The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels.Carr, J. L. (1987) An Inventory and a History of the Quince Tree Press to mark its 21st year and the sale of its 500,000th small book. August 1987. Kettering: The Quince Tree Press The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.
History of the press
When Carr took 2-year leave of absence from teaching in 1967 aged 55 years with savings of £1,600, his aim was to see if he could make his living by selling decorated maps of English counties and small pocket books of poems. These he published from his house at Mill Dale Road in Kettering, Northamptonshire, under the imprint The Quince Tree Press. The quince is a fruiting tree native to the Caucasus and there was one in the front garden of Carr's house.
Carr's maps are of architectural and historical interest rather than being geographical, and give brief details, observations and quotations in a quirky style about buildings, historical events and people related to places in the old counties of England, before they were reorganised in 1974. The maps are meant to be read and framed and to stimulate conversation.
Carr's small books are typically 16 stapled pages, usually about 13 x 9 cm, with decorated card covers. Carr wrote: 'These books fit small envelopes, go for a minimum stamp and are perfect for cold bedrooms - only one hand and a wrist need suffer exposure'. Carr recorded in 1983 that sales of the small books reached a peak in 1980, when he sold 43,369 copies,Carr, J. L. (1983) "A double life in literature". The Author; Vol 44, No 4, pp. 102 - 104. and by 1987 he had sold more than 500,000 in total. Many titles are still published by the Quince Tree Press, as well as some new ones, for example Florence Nightingale and Laurence Sterne.
Carr sold his novels and small books published by the Quince Tree Press directly to booksellers and by mail order to readers, and offered copies of his other novels bought as remainders from his previous publishers. For example, Carr obtained 900 remaindered copies of The Harpole Report from Secker and Warburg at 12 pence each and was able to sell them all at their full price of £1.75 after Frank Muir had named it on Desert Island Discs as the book he would take with him to the imaginary island.
Novels by J. L. Carr published by the Quince Tree Press At the age of 76 years and unhappy both with the different publishers of his six novels to date and with the advance that he had been offered for his seventh novel, Carr decided to publish the next book himself. What Hetty Did was published as a paperback by the Quince Tree Press in 1988 in an edition of 2,850 copies and was soon reprinted.Rogers, Byron. (2003). The Last Englishman: the Life of J. L. Carr. London: Aurum Press. Carr followed this novel four years later with his last, Harpole & Foxberrow General Publishers, in an edition of 4,000 copies.
Carr also bought back the rights to the novels A Month in the Country, How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup and The Battle of Pollocks Crossing and published them under the imprint of the Quince Tree Press. Since Carr's death in 1994, the rest of Carr's novels have been reprinted by the Quince Tree Press.
(1988) What Hetty Did. (). First edition. First issue 2,850 copies; 2nd issue 3,000 copies. (1991) A Month in the Country. (). First issue, 3,000 copies. Revised edition of novel first published by Harvester Press in 1980. (1992) Harpole & Foxberrow General Publishers. (). First edition. First issue 4,000 copies. (1992) How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup. (). First issue 2,000 copies. New edition of novel first published by London Magazine Editions in 1975. (1993) The Battle of Pollocks Crossing. (). First issue 2,000 copies. New edition of novel first published by Viking Penguin in 1985. (2003) A Day in Summer. (). New edition of novel first published by Barrie and Rockliff in 1963. (2003) A Season in Sinji. (). New edition of novel first published by Alan Ross in 1967. (2003) The Harpole Report. (). New edition of novel first published by Secker and Warburg in 1972.
In each of his novels published by the Quince Tree Press Carr cited words by Beatrice Warde, an eminent American typographer: "This is a Printing Office, Cross-roads of Civilisation, Refuge of all the Arts against the Ravages of Time. From this place Words may fly abroad, Not to perish as Waves of Sound but fix'd in Time, Not corrupted by the hurrying Hand but verified in Proof. Friend, you are on Safe Ground: This is a Printing Office."
Illustrated maps
Carr drew his first map in 1943, of England and Wales, while stationed in West Africa during the Second World War. Carr reported that the first four maps he published were of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Kent and Norfolk and initially sold for £1 each. However these may have been preceded in late 1965 by what Carr called a 'longsheet', a narrow printed drawing showing towns and places in Northamptonshire which stated at the base: 'Travellers are warned that the use of this map for navigation will be disastrous'. The first five maps given ISBNs were Hampshire (December 1968; ), Wales (March 1969, ), Sussex (June 1969; ), Kent (September 1969; ) and Yorkshire (September 1969; ). An ISBN was allocated to 54 maps in total, the last issued in December 1976 (Westmorland, ), but no maps have been seen with a printed ISBN.
The different versions of most county maps were not numbered or identified sequentially and only a few were dated, so it is hard to tell in which order they were published. Versions may be distinguished by the number of sheets printed, which was usually recorded on later maps, and assuming that the number was different for each version. The first versions of maps seem to have been issued in editions of 250, 350 or 500 sheets. Robert Carr has reported that some of the maps had editions related to the year in which they were printed. For example, an edition of 978 sheets was probably first published in 1978. The number of sheets of the versions recorded with an ISBN and seen or held in private or public collections are given below and range from 250 to 982 with an average of about 750. If the number of sheets issued was recorded on the version then each individual map was usually numbered by hand, although unnumbered copies are known. The number of different versions published before August 1987, the date of Carr's history of the Press, is shown in parentheses below and at least three new maps (Buckinghamshire, Westmorland and Wiltshire) were added after 1987. A total of 97 maps were either reported by Carr in his history of the Quince Tree Press, or have been seen. There may be more maps and more versions. A new map of Northamptonshire was produced in 2005 by Robert and Jane Carr.
