Fine Press Poetry - Andrew Moorhouse

In the never-ending search for new or relatively undiscovered private presses, there has been an increasing tendency amongst many of the Fine Press Forum (FPF) to stretch the definition of just what a private press edition is. Many of the presses and forthcoming editions being discussed on FPF do not qualify and, in some instances, are little more than glorified trade editions. This is especially true of editions in the science fiction/horror/dystopia/apocalyptic genre in which there is keen interest but a paucity of publication in the private press category.

A marvelous private press that has barely been mentioned on the FPF is the Fine Press Poetry imprint of Andrew Moorhouse. Since 2013, Moorhouse has published a series of wonderful private press editions of poetry. Before you begin rolling your eyes, let me state up front that I am not a bonafide poetry lover and I am not about to embark upon a poetry jihad on FPF. Personally, I divide poetry into two distinct categories: (1) world class poetry written with great skill and imagination (5%) and poetry that is mediocre or downright awful (95%) written by poets who will not be remembered, mentioned or discussed ten years from now.

Fortunately, Andrew Moorhouse only publishes poetry from the finest poets currently active, several of whom have served as Poet Laureate in Great Britain. Names include Michael Longley, Simon Armitage, Andrew Motion, Paul Muldoon, Seán Hewitt, and Carol Ann Duffy. The books are typically slim volumes of 50 to 100 pages, beautifully designed and crafted. All are printed letterpress by John Grice of Evergreen Press, one of the finest letterpress printers in the U.K., almost always using Centaur type on a fine Zerkall paper. The books are illustrated by several excellent artists Moorhouse has worked with over the past decade.

Between 2013 to present day, Fine Press Poetry has published twenty-one editions, each given a capsule description on the Fine Press Poetry website. Many of the poems or themes of poetry collections have not been of interest to me and I have passed on acquiring them. However, those poetry collections that initially appeared to be of interest have proven to be well worth acquiring. A link to Andrew Moorhouse's Fine Press Poetry website is given below.

http://www.finepresspoetry.com

Below are photographs of four editions (with one forthcoming edition already reserved) I have acquired, with the title and date of each volume given above the first of each group of photographs.

Overview



1. Coming Home by Andrew Motion, wood engravings by Jane Lydbury, 2015

















2. Buile Suibhne by Seán Hewitt, wood engravings by Amy Jeffs, 2021













3. Tract by Simon Armitage, paintings by Hughie O'Donnell, 2021

>1 dlphcoracl: This post is great!!! I've enjoyed the Andrew Morehouse publications that have crossed my path, but I've never delved too deeply into his work. I greatly appreciate his commitment to fine presswork and poetry. Do you know if he prints and/or binds his publications himself, or does he hire others? If so, do you know who?

>2 grifgon:

As mentioned above, all of the skilled letterpress printing is done by John Grice of Evergreen Press. Moorhouse does not do his own binding, which is outsourced to a variety of binderies within the U.K. Moorhouse is primarily responsible for the concepts, i.e., specific poet and theme, the book design in conjunction with John Grice, choice of illustrator, and coordinating the publication.

>3 dlphcoracl: Aha! How'd I miss that (in Andrew's prospectus materials, and in your post)? I'm not surprised, given the quality I've seen. John Grice is certainly among-the-if-not-the finest letterpress printers that does commissioned work.

I don't follow contemporary British poetry, so I don't have much grounding in the work Andrew publishes. Do you know if they tend to be original first editions, new editions of previously published work, or something in-between? Given our previous conversations about poetry in fine presswork, I'm happy to see this is a press that you think gets it right (as opposed to some others).

>4 grifgon:

The actual poetry collections can be divided into two camps:

1. Original material created especially for a new Fine Press Poetry edition.

2. New editions of very recently published poetry.

Andrew Moorhouse especially avoids publishing "stale" material, i.e., poetry collections that are several decades old that are now part of the well-established poetry canon. Of note, Simon Armitage is the current Poet Laureate of Great Britain while Carol Ann Duffy and Andrew Motion were former Poet Laureates. Seán Hewitt, Michael Longley and Paul Muldoon are Irish poets who are considered in the very top tier of active Irish poets.

I AM a unabashed lover of much more than 5% of the poetry out there in the world and have Eight World's Wives from Fine Press Poetry. And I'd have many more of his poetry books if I could. Thanks for showing us the ones you have dlphcoracl!

