Little is known of Ulric Daubeny (1888-1922) who published his single slim volume of ghost stories in 1919, The Elemental: Tales of the Supernatural and the Inexplicable (George Routledge & Sons). The stories are of especial interest to those who follow the development of the traditional English ghost story from the Victorian and Edwardian eras through the present day. Daubeny’s stories are well-wrought pieces that are interesting to read for their portrayal of period morays and architectural environments. The first edition barely exists anymore in physical form; there are only 4 institutional holdings worldwide and only 1 known copy, which is rebound, in a private collection. I saw one once in the regular stacks at a university library. If it is still there, it might be the only copy with the original illustrated wrappers intact. A friend and I tried to convince the director of that library to deaccession the book to us, so that we could insure its preservation, but he would not do so. Our pleas to have the book moved to their Special Collections department were also rebuffed. I enjoyed the book while I had the chance, but to read its brittle pages was to further destroy it. “The Sumach” is the only one of Daubeny’s stories to gain a significant readership, having been reprinted several times, most notably in Richard Dalby’s Dracula’s Brood (Crucible, 1987) and Cemetery Dance’s The Century’s Best Horror Fiction (2012). A full-volume reprint of the collection done in 2006 by the now defunct Ash-Tree Press has somehow come to be almost unattainable as well. The fictional work of Daubeny is difficult for readers to find.
Fewer than 65 copies are here printed from hand-set Perpetua types on dampened Velata Wove and Japanese handmade Iyo glazed papers. 5 copies on handmade paper are bound in Bridget O’Malley’s Walnut Krinkle flax covers and contained in a drop spine box, covered also in the Walnut Krinkle as well as marbled papers by G. wineman from a decades old reserve. 27 copies on Velatya Wove are sewn by long-stitch into University of Iowa Center for the Book pc4 flax papercase wrappers with a foredge enclosure secured by a coconut shell button engraved with the Sutton Hoo Press stag as a nod to the beginnings of the press. 17 copies on Velata Wove are wrapped in vellum. Each of the Velata Wove copies are shipped in a hard, protective polystyrene box suitable for storage.
Two Tales measures just under 5” x7” and contains 24 printed folios, or 48 pages.
Ecclesiastes, Sutton Hoo Press, 2024
SOME BACKGROUND:
In 2009, when Sutton Hoo Press delivered its Memorial Day title, Breviary by Kevin Young, two future projects stood in galleys ready for printing. Alas, that is where those projects remained for 15 years and through a few moves. Chad had to tear down his Vandercook to move to a new home for his family, a small farm in Houston, Minnesota. Space was at a premium, and there was no good place to set-up shop straight away, and before there was, another move occurred, this time to Rollingstone Township in Southeastern Minnesota. He spent several years making the distressed property in this most beautiful part of the country livable, and a few more years making it suitable for gardening and animals. About 8 years in, the press still in pieces in the old uninhabitable farmhouse, a long time subscriber to Sutton Hoo Press asked for a broadside to be printed for an event. It had been a long time, but then was a good time. The press made its way into the old fiber mill that was now the farm home, and Sutton Hoo Press was operational again.
TODAY:
And now, Sutton Hoo Press customers are about to see their collections get company! The long standing (long suffering?) forms of one project that were set 15 years ago have been printed and the binding completed. The Press is announcing its new title for May Day 2024:
Ecclesiastes, with wood engravings by Ladislav Hanka, is available for ordering beginning on May Day 2024. The book is set by hand from Joanna types with justified margins. Chapter headings in the shoulders are set from American Uncial. The paper is handmade Iyo Glazed. Fewer than 100 copies were printed of which 60 are in a limp style binding cased in a handmade Indian vegetable rush. Only 20-30 copies are cased in Bridget O’Malley’s handmade flax cover from Cave Paper. A vellum binding may be forthcoming—watch this space!
50 copies, of which 30 are available to collectors, hand set from Bembo types and printed by Chad Oness on Magnani 200gm paper and stitched into hand made flax case papers. Images by Pamela McClure.