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The Cavalry – Lt-Col James Lawford

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the_cavalry_sampson_low_2_33Title: The Cavalry
Editor: LT-COL James Lawford
Contributors: Brigadier Peter Young, R.A. Crosbie-Weston, Curt Johnson, Dr T. A. Heathcote, Lt-Col Alan Shepperd and David Chandler.
Publisher: Sampson Low
Year: 1976

‘In war he was swift into action, instant of decision, careless of consequences. In his passing he has left behind him a tradition of light-hearted, debonair elegance, and a reckless courage in battle that is still far from dead.’

James Lawford, in the book’s concluding chapters, pinpoints some enduring traits of the horsed cavalryman. Whether a hussar, a lancer or a cuirasser, whether mounted on a small darting pony or a majestic, heavy charger, his enthusiasm for combat was prodigious.

the_cavalry_sampson_low_1_33

Ironsides charge into a troop of Royalist cavalry

This book unites two enthralling aspects of military life before the advent of the tank: the functions and behaviour of cavalry horses in war, and the duties, training, traditions and deeds of the men who rode them into battle. From the mounted archers of Assyria to the lancers of World War I, the story has a span of some 3,000 years.

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Brigadier Peter Young

Lt-Col James Lawford was a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Brigadier Peter Young during World War II was an outstanding colonel, and is now one of Britain’s best known military historians. He is a regular broadcaster and Captain-General of The Sealed Knot, an organisation that re-enacts battles of the English Civil War.

This book is twinned with Villiers Path by Lucy Furlong (pub. 2017), read more about it here.

Venus as a Boy – Marcus Wratton and Dimitra Petsa

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9781910578421_50The first chapbook in the Confronting Rape Culture Series, edited by Debbie Chessell. This a vibrant and challenging chapbook that includes two written works, Leila by Marcus Wratton and Tower Bridge by Dimitra Petsa. It is not just the power of the words that rock you back on your heels but the carmine plush of the design by Lucy Ross.

CONFRONTING RAPE CULTURE are a group of artists, designers, activists and believers, who united to create change. They organise exhibitions, workshops and publications, initiating social activity to raise awareness of rape culture present in all parts of the world, under all disguises. Funded by O2, they are a non-profit organisation focused on addressing issues through creativity

To keep up to date with the group’s activities, please visit
https://www.facebook.com/pg/confrontingrapeculture

Venus as a Boy
Marcus Wratton and Dimitra Petsa
Published March 2017
ISBN  978-1-910578-42-1
A6 Size,
16 printed pages,
Colour
Confronting Rape Culture Chapbook 1,
SLB051
Price – £2
Designer: Lucy Ross
Editor: Debbie Chessell
Photographers: Maria Kaffa, Molly Baker
BUY Venus as a Boy (£2 + £1.20 P&P to UK Address)

As part of this project CRC will be hosting three workshops at Housmans Radical Booksellers throughout March 2017 and a final exhibition at The Museum of Futures.

Today at Housmans
4th March, 7pm
Feminist Yoga with Affective Yoga

‘Emotions may be critical to showing us why transformations are so difficult, but also how they are possible’. Sarah Ahmed.

This 3 hour workshop will explore the relationship between feminist feelings or emotions and yoga (physical postures, breathing and meditation) with a focus on healing. It will be split into 90 minutes of yoga lead by Affective Yoga followed by a winding down session with free refreshments.

”I believe when we come to and get involved in feminism we experience emotions, such as pain, anger, hope and wonder. I believe we hold these emotions in our physical and mental bodies. Embodied feelings show us why transformations are so difficult but also how they are possible. During this yoga workshop we will explore the emotions we embody as a result of our feminism(s), releasing the pain and anger to approach change from a place of peace and love and build on and strengthen the hope and wonder we have in ourselves to continue to fight for change in our societies.”

Open to all levels – you don’t need to have prior yoga experience.

 

Villiers Path – Lucy Furlong

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2017_02_VilliersPath_Chapbook_04_paginated.inddTake a walk down this historic narrow foot passage in Surbiton. Will you meet the ghost of the beautiful young Lord Francis Villiers, killed in battle here in 1648.

Villiers Path runs between Hollyfield School and the back gardens of the houses in Cranes Park, coming out half way down Surbiton High Road. It is where Lord Francis Villiers died in a skirmish on Surbiton Common on 7th July 1648, in the latter part of the English Civil War,

Over hundreds of years, as Surbiton has changed and grown, the path has narrowed and become hemmed in. Where was the famous tree, engraved with a ‘V’, which marked the spot where the young and beautiful lord bravely defended himself until death?