I've been meaning to blog about my book on The Whole Book Experience and maybe should bump it up to next to help bring more awareness to Moorhouse's excellent books. I did not really know Duffy's poetry before I decided to buy the book solely on the power of the illustrations. But the cake proved deserving of the ice cream!

Of additional interest.........

For anyone who wishes to further explore the work of Andrew Moorhouse and Fine Press Poetry, two video clips are linked below:

1. An 18-minute interview on the E:SF forum (English: Shared Futures ONLINE) in which Moorhouse describes his background, motivations and goals.

https://englishsharedfutures.uk/home/esf-online/small-press-podcast-fine-press-p...

2. A 5-minute YouTube clip in which Moorhouse shows images (chronologically) from 14 of his books published between 2013 to 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krSDS6KpAU

>1 dlphcoracl: Thank you for this detailed review! I have sometimes seen advertisements for the press in the London Review of Books and had wondered about its quality. I will definitely keep it in mind going forward.

>1 dlphcoracl: Thank you for this introduction to this excellent private press, which was previously unknown to me.

Following your post I have bought a copy of the deluxe edition of Buile Suibhne. This is a most successful book, well printed and with an attractive binding by the Fine Book Bindery (the lining of the slipcase is a nice touch), and with those striking wood engravings by Amy Jeffs. I will definitely be keeping an eye on the future publications from this press.

>9 edgeworn:

If you are enjoying your copy of Buile Suibhne, I would also give this forthcoming book strong consideration:

http://www.finepresspoetry.com/grimoire---robin-and-tim-robertson.html

Andrew Moorhouse is quite excited this edition and FWIW I have already reserved one of the deluxe copies.

>11 the_bb: Buile Suibhne was produced this year, so I believe that they must have been operating into 2021. As you say, they now appear to be part of AMR Logan Press (but state that bookbinding business continues as usual - see https://www.finebinding.co.uk ).

The list of projects on the finebinding web site does appear to be out of date however. Perhaps they are more interested in binding books than maintaining the web site.

>10 dlphcoracl: Good suggestion about reserving a copy of Grimoire. I have just done the same.

>1 dlphcoracl: thank you so much for posting this. I had no idea that 'LibraryThing' existed and that kind customers were writing so positively about my efforts.

I very much appreciate this. Thank you.

>3 dlphcoracl: thank you - yes, when I started doing this I had no background in publishing, printing or binding but I was inspired by some of the books in my collection in particular the efforts of William B Ewert who was a librarian in New Hampshire who published the work of John Updike, Raymond Carver and Seamus Heaney amongst others.

Thanks again - I've actually only worked with Patrick Roe's team at the Fine Book Bindery who have done all my binding work.

When I started John Grice did all the design work though, as my experience has increased, I do have more input and ideas.

>8 mnmcdwl: thank you. I've got a number of other publications currently 'in the works'. I do believe, and many of my regular customers appear to have the same opinion, that my publications are of a very high quality. I hope you get chance to give one a try in the not too distant future. Best wishes. Andrew

>11 the_bb: Hello, yes, the bindery is still very much in existence and they will be working on my next publications. Best wishes. Andrew

>8 mnmcdwl:

With John Grice doing all of the letterpress printing and Fine Book Bindery doing the bindings, the quality of these editions is assured. This is high-end private press work.

What you will not fully appreciate until you acquire one or two books is the value proposition. These editions are excellent values and are modestly priced for this level of quality. The vast majority will cost about $110 to $130 for books containing substantial poetry, typically 50 to 100 pages length.

>17 AJMoorhouse: >19 dlphcoracl: Thank you both! I will definitely be reviewing the current and upcoming publications in more detail.

Inspired by the kind comments of contributors I've updated the video of my publications to add this year's efforts. The video is on YouTube and can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEYcx5Biwnk

Even if you don't like to video the music, Dvorak's American, is very nice.

>21 AJMoorhouse: That was really nice!

>21 AJMoorhouse:

Lovely! Lovely! Lovely!

If a private press book collector cannot appreciate the quality of John Grice's presswork, he/she should find another collecting interest.

>21 AJMoorhouse: Any plans of doing Simon Armitage's Iliad? and Odyssey?

2 weeks ago a found a deluxe edition of Coming Home in a bookshop online. Just what I was looking for and I promptly paid up and waited the suggested 10 working days before enquiring about my purchase. Alas, yesterday they emailed to say they don’t have the book and will refund my money. How disappointing.