Carr's illustrated maps were printed on single sheets of thick paper of various types and range in size from 50 to 65 cm high and 35 to 55 cm wide, depending on the shape of each county. The early maps were printed in monochrome but some were hand coloured by Sally Carr. Later maps were printed in colour. Most of the maps were numbered by hand and signed by Carr. Carr often sent proof copies of new maps to retailers. These were printed on thin, poor quality paper, and were marked PROOF. The maps were chiefly printed by Messrs Richardson or Seddon, local printers in Kettering.
The list below gives details where known of: the number of different maps of each county, shown in parentheses, as recorded by Carr in 1987 in his history of the Quince Tree Press; the date of publication with the ISBN, although such numbers seem only to have been applied to maps published between 1968 and 1976 and were not noted on the maps themselves; and the number of sheets, if known, which are not necessarily given in the order of publication.
England and Wales. Editions in July 1972 of 750 sheets (written by hand)() and May 1973, numbering unknown, (). Wales. Edition in March 1969 of 569 sheets (). Bedfordshire. Edition in September 1975 of 574 sheets (). Berkshire. Edition in December 1974 of 773 sheets (). Buckinghamshire. Edition in September 1975 of 574 sheets, (). Cambridgeshire. Edition in 1974 of 743 sheets (). Cheshire (2). Edition in May 1974 of 774 sheets? () and 1982 of 982 sheets?. Cornwall. Edition in September 1975 of 775 sheets (). Cumberland. Edition in March 1977 of 777 sheets (). Derbyshire (3). Edition in September 1975 of 773 sheets () and 1980? of 980 sheets; other version, unknown. Devon (2). Edition in May 1970 of 503 sheets () and 1978? of 978 sheets. Dorset. Edition in 1974 of 773 sheets (). Durham (2). Edition in 1974 of 773 sheets (), and 1982? of 982 sheets. Essex (3). Edition in September 1971 of 503 sheets? (); September 1975 of 775 sheets? (); and other unknown. Gloucestershire (3). Editions in May 1972 of 250 sheets? (); September 1975 of 774 sheets? (); and unknown date of 300 sheets. Hampshire (3). Editions in December 1968 of 524? sheets (); September 1975 of 574? sheets (); and 1981 of 981 sheets?. Herefordshire (2). Edition in September 1972 () and 1981?, 572 and 981 sheets. Hertfordshire. Edition in September 1975 of 773 sheets (). Huntingdonshire (2). Edition in August 1971 of 350 sheets (); and in 1980? of 980 sheets. Kent (4). Editions in September 1969 of 507? sheets(); September 1975, unknown sheets (); and 1980 of 980 sheets. Lancashire or County Palatine of Lancashire (2). Editions in April 1971 of 777 sheets (); and in 1980? of 980 sheets. County Palatine of Lancaster Edition of 572 sheets. Leicestershire (3). Editions in April 1972 503 sheets (); in 1982? of 982 sheets; other unknown date of 572 sheets. Lincolnshire (3). Editions in October 1970 of 503 sheets (); 1981? of 981 sheets; other edition unknown. Middlesex. Edition in September 1975 of 775 sheets (). Norfolk (3). Editions in December 1969 of 500? sheets () and September 1975 of 705? sheets (); and other edition unknown. Northamptonshire (3). A 'longsheet' in 1965 of an unknown number of sheets. Maps in November 1970 of 550? sheets (); September 1975 of unknown sheets (); 1978 of 978 sheets; and 1980? of 980 sheets. New edition in 2005. Northumberland (2). Edition in September 1971 of 502 sheets (); and 1980? of 980 sheets. Nottinghamshire. Edition in September 1975 of 774 sheets (). Oxfordshire. Edition in December 1969 of 350 sheets (). Rutland (3). Editions in April 1972 of 500? sheets (); 1974 of unknown sheets (); and 1978? of 978 sheets. Shropshire. Edition in October 1974 of 750 sheets. Somerset (2). Editions in May 1971 of 502? sheets() and September 1975 of unknown sheets (). Staffordshire (2). Editions of September 1975 of 750 sheets (); and 1982? of 982 sheets. Suffolk (4). Editions in Winter, 1968 of 250 sheets? (); May 1971 of sheets unknown (); September 1975 of 775 sheets (); other map unknown. Surrey (2). Editions in September 1975 of 774 sheets (); and 1980 of 980 sheets. Sussex (2). Editions in June 1969, not numbered (); and 1978 of 978 sheets. Warwickshire (3). Editions in November 1970 of 526 or 574 sheets (); in 1980? of 980 sheets; and other unknown Westmorland. Edition in December 1976 of 776 sheets () Wiltshire (2). Editions in October 1969 of 250 sheets (); and May 1971 of 981 sheets (). Worcestershire (2). Edition in September 1972 of 572 sheets (); and 1976? of 776 sheets. Yorkshire (6). Editions in September 1969 (), May 1971 (), September 1975 () and 1982?, 571, 572, 573, 773, 776 and 982 sheets.
Small books