Poetry and photography from Lucy Furlong.
For more information visit https://seethingography.wordpress.com/

Villiers Path: Scalloped Time
Lucy Furlong
Designed by Mel Hetherington
Published February 2017
ISBN  978-1-910578-40-7
A6 Size,
16 printed pages,
Colour
Seethingography imprint chapbook 2
SLB049
Price – £2
SOLD OUT

On Thursday 23rd February 2017 Lucy will be launching Villiers Path at the Futures Camarade, which is part of the Visual Poetry show at the Museum of Futures in Surbiton. The exhibition is being curated by  S J Fowler, with assistance from creative writing students at Kingston University, and showcases a diverse range of artists and poets working across the boundaries of visual / textual art.

Read more about the The Seethingographer: #1 Winter 2016

 

The Big Noddy Book – Enid Blyton

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33_the_big_noddy_book_enid_blyton_1Title: The Big Noddy Book
Author: Enid Blyton
Illustrator: Beek
Publisher: Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd
Year: 1959

Contents
Noddy’s First Bath
When Noddy Went Shopping
A Day With Little Noddy
Noddy’s New Umbrella
Noddy’s Garden
The Beautiful Red Boots
Noddy Has Some Adventures
Big-Ears’ Smoky Chimney
Noddy’s Little Hooter
Noddy’s Birthday
Cheeky Little Black Doll
All Aboard for Toyland
Noddy’s Balloon
Noddy is Very Funny
It Served Him Right

Noddy is an icon. Even today, 60 years after his ‘birth’ and just over 40 years after his creator’s death, he is probably the main character to be associated with the name Enid Blyton. For many children, Noddy was their introduction to Enid Blyton and once they were hooked there was a tasty menu of Blyton books to move on to. In a twenty year period between his conception and Enid’s death, 154 books of various shapes and sizes graced the shelves of the bookshops.

He was created in wood by Old Man Carver, but was soon off to Toyland and from then on was constantly in trouble, a small child’s dream of the perfect ‘naughty little boy’ — but a boy with a house of his own and a stylish red and yellow car. He was always in trouble with PC Plod, but Big-Ears was often on hand to offer fatherly advice.

enid_blyton_1a_50Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children’s writer whose books have been among the world’s best-sellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Blyton’s books are still enormously popular, and have been translated into almost 90 languages; her first book, Child Whispers, a 24-page collection of poems, was published in 1922. She wrote on a wide range of topics including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives and is best remembered today for her Noddy, Famous Five, Secret Seven, and Adventure series.

Much of the success of Noddy was undoubtedly down to the colourful illustrations of Harmsen Van der Beek, and the various illustrators who took up the mantle after Beek’s death in 1953. Eelco Martinus ten Harmsen van der Beek (Born October 8, 1897 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch illustrator and commercial artist and already well known in the Netherlands when he approached us (Sampson Low) at the end of the 1940s. The result was the creation of the Noddy series for young children, authored by Enid Blyton – still a major property for animators half a century later. Van der Beek simply signed his work as “Beek”. The conscious intention to create a Disney-style sympathetic focus character — a European Mickey Mouse — was reportedly a major factor. Beek’s death in 1953 led to a few new illustrators for the Noddy books, amongst which was his assistant Peter Wienk.

Beek’s father was a pharmacist in Amsterdam. As a child, he and his brother Hein sold postcards which Beek had drawn, on the streets of Amsterdam. Eelco attended the Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid and the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 1916 to 1918 and subsequently began a career as a commercial artist, as well as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines. 

Thank you to Dean and Glen Reddick for donating this book to the Sampson Low archives.

This book is twinned with one of our modern publications/authors, Colouring Walls by Stella Tripp (2017). Read more about it here.

Colouring Walls – Stella Tripp

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9781910578391_50After the success of her first publication for Sampson Low, artist Stella Tripp returns with a new chapbook of mesmeric line drawings. These drawings grew out of two recent series: “murmurations” in which black and white triangles are assembled to create larger shapes; and “grid drawings” in which intersecting lines create a net that twists and distorts but doesn’t break. Combined here in playful visual meditations, they become walls that skew space and embrace difference.

These walls can be coloured by the viewer to create new compositions, bringing a fresh sense of collaboration to the chapbook scene. There is a trend for adult colouring books at this time but Colouring Walls is a step beyond the usual colour-by-numbers approach to the genre. It is not easy to choose your path across these walls, do you strike out across a path or wash over the walls with a wave of colour. The choice of course is yours.

