Moschatel Press is a small press publisher producing artist's books and poetry collections. It was founded in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, in 1973, by the artist Laurie Clark and the Scottish poet Thomas A. Clark and moved to Pittenweem, Fife in 2002. The press "is named after adoxa moschatellina, a plant known locally as Town Clock for its four-way green flower heads, with a fifth flower facing the sky." Their main line is in "publishing minimal texts, visual poetry and the like in small neat booklets and postcards."
They have published work by Ian Hamilton Finlay among other artists; although most of their output is their own work which frequently consists of reflections on nature.For an on-line example of their themes see: A treadle press they were given as a wedding present inspired the founding of Moschatel Press, allowing them to print poems and send them to friends. The treadle press was replaced by a tabletop Adana printing press.
Founders Thomas A. Clark was born in Greenock, Scotland in 1944 and left school, "barely literate", at 15. He then worked in factories and warehouses for the next eight year, before realising "there was a world outside to be lived in".
Clark moved to England in 1967.
Laurie Clark was born in New York in 1949 and married Thomas A. Clark in 1972.
Cairn Gallery In 1986 the Clarks established the Cairn Gallery initially in Days Mill, Nailsworth, and subsequently in Pittenweem. The Gallery an artist-run space, for land art, minimalism and lyrical or poetic conceptualism.
Publications The list of publications is first derived from the Moschatel Press Bibliography published by the press itself for an exhibition at the Coracle Press, Camberwell, from 1 December 1979 to 5 January 1980. The list of subsequent publications is not definitive. All works are by Thomas A. Clark unless otherwise stated.
A box set of 67 publications was issued in 1982. Further collections were issued as "A Box Of Landscapes" in 2010 and 2016, comprising publications spanning forty years of the Moschatel Press and others.
In addition to his work with Moschatel Press, Thomas A. Clark led a group of artists installing artworks in the new Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow for its opening in 2009. Publication yearTitleAuthor ArtistNotes1973Fill In The DrawingLaurie Clark1973FritillaryLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1973Folding The Last SheepPublication year not printed1973An Epitaph1973The Garden1974Horizon1974Four Flowers1974A Wee Tot For CatullusJonathan Williams1974SnowdropIan Hamilton FinlayPublication year not printed1974IrisLaurie Clark1974Shape & ShadeLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1974SeptemberPublication year not printed1974Not NowCid Corman1974A Basket of LandscapesLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1974PebblesLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1975Glade1975Deserts of AfghanistanHelen Williams1975L'Invitation Au VoyageLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1975AnemoneLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1975Moss StitchLaurie Clark1975A Vase Of DaffodilsLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1976Petits Fours1976Painted LadyLaurie Clark1976Two HorizonsLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1976Clare's "Journey Out Of Essex"Simon CuttsLaurie Clark1976ThrumsLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1976Hart's TongueLaurie Clark1977FoliationsLaurie Clark1977Two Acres1977The Bright GladeLaurie Clark1977A Meadow VoyageLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1977Haystacks and IslandsLaurie Clark1978Nine RosesLaurie Clark1978Fly Patterns For Still WatersLaurie Clark1978GatheringsLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1978Water CressesLaurie Clark1978QuatrefoilsLaurie ClarkPrinted for South West Review; publication year not printed1979After PissarroLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1979Two Evergreen HorizonsLaurie Clark1979A Glade Of Lances1979The Dappled GladeLaurie