original Material. Dated September 1979. Includes 8 pp. facsimile reproduction of the Bannatyne Manuscript from the National,Library of Scotland. (Robin Alston had invented the Prismascope to enable photography of fragile books for facsimile reproduction).
6 ‘An almanac of twelve sports by William Nicholson’ a calendar printed at The Scolar Press. In excellent condition.
Bemrose Corporation prospectus with diagram of company structure including The Scolar Press. Gold wrappers, in excellent condition.
7 2 x promotional booklets for Cavendish Press and Lonsdale & Bartholomew.
8 2 x b/w photographs of the team at The Scolar Press Ltd. circa 1973.
9 A copy of ‘Typematter’ dated Winter 1979 with a hand written note for the attention of ‘DL’ to top.
10 An auction catalogue by order of the receiver for lots at The Scolar Press, ‘lithographic printing origination and book finishing plant’ dated Wednesday May 5th 1982.
11 Red ‘Ideal’ hardbacked and lined notebook owned and compiled by Derek Law in the ‘90s. Titled ‘Folio Books in the Watersmeet House Library’ with an index of 1 - 61 titled volumes of Folio Society books. Individual eaves throughout contain detailed hand written descriptions and pasted in colour descriptions pulled from catalogues for each volume. Includes a compliment slip from the Folio Society enclosing 2 leaves from a copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In 1986, Ashgate Publishing acquired Scolar Press, incorporating its lists and The Scolar Press imprint was used by Ashgate for its humanities publishing program until 1996, when the imprint was retired. Original facsimiles, such as the 1976 Caxton series, are now considered very collectible items.
