Boriswood
Encyclopedia
Boriswood Limited was a small London
publishing
house which was active from 1931 until 1938. The directors, at various times, were Cecil J Greenwood, Kenneth W Marshall, John Morris and the New Zealander Terence T Bond. It also incorporated another imprint Cranley & Day. In its short existence Boriswood published at least 68 titles, in fine limited and trade editions, mainly of new poetry and fiction.
Boriswood’s first trade edition book was printed in the basement of Boriswood's premises 15A Harrington Road, South Kensington
on an electrified platen press. Boriswood’s list was left-leaning, modernist and provocative. Roy Campbell
was one of the first poets to be published by the firm (The Georgiad 1931) while James Hanley was their most important novelist.
Hanley’s Boy was one of their first books, published in 1931. It eventually led to Boriswood’s prosecution in Manchester in 1935 for obscene libel. Boriswood pleaded guilty (as advised) and was fined a large sum. This, together with the associated controversy, eventually led to its closure and its stock was purchased by Greenwood. T E Lawrence and K W Marshall corresponded about the litigation around Boy.
The remaining copies of the trade edition of Boy were sold to the Obelisk Press
which re-published it in 1935. (It was republished by Penguin
in 1990 with an introduction by Anthony Burgess
).
Amongst Boriswood’s other authors were Georges Bernanos
, Hart Crane
, Vardis Fisher
, Simon Jesty, Archibald MacLeish
, John Pudney
, Jules Romains
and Rex Warner
. Boriswood employed important illustrators of the day including David Jones
and New Zealand
-born artist James Boswell
for its illustrated dust wrappers.
Boriswood's non fiction list included risqué titles for their day such as The Sexual Impulse (1935) by Edward Charles
and, unusually, a book on furniture and design, extensively illustrated with photographs, Modern Furniture (1936) by E Nelson Exton and Frederic H Littman.
"Boy, by James Hanley" The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/boy-by-james-hanley-457378.html
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
house which was active from 1931 until 1938. The directors, at various times, were Cecil J Greenwood, Kenneth W Marshall, John Morris and the New Zealander Terence T Bond. It also incorporated another imprint Cranley & Day. In its short existence Boriswood published at least 68 titles, in fine limited and trade editions, mainly of new poetry and fiction.
Boriswood’s first trade edition book was printed in the basement of Boriswood's premises 15A Harrington Road, South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
on an electrified platen press. Boriswood’s list was left-leaning, modernist and provocative. Roy Campbell
Roy Campbell (poet)
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
was one of the first poets to be published by the firm (The Georgiad 1931) while James Hanley was their most important novelist.
Hanley’s Boy was one of their first books, published in 1931. It eventually led to Boriswood’s prosecution in Manchester in 1935 for obscene libel. Boriswood pleaded guilty (as advised) and was fined a large sum. This, together with the associated controversy, eventually led to its closure and its stock was purchased by Greenwood. T E Lawrence and K W Marshall corresponded about the litigation around Boy.
The remaining copies of the trade edition of Boy were sold to the Obelisk Press
Obelisk Press
Obelisk Press was an English language press based in Paris, France, which was founded by Jack Kahane in 1929.Kahane, a novelist, began the Obelisk Press after his publisher, Grant Richards, went bankrupt. Going into partnership with a printer, Kahane, as Cecil Barr, published his next novel...
which re-published it in 1935. (It was republished by Penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
in 1990 with an introduction by Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
).
Amongst Boriswood’s other authors were Georges Bernanos
Georges Bernanos
Georges Bernanos was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. Of Roman Catholic and monarchist leanings, he was a violent adversary to bourgeois thought and to what he identified as defeatism leading to France's defeat in 1940.-Biography:Bernanos was born at Paris, into a family of...
, Hart Crane
Hart Crane
-Career:Throughout the early 1920s, small but well-respected literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, among the avant-garde, a respect that White Buildings , his first volume, ratified and strengthened...
, Vardis Fisher
Vardis Fisher
Vardis Alvero Fisher was a well-respected writer best known for historical novels of the old West and the monumental 12-volume Testament of Man series of novels, depicting the history of humans from cave to civilization....
, Simon Jesty, Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
, John Pudney
John Pudney
John Sleigh Pudney was a British journalist and writer. He was known for short stories, poetry, non-fiction and children's fiction .-Education:...
, Jules Romains
Jules Romains
Jules Romains, born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule , was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement...
and Rex Warner
Rex Warner
Rex Warner was an English classicist, writer and translator. He is now probably best remembered for The Aerodrome , an allegorical novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home...
. Boriswood employed important illustrators of the day including David Jones
David Jones (poet)
David Jones CH was both a painter and one of the first generation British modernist poets. As a painter he worked chiefly in watercolor, painting portraits and animal, landscape, legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and designer of inscriptions. As a writer he was...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born artist James Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
for its illustrated dust wrappers.
Boriswood's non fiction list included risqué titles for their day such as The Sexual Impulse (1935) by Edward Charles
Edward Charles
Edward Charles Edmond Hemsted , better known by the pen name Edward Charles, was an English author, educator, social advocate and sexologist....
and, unusually, a book on furniture and design, extensively illustrated with photographs, Modern Furniture (1936) by E Nelson Exton and Frederic H Littman.
External links
"Loyal son brings "Boy" back to Life", Camden New Journal, 31 May 2007 http://www.thecnj.com/review/053107/feat053107_02.html?headline=Loyal_son_brings_Boy_back_to_life"Boy, by James Hanley" The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/boy-by-james-hanley-457378.html