Clark1979StyleLaurie Clark1979Of LeavesLaurie Clark1979Proverbs Of The MeadowLaurie ClarkPublication year not printed1979Four English FlowersLaurie Clark1979From A Glossary Of Old Scots1979Moschatel Press Bibliographywith introduction by Alan TuckerLaurie Clark600 copies1979A Rock PoolLaurie Clark1979In The Scottish Lowlands1979A Short Tour of the HighlandsLaurie Clark1979The Frog Leaps Thirteen TimesLaurie Clark1980Four Horizons1980Tansy ButtonsLaurie Clark1980A Herb Garden250 signed and numbered copies1980Adjectives For GrassesLaurie Clark1980Proverbs Of The MountainLaurie Clark300 signed and numbered copies1980Parenthetical LandLaurie ClarkCard for opening of Alan & Joan Tucker's new bookshop, Stroud, Glos1981A Delphinium Border200 numbered copies1981DicotyledonsLaurie Clark1981From A Bookseller's Catalogue1981Four Fruits150 numbered copies1981Metamorphosis1981A Moth Glade1981Photography In The Open AirLaurie Clark1981Ruin WoodLaurie Clark200 numbered copies1981Sixteen Sonnets1981Solos, Duets & QuartetsSimon CuttsLaurie Clark125 signed and numbered copies1981The TapestryLaurie Clark1981Three Triolets1982A DedicationLaurie Clark1982By Footpath & Stile(no text)Laurie Clark300 copies1982For Returning Warriors /In Memoriam1982Geum RivaleLaurie Clark200 numbered copies1982The LacemakerLaurie Clark1982Wayward DefinitionsLaurie Clark200 copies; expanded edition published as "Vagrant Definitions" by Membrane Press, Shorewood, WI, 19841982Three Colours200 numbered colours1982Moschatel Press Stuart MillsLaurie ClarkEssay for University of Warwick Library exhibition of books, cards and prints by Thomas A. Clark and Laurie Clark1982Twenty Four Sentences About The Forest1982Under The BraeLaurie Clark1983In A Country Churchyard(no text)Laurie Clark200 copies1983Pauses and DigressionsLaurie Clark300 copies of which 12 are signed and hand-coloured1983The Blue Boat, No. 1Robert LaxLaurie ClarkPublished as an occasional magazine1983The Blue Boat, No. 2Jean Follain1984Far Oak RidgeLaurie Clark1985On Greta BridgePublished jointly with Underwich Editions, Canada; 500 copies1986The Idle RoadLaurie Clark250 copies of which 20 are signed and hand-coloured1987Six TrioletsLaurie Clark1989Through White Villages1989The Flowers of Ben LawersLaurie Clark1990Coire Fhionn LochanLaurie Clark1990From Sea To Sea1991Forest, Mountain, City1991The Philosophy Of FurnitureSimon CuttsLaurie Clark1991The Teachings of Huang Po1992Of Shade And Shadow1992On A Line From Yeats1993A Collect1994Gold And SilverLaurie ClarkChristmas Card1994Larch Covert1995Apples And Intervals1995Glade1995The Shape ChangerLaurie Clark1995Three Exercises1995Two Landscapes1996Morning, Evening1997A Standard Of MusicLaurie Clark1997An Interval1997May The Best Hour1997Taking Up Again1997Three Wishes1997A Melting of SnowflakesChristmas Card1998At Dusk & At Dawn1998Four GreetingsLaurie ClarkChristmas Card1999Forest Without Trees1999Shieling In The Brambles1999Stone1999Here is RosemaryLaurie ClarkChristmas Card2000Branches and QuincesChristmas Card2001Twelve ProverbsLaurie Clark2001SparrowsLaurie ClarkChristmas Card2004Gorse River SequenceLaurie Clarkfor Peter Larkin2004The Year Of The Water RailLaurie Clark2005Frost & SnowLaurie Clarkfor Richard Valentine (Secondhand Bookseller, Nailsworth)2005HarebellLaurie Clark2006Blue2006Hazel Wood2006Wild StrawberriesLaurie Clark2007Dusk2007Floating Island2007Flow2007Little Burn2007Four Fruits (2)2007In The Black Wood2007Tràigh Balla2007Whenever You Linger2006/7Postcardsset of 62008Colour in the island2008From Many Waters2008Learning to be Blue2008of Woods & Water2008Sgiath nan Tarmachan2008Some Imaginary Flowersfor Eck2008Spring Summer 2008Still Life with Fruit and Flower2008Taste is to Whisk2009A Lamp of Fish OilChristmas Card2010SylviidaeLaurie Clark2010Delight; Fragrance; ThriftLaurie Clark3 card set2010Suspicion of BeautyLaurie Clark5 card set2010/2011Leave-Taking; Clearing; CrocusLaurie Clark3 card set2011DipperLaurie Clark2011Mint2011Unfolding BrightnessChristmas Card2012Gaelic Flowers2013JayLaurie Clark2014The Grove Of Delight2015Mist & MountainLaurie Clark2015The Quiet IslandLaurie Clark2015WithLaurie Clark2016Dove2016Star of BethlehemChristmas Card2017The Fort Of StillnessundatedAn Lochan UaineundatedAn Affinity Of Eye And PetalLaurie ClarkundatedAdoxaPrinted in Fife
