Scope and Contents
The Vine Press was the private press of John Peters (1917-1989) and Peter Foster (1919-2010) in the village of Hemingford Grey near Cambridge. From 1957 to 1963 the Press produced six books and a few ephemera. The business was run by Peters, and the archive consists mostly of his files. These cover all the books and prospectuses, and most of the ephemera, with trial settings, layouts, proofs, and much correspondence with authors and suppliers; as well as almost all the wood-engraved blocks, photo-mechanical transfers ('process blocks'), and etched plates used for their illustrations. There is also correspondence concerning book projects that were abandoned. Other papers include general correspondence and business papers.
Dates
- Creation: 1956-1971
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Extent
1 collection (7 boxes, 1 oversize)
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Provenance: Sothebys sale 7 Oct. 1968 (lots 262-271) to Rota - the School of Librarianship at Loughborough Technical College - Bloomsbury Book Auctions sale 6 Oct. 1988 to Check Books - Trevor Weston. (See The Private Library 6:2 (2003), 69-71.) A few papers were added when the archive was at Loughborough: see items A8/8, B2/4, B4/3-5.
Bibliography
Subject
- Vine Press (Organization)
- Dreyfus, John, 1918-2002 (typographer and printer) (Person)
- Foster, John Peter, 1919-2010 (Surveyor of Westminster Abbey) (Person)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom
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all other enquiries: mss@lib.cam.ac.uk