An Inventory and A History of the Quince Tree Press to mark its 21st Year and the sale of its 500,000th small book.
This tall book of 24 pages lists most of the small books that Carr had published to date with a number in parentheses, presumably indicating the number of editions printed. Also listed are the picture books, the dictionaries (with the number of reprints); the maps (with editions); the six novels that had been published so far (with laudatory sentences extracted from reviews); the children's schoolbooks; the commissioned celebratory cards and county map souvenir cards; and the inflammatory evangelical tracts
.
Carr also reproduced in the book a short article that had appeared in House & Garden
in 1973; an article by himself entitled Publishing in a shoe-box
from The Bookseller, published in about 1978; an article by the critic and author David Taylor from The London Magazine in 1981 entitled This side of Dover
; and his own article on publishing called A double life in literature
which was published in The Author in 1983.
This book dates the establishment of Carr's press as 1966. He published his first small book, the poetry of John Clare in 1964, but all others probably date from 1966 onwards.
This is the only small book published by Carr that names The Quince Tree Press: he usually just gave his name and address either as text or in a colophon.
Only three libraries have been found to have copies: University of Leeds, U.K.; Arizona State University Library, U.S.A; and the University of Melbourne, Australia.
(Last updated on 23/11/2020)
Publisher: J.L. Carr Publisher, 27 Mill Dale Road, Kettering
Year: August 1987
ISBN: None
Size: 200 x 98 mm
Pages: 24 pp
Staples: 2
Binding: printed card covers
Paper: white
Artist: J.L. Carr
Price: none stated
Printed by: none stated
Notes: Carr listed some small books that were in preparation, but are not known to have been produced:
Poetry: Arthur Clough and Coventry Patmore; Robert Bridges
Inflamatory evangelical tracts: The Great Civil War
, The Wars of the Roses
and Lettered and Unlettered Freedom Fighters
Rear and front covers
Carr announced his next novel, What Hetty Did, thus:
To mark this year, I shall risk publishing this [perhaps my final novel] myself. Perhaps in paperback and, to minimise inevitable loss, only a few hundred copies.
It was his penultimate novel and he printed and sold 2,850 copies in a first edition priced £3.95, quickly followed by a second impression of 3,000 copies priced at £4.95.
The invitation card Carr sent to people to celebrate the launch of the History of the QTP, in September 1987
Size: 107 x 145 mm
Invitation