Use the hashtag #colouringwalls on all social media to find out what everyone else is creating.

colouring_walls_33Stella Tripp is an artist based in Exeter, Devon. Art is her way of trying to understand the world and connect with it. Working with a wide variety of techniques and materials, Stella creates a broad range of art in both two and three dimensions. Going back to basic black-ink-pen on paper – a childhood favourite – is at the same time a relief and a different kind of challenge. This series of drawings started out as a creative exercise exploring the expressive potential of such limited materials. The resulting images could also be seen as a visual metaphor for integration.
www.stellatripp.co.uk

BUY Colouring Walls (£2 + £1.20 P&P to UK Address)
A visual exploration of difference and integration
Stella Tripp
Published February 2017
ISBN  978-1-910578-39-1
A6 Size, 16 printed pages,
Black and White
Chapbook 15,
SLB048
Price – £2

 

My Musical Life and Recollections by Jules Prudence Riviere

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Jules Prudence Riviere

Jules Prudence Riviere

Title: My Musical Life and Recollections.
Author: Jules Prudence Riviere
Publisher: London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company Limited
Year: 1893

Jules Prudence Riviere
Born in Paris in 1819, Jules Prudence Riviere began his life long musical career as a choir boy in France before going on to establish himself as a phenomenal French composer. In 1857 the French Emperor and Empress presented him with a commemorative signet ring commending his astonishing orchestral performances. The success Riviere experienced in France brought him to England in 1857 where he instantly established a name for himself. With performances at the Adelphi and Alhambra Theatres, Cremorne Gardens and the Covent Garden Promenade Concerts he not only demonstrated his musical talent but charmed and enchanted audiences.

In 1887 Jules Prudence Riviere acted as musical director at Llandudno Pier Pavilion; during this time he pioneered the launch of the seaside promenade concert. After establishing himself in Llandudno, Riviere developed a forty-two piece orchestra who played regularly at the Pier Pavilion and were received as a massive success.

my-musical-life-and-recollections_jules_prudence_riviere_4The lure of the new Victoria Pier in Colwyn Bay proved irresistible and in 1890 Jules Prudence Riviere and his orchestra were secured to perform for the opening season. At the official opening on June 2nd 1890 Riviere orchestrated a phenomenal concert which featured the critically acclaimed Madame Adelina Maria Clorinda Patti.

On moving to Colwyn Bay, Riviere’s took with him the name of his Llandudno Home: Bod Alaw, translating to ‘musical place’. However his residence in the town was sadly short lived as on December 26, 1900 Jules Prudence Riviere passed away, aged 81. He can be found buried at Llandrillo yn Rhos Churchyard.

Subsequent to his death, the street which he had lived for just 7 months was changed to ‘Riviere’s Avenue’ in honour of his contribution to Colwyn Bay. On St. David’s day, 1950, ‘Bod Alaw’ primary school opened to the public in what was Riviere’s home.

This book is twinned with Altogether Elsewhere (2017) by Jazzman John Robert Clarke. Read more about it HERE.

 

 

Altogether Elsewhere – ‘Jazzman’ John Robert Clarke

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9781910578384_50“…..Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast.”
W.H. Auden (c. 1940)

Jazzman John Clarke’s Altogether Elsewhere is a vibrant journey between reality and fantasy. The truths are strong, poignant and positive. The dreams are the shifting sands of sunsets and twilight visions. This chapbook is richly illustrated by Pete Smith who captures London’s dissociative landscapes that are both urban and pastoral, real and unreal.

Poet, writer and performer, John Clarke is a well known name in London’s poetry performance scene. Born of Dublin parentage, he devoted more than two decades of his early career in commercial banking before finding the Muse in the mid to late 1990’s.

Clarke is affectionately known as ‘Jazzman John’ due to his abiding influence from & interest in Jazz, Jazz styles, structures and rhythms. He is well-known for his collaborations with a wide variety of talented musicians & this fact often feeds into & inspires his writing. John has also run a series of ‘alternative’ events throughout London, featuring, mainly, poets, musicians, singer-songwriters & performers. He is known to be good at spotting talents early & indeed the Jazz Combo ‘Ledbib’(shortlisted in the jazz category for the prestigious National Mercury Music Prize in 2009) were given some significant early ‘gigs’ by him.

John has performed in the South of France with a Jazz/Blues/Funk outfit,& more recently in 2009 both in Italy (Genoa & Bologna) with experimental & improv musicians, The International Poetry & Music Festival, Ruigoord, Amsterdam & at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Jazzman John Clarke lives in South East London.