>25 paulm16: Hello, I do have one 'standard' copy of Coming Home still available if that would interest you? with thanks.

>24 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: I don't think so Praveenna - I think that the rights to those would, for me be prohibitively expensive.

>22 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: thank you

>23 dlphcoracl: thank you

>26 AJMoorhouse: That sounds great, thank you.
I will email direct but it may be tomorrow as I am out and about this evening.

>26 AJMoorhouse: I just noticed that you are at Ludlow this weekend. I will be there on Sunday if that works for you

>31 paulm16: That's great - yes, I'll be there

This thread has been dozing for a year, and I'm pleased to wake it up by mentioning two acquisitions which were out of print when the thread first made me aware of Andrew's Fine Press Poetry - thanks to the Oracle. And thanks to >6 jveezer:, who did get around to reviewing the Carol Ann Duffy book on his blog; a copy of the book has turned up as Andrew's binder has moved premises, and so to me. These poems are sharp and funny - check out the review.

The press has reached its tenth anniversary - an achievement indeed - and to celebrate Andrew has produced a pack of broadsides of the poems from his first book In memory of water by Simon Armitage, Duffy's successor as Poet Laureate. There are just thirty sets, and some are still available, unlike the original book, which is hard to find. Very nicely presented pieces of printing, and good poems.

>1 dlphcoracl: I'm a big fan of Andrew Moorhouse and his imprint. He's a great chap with a highly commendable publishing vision. I have just a handful of the editions as the poetry or illustrator aren't always my thing. My purchases have been mostly early Simon Armitage ones, although Tract, which you showed, is a more recent one that I love. The quality is always very high and the cost very reasonable. I feel his output is something that every fine press collector should have at least one example of.

>33 affle: In Memory of Water is still my favourite of Andrew's publications, and it is a great idea to celebrate the 10 year anniversary with the publication of just the poems as a series of broadsheets. I'd pick up a copy if I didn't have the original.

>34 ChestnutPress:

Poetry is such an individual thing that one never knows how he/she will respond to a poetry collection until one starts reading through it, even with the world-class poets Andrew consistently publishes. The descriptions on his website are of some help but there are still surprises. For example, Takk by Michael Symons Roberts sounded quite interesting but I did not relate to this long poem at all. Of the FPP editions in my collection, my favorite is Coming Home by Andrew Motion and it is worth seeking out. As has been previously mentioned by several others, Eight World's Wives by Carol Ann Duffy is also an outstanding collection.

Andrew's FPP editions are one of the outstanding values amongst private press books. Seriously, how can one go wrong with collections from poets of international stature in editions printed by John Grice using Centaur type on Zerkall paper?

I'm interested in both Grimoire and Skeins o Geese, both of which are forthcoming. I'll write Andrew to see if either is still available for reservation. Thanks!

>36 dlphcoracl: I agree with your thoughts on poetry being a very personal thing and that it is difficult to know whether one will like the poetry. As you've previously stated, you are not much of a poetry fan, whearas I am, so my own tastes are likely broader than yours in that respect. Even so, there are some poetry collections from Andrew that don't suit me at all. On the other side of the coin, someone not particularly disposed to poetry as yourself still find a good few to own. This shows that despite the truth of your statement about there being no guarantee of any of the publications hitting the spot, Andrew clearly does well in his choices as he manages to please both of us with a decent number of his editions. And, as you say, you can't go wrong with the high production values at that cost. Worth a punt in any fine press collector's books, I reckon! Cheers to Mr Moorhouse!

>35 ChestnutPress: Not to stray too far off topic, but if you like Hilary Paynter's work, she illustrated a very nice edition of Goblin Market from Artist's Choice Editions, printed at the Libanus Press.

>39 kermaier: Ah, Goblin Market is one of the titles I rather obsessively collect. Thanks for the lead, another onto the wishlist.

>39 kermaier: Libanus Press too, nice! Michael was a great printer

After a small production hiatus, Andrew Moorhouse's new books are starting to dispatch, and I took delivery of two today, both of strong Scottish flavour:

Grimoire by Robin Robertson, illustrated by brother Tim, and

Skeins o geese by Kathleen Jamie, illustrated by Jo Sweeting.

