IWM Arts and Literature series

[Dust Jacket Collector]

In 1990 the Imperial War Museum started producing a series of Facsimile reprints of Wartime classics. According to the preface these were intended to generate funds for their book conservation efforts (I rather doubt if they bother any more!). I believe they were printed in limited editions of around 300 copies. I’m just wondering if anyone knows how many different titles there were and for how long the series went on.

I have a couple of them. Owen’s poems was the first one and I think Rosenberg’s ‘Moses’ was the second. Vera Brittain’s ‘Verses of a V.A.D.’ was no.8

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

book conservation efforts

 

== The nearest skip hire to Duxford.

Seriously- DJC-Can you give the series title accurately?- A series might be catalogued as a periodical by our major libraries.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

== The nearest skip hire to Duxford.

Seriously- DJC-Can you give the series title accurately?- A series might be catalogued as a periodical by our major libraries.

On the title page of the Wilfred Owen it simply says ‘Arts and Literature Series Number 1’. I’ve tried putting that into Google but with no useful outcome. I’ve a vague idea that Max Plowman’s ‘Subaltern on the Somme’ may have been part of the series.

The jacket on the Owen looks remarkably like the original. Bearing in mind a point made in another thread maybe I should slip it onto my original and increase its value by around £10,000!

[keithmroberts]

Just identified a couple by using Via Libri to search on the publisher only, and have quickly bought number 123 of the fifth volume  Rupert Brooke's Death and Burial,

 

Keith

 

 

[Black Maria]

I had 'Blasting and Bombardiering ' by Wyndham Lewis and 'Roads to Glory' by Richard Aldington , both in facsimile jackets which i sold once i found

the originals . I still have ' The Diary of a Dead Officer ' by Arthur Graeme West ( 3rd in the series ) which hasn't got a jacket but replicates the original cloth

design ( isn't numbered unlike the previous two ) . I also still have ' A Subaltern on the Somme ' ( 9th in the series ) which was numbered and has a 

facsimile jacket . The two previous titles mentioned in West's Book are 1. 'Poems' by Wilfred Owen and 2. 'Moses' by Isaac Rosenberg 

Edited 30 March , 2021 by Black Maria

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Thanks John. Here are the ones I’ve identified so far :-

1 - Poems by Wilfred Owen

2 - Moses by Isaac Rosenberg

3 - Diary of a Dead Officer by A.G.West

4 - In Retreat by Herbert Read

5 - Death and Burial of Rupert Brooke

6 - Blasting and Bombadiering by Wyndham Lewis

7 - Roads to Glory by Richard Aldington

8 - Verses of a V.A.D. by Vera Brittain 

9 - A Subaltern on the Somme by Max Plowman

10 - Poems by Edward Thomas

11 - The Patriot’s Progress by Henry Williamson

25? - How I Filmed the War by Geoffrey Malins

 

Not sure that the last one can be 25 as I’ve found no mention of any of the in-between volumes. Surprised they didn’t put jackets on nos. 3 & 25 - a trip to the Bodlean would have provided examples.

[Black Maria]

Well done Alan , seeing your list I've realised i have also got No 4 'In Retreat' . No jacket or number , the front replicates the original .

[Black Maria]

One other small point i noticed , all my copies have been exact reproductions of the originals but their 'Subaltern on the Somme 'edition 

( pub 1996 ) has a slightly different jacket , although the cloth underneath is exact . 

[ilkley remembers]

Always been intrigued by the art work on the cover of 'A subaltern on the Somme'

[Dust Jacket Collector]

7 hours ago, Black Maria said:

One other small point i noticed , all my copies have been exact reproductions of the originals but their 'Subaltern on the Somme 'edition 

( pub 1996 ) has a slightly different jacket , although the cloth underneath is exact . 

 

 

That’s interesting. I used the same font as on the original ‘Subaltern’ for all the main headings on my website but when I upload it it defaults to the one you generally see. Maybe they had a similar problem?

[Black Maria]

25 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

That’s interesting. I used the same font as on the original ‘Subaltern’ for all the main headings on my website but when I upload it it defaults to the one you generally see. Maybe they had a similar problem?

Yes , could be . Also it may have something to do with it being printed in the U.S.A as it was jointly published with the Battery Press whereas the others were printed 

in England ( reproduced by Antony Rowe Ltd and bound by Cedric Chivers ) .

[seaJane]

On 30/03/2021 at 12:36, Dust Jacket Collector said:

25? - How I Filmed the War by Geoffrey Malins

Jisc Libraryhub record for this has it as no.6 in a different series, IWM Facsimile reprint series / jointly with the Battery Press Great War series.

[KernelPanic]

On 31/03/2021 at 01:25, ilkley remembers said:

Always been intrigued by the art work on the cover of 'A subaltern on the Somme'

 

Field Punishment Number One?

[ilkley remembers]

6 hours ago, KernelPanic said:

 

Field Punishment Number One?

 

The carriage wheel would certainly suggest that humiliating form of punishment. The pose of the man attached to the wheel with head bowed. arms pinned on the horizontal and legs bent at the knee could also suggest a crucifixion. I presume that the artist and publisher may have wanted to portray something along these lines when they decided upon the image for the cover.

 

Mark VII aka Mark/Max Plowman had an interesting career in the latter stages of the war when he was famously court martialled for refusing to return to the front. Subsequently he wrote a rather strange and difficult to read book called 'War and the Creative Impulse' which is a sort of religious/philosophical justification of his wartime actions and committment to pacifism