About Manderley Press
As I've remarked before one of the things I like about reading is the part serendipity plays and, like Persephone Books, my discovery of Manderley Press came about that way too. In this case it was because I'm a great fan of Tom Gauld, a cartoonist who produces work for a variety of publications but, in particular, New Scientist and The Guardian. He also created the best dog cartoon ever, which sadly I don't own a copy of so I won't post here.
Anyway he mentioned on his BlueSky account (which I follow on Mastodon via a bridge, long story) that he had done the cover for an edition by Manderley Press of "Woman Alive" by Susan Ertz, so I wandered over to their web site for a look.
It's a family business and on the about page the owner describes her rationale:
My name is Rebeka and as you can probably tell, I am a fan of vintage books, old houses, talented authors, beautiful bookshops, dusty libraries, bright flowers, fabulous prints and awe-inspiring art and design.
For many years I have worked in bookshops, publishing houses and museums, learning about what makes a publication both beautiful and interesting. The outside of a book should be as alluring as its interior, and that is why I have set up Manderley Press — to give new covers and new introductions (by the very best writers and artists) to titles that have been forgotten about … and then reintroduce them to a brand new audience.
If this reminds you of Persephone Books then yup, me too. Bringing older books back into print in new editions where the physicality of the book itself is a big part of the design, as is the whole purchasing experience.
So I ordered "Woman Alive" and this package soon came through the letterbox.
Full marks for being stoutly packaged and also for the sticker which was just ... nice. And inside I found this; the book wrapped in dark pink paper, with a red ribbon, a bookmark and a postcard.
The imagery was clearly Tom's and, as you'll see in a moment, the postcard was the cover of the book. Talking of the postcard on the back it had this note which was a nice touch and all part of the feeling that that this was a purchasing experience.
Getting to the book itself unlike Persephone these are hardbacks and here's the covers and spine of the book I bought. The spine and the inner 20% of both covers is red cloth which gives the book a nice feel in the hand.
It's also not big considering it's a hardback, being the same size as a modern paperback, so 8" × 5.25", which I like. If I have one objection to most hardbacks it is that they're a bit big in the hand.
Oh, and in closing I should mention that Rebeka also included in the package bookmarks for some of her other books ... and you can't have too many bookmarks.
It also gives me a hint that I should perhaps be buying some more of her books.