Grimoire is more substantial the other books I have from this imprint, and very freely illustrated - the brave attempt to draw a murmuration of starlings has been wonderfully successful. There are helpful notes on the Gaelicisms.

Jamie has long been a favourite essayist and poet for me, a wonderful writer on the natural world. She is now the makar, Scotland's laureate. These poems are drawn from her earlier books of poetry, a couple in Scots rather than English. Sweeting has illustrated the poems with woodcuts which are remarkable for their freedom and sense of movement, unusual for the medium. The book is square format, perhaps even more beautifully bound than the others I have, and a delight in every way.

>42 affle: Ha, those are the same two I have on order. Looking forward to them myself, it will be the first titles from Andrew in my collection.

I just received “Grimoire” and “Ghetto” — really beautiful productions.

Received 'A Short History of Falling' and 'Grimoire' this afternoon, both superb (as usual). The abstract metal engravings by German artist Maribel Mas (Leipzig) printed in olive green colour hit the perfect notes. 'Grimoire' hits all the right notes for me as well - substantial text in an area of interest (folklore and fable) with perfectly paired semi-abstract illustrations. Holding all of this together is the flawless and consistent letterpress printing from John Grice of Evergreen Press.

Just received Skeins o Geese (lettered C) and Grimoire (lettered B). There are my first acquisitions from Fine Press Poetry and I'm delighted with not just the contents, but with the quality of the books. The printing of both the text and the illustrations are superb, and the bindings are first rate. These are some of the finest small press books I've acquired. I'm a bit amazed that Andrew can let them go at the price he does. Even if poetry isn't your thing, I think a fine press collection benefits from at least one of this press's titles.

Hello

I'm very grateful for the support I receive from happy customers of my editions.

Whilst my publishing is a hobby for me I do try to maintain extremely high standards. To do this I work with excellent poets, artists, printers and bookbinders.

My initial motivation for my publishing was a quote from American author John Updike on receiving the 1998 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters published in a pamphlet called 'Of Prizes and Print' https://www.nationalbook.org/john-updike-accepts-the-1998-medal-for-distinguishe...

In the quote Updike says "We assembled here should rejoice in our venerable product; a book is beautiful in its relation to the human hand, to the human eye, to the human brain, and to the human spirit."

Just as a reminder - my website is http://www.finepresspoetry.com

Best wishes to all.

>47 AJMoorhouse: Keep up the goodness, Andrew!!

>36 dlphcoracl: commenting on an old post, appreciate the input on Takk - I really like the binding and the art but the few snippets of poetry don't jump out for me and your comment makes me think I may be better served looking at another work, perhaps Grimoire or Skeins o Geese.

>49 LBShoreBook:

This was a major disappointment. The book design and illustrations are outstanding but the long poem didn’t register with me at all. I couldn’t understand what the poet was trying to convey and it was needlessly obscure. I no longer own it.

I've lately received 'A short history of falling' - hat-tip >45 dlphcoracl:, as so often - to my great satisfaction. I voted for Oswald as the Oxford Professor of Poetry, but had previously overlooked this book of hers in Andrew's catalogue. The illustrations are particularly striking, and very well done.

Andrew is taking reservations for a new book: Dog Show, with poems by former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins and watercolours by Pamela Sztybel. Details on his website, linked in >47 AJMoorhouse: above.

>49 LBShoreBook: I've had both titles for a while now, and would recommend either - or indeed, both

Newsletter out from Andrew with more info on the recently released Winter Heliotrope and the forthcoming Birds & Flowers. Also from the newsletter is an update on short stock:

I'm now quite low on copies of the following books;

Skeins o Geese - Kathleen Jamie with woodcuts by Jo Sweeting (image above)
Buile Suibhne - Seán Hewitt with wood engravings by Amy Jeffs (one copy left)
A Short Story of Falling - Alice Oswald with metal engravings by Maribel Mas (one standard copy and one presentation copy left)
Metamorphoses - Michael Longley with drawings by Sarah Longley
70 Notices - Simon Armitage with a frontispiece wood engraving by David Roberston

I have both Skeins o Geese and Buile Suibhne and can strongly recommend them. The latter is of especial interest both for its artistry and its mythopoeic aspect. Winter Heliotrope is a gorgeous work as well and nearly sold out, with the remaining copies being offered at an exhibition of the book's artwork (https://events.cromwellplace.com/events/cromwellplace/1147464).