 

Altogether Elsewhere
‘Jazzman’ John Robert Clarke
Artwork – Pete Jon Smith
Editor – Francesca Albini
Published January 2017
ISBN  9781910578384
A6 Size,
16 printed pages,
Colour,
Dreamtime Chapbook 2
SLB047
Limited print run of 400
Price – £2
BUY Altogether Elsewhere (£2 + £1.20 P&P to UK Address)

Francesca Albini – Dreamtime Chapbook Series

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Francesca Albini

Francesca Albini

In the past few months we’ve been lucky to sign several new editors here at Sampson Low. They have all embarked upon their very own chapbook series, and these will be stamped with their unique vision and design. Francesca Albini has been publishing with us since December 2015 when she released Dreamtime Reflections into the world. It proved a popular choice and subsequently reached Number 1 in the UK Chapbook Chart. It also inspired the name for Francesca’s new series, Dreamtime Chapbooks.

“Dreamtime, words as maps, maps as distances, rhythm and images, jazz, memories, dreams. And space, empty to fill, full to empty. A series for all the word travellers and the imagery explorers.”
Francesca Albini, 2017

Francesca Albini was born in Venice, Italy in 1959, and has been living in London for over 30 years. Her father was Umberto Albini, professor of Ancient Greek at the University of Genova, Italy, scholar and prolific writer and translator. She has translated fiction and non-fiction books for more than 25 years, from classics, like Anne Bronte, to modern alternative authors, such as Will Self.

9781910578360_garden_Francesca_AlbiniFrancesca’s first chapbook in the Dreamtime series was Garden which is typical of her ethereal and whimsical style. Her second will be Altogether Elsewhere, a collection of poems from Jazzman John Robert Clarke. We think Francesca has a beautiful flavour to her chapbooks and we hope you enjoy reading them over the coming months and years.
Follow the series at Dreamtime Chapbooks.

Debbie Chessell – Confronting Rape Culture chapbooks

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Debbie Chesswell

Debbie Chessell

A new editor sealed the deal this week at Sampson Low by imbibing from the famous family teapot. The teapot was given to the second Sampson Low on 7th August 1852 from the Booksellers Trade Association as a slight mark of esteem and respect. Debbie Chessell, a third year fine art student at Kingston University is our new editor and she’ll be launching a chapbook series dedicated to Confronting Rape Culture in the spring of 2017.

The chapbooks will run alongside exhibitions at Housmans’ Bookshop (King’s Cross, London) and The Museum of Futures (Surbiton, 25th March – 2nd April) where up to 25 artists will be showing their work.

As an artist Debbie’s practice explores the physics and abstractions of light through scientific, social and conceptual themes. She works with knitting, crochet and oils, creating installations and paintings that explore concepts which often question one-another, resulting in new and unexpected directions in her research. The use of different mediums is as important as the core theme; each material allows a different way of thinking about the subject. This desire to knit together artistic themes and personalities will undoubtedly create a potent series of chapbooks.

The Two Admirals by James Fenimore Cooper

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Title: The Two Admirals. A tale of the sea.
Author: James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 15, 1851)
Publisher: Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd
Year: 1900

the_two_admirals_3c-copyThe Two Admirals is an 1842 nautical fiction novel by James Fenimore Cooper. The novel was written after the Leatherstocking Tales novel The Deerslayer. Set during the 18th century and exploring the British Royal Navy, Cooper had originally intended to write a novel where ships were the main characters, though eventually decided not to. The novel is one of three which Cooper would revise for editions following their first printing, the other two being The Pathfinder and Deerslayer.

When republishing the novel in the 1860s, Cooper’s Daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, described the novel as “the least successful of his romances of the sea”. Despite the novel not having a large legacy, critic Steven Harthorn describes the novel as one of Cooper’s deepest studies of masculinity.

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James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 15, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century.

His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. He lived most of his life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William on property that he owned. Cooper was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and, in his later years, contributed generously to it. He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society, but was expelled for misbehavior.

Before embarking on his career as a writer, he served in the U.S. Navy as a Midshipman, which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. The novel that launched his career was The Spy, a tale about counterespionage set during the Revolutionary War and published in 1821. He also wrote numerous sea stories, and his best-known works are five historical novels of the frontier period known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Among naval historians, Cooper’s works on the early U.S. Navy have been well received, but they were sometimes criticized by his contemporaries. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.

Twinned with Poetry WTF?! #2 by Howie Good (2017) – Read more about it here