Related publications Other published works by Thomas A. Clark include: Bo Heem E Um No.1 - Poems/Editor - Greenock, 1966. (Includes two concrete poems by Dom Sylvester Houédard) ARC 8 (number 15) - Arc, Gillingham, Kent, 1970 Some Particulars - The Jargon Society, 1971 Epitaphs for Lorine - The Jargon Society, 1973 Pointing Still - Arc Publications, Gillingham, Kent, 1974 A Still Life - The Jargon Society, Dentdale 1977 Arrangement In A Blue Jug - Arnica Press, 1977 (frontispiece by Laurie Clark; 100 signed and numbered copies of which 50 on hand-made paper, 50 on Hochu paper) Fragments Of A Walled Garden - Braad Editions, Bretenoux, France, 1977 (illustrations by Laurie Clark; 275 copies of which 26 are signed and numbered) Pebbles From A Japanese Garden - Topia Press, New York, 1977 (illustrations by Laurie Clark; 200 copies of which 26 are signed) Poetry Information, 18 - Interview by Glyn Pursglove - Peter Hodgkins, London, 1977 A Ruskin Sketchbook - Coracle Press, London, 1979 (500 copies) The Pocket Glade Dictionary - Coach House Press, Toronto, 1980 (300 copies) Madder Lake - Coach House Press, Toronto, 1981 A Garden In The Hills / Un Jardin sur les Monts - Atelier de l'Agneau, Herstal, Belgium, 1981 Review No 17 - Aggie Weston's, 1981 (with cover illustration by Laurie Clark) The Brothers - New Arcadian's Journal no. 8 - New Arcadians, Bradford, 1982 (with illustration by Laurie Clark; 250 numbered copies) Adventures Among Birds - Chocolate News Books, Camberwell, 1982 (200 copies) In The Open Air - screen prints by John Christie - Circle Press, Guildford, 1982 Ways Through Bracken - The Jargon Society, 1983 Twenty Poems - Grosseteste, 1983 In Praise Of Walking - Cairn Gallery, Nailsworth, 1988 (reprinted 1977 by Walking Bird Press and East Coast Trail Association, Newfoundland, 1977 in 500 numbered copies) Riasg Buidhe - with Roger Ackling, 1987 The Homecoming - Prest Roots Press, Kenilworth, 1988 Silences of Noons, The Work of F L Griggs (1876-1938) - Exhibition Catalogue - Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, 1988 Dwellings & Habitations - Prest Roots Press, Kenilworth, 1993 that which appears - Paragon Press, London, 1994 (250 signed copies, 100 with woodcut by Ian McKeever) Clashconnachie - Sad Iron Press, 1998 One Hundred Scottish Places - Parnassus Press, Eindhoven, 1999 (250 copies) Exchanges - with Ian Hamilton Finlay - Wild Hawthorn Press, 1999 (illustrations by Laurie Clark) Poet's Poems No. 1 - (Editor) - Aggie Weston's Editions, 2000 Distance & Proximity - Pocketbooks; Morning Star Publications; Polygon; Taigh Chearsabhagh; National Galleries of Scotland, 2000 The Path to the Sea - Arc Publications, Todmorden, 2005 Doire Fhearna - Empty Hands Broadside #8 - Country Valley Press, Gardnerville, NV (100 copies of which 26 are signed) I den klare lufta - Nordsjøforlaget, Norway, 2007 Grey - Longhouse, Green River VT, 2007 The Hundred Thousand Places - Carcanet Press, 2008 The Hidden Place - site specific wall painting at Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, 2010; also issued as screen print - 100 signed and numbered copies Yellow & Blue - Carcanet Press, 2014 Shade - Corbel Stone Press, 2014 (illustrations by Laurie Clark; 60 copies plus 12 signed and numbered with hand-coloured illustration) Farm By The Shore - Carcanet Press, 2017
Other publications featuring drawings by Laurie Clark include: A Walk Round Stroud - Stroud Civic Society, 1980 The Englishwoman's Garden - Chatto & Windus, 1980 A Country Lane - with Ian Hamilton Finlay - Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983 The Englishman's Garden - Penguin, 1985 Docking Competitions - with Erica Van Horn - Coracle, Docking, Norfolk, 1995 In A Dark Wood - Exhibition at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, November 1994 to January 1995