Type & Forme

03/10/2026

We are celebrating the work of William Morris, who died on 3 October 1896, leaving a legacy and aesthetic that continues to inspire artists to this day.

If you are interested in Morris and his Kelmscott Press, you may enjoy seeing our catalogue 'The Private Press', featuring some of the best known fruits of Morris' labour - like The Golden Legend, pictured here - as well as some lesser-known gems related to his life and work. Link in the first comment!

02/10/2026

New sets available from our shop! From Cicognara's most important work in the definitive, enlarged and revised edition - and a very handsome vellum binding - via Samuel Pepys' Memoirs to the first edition of Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, there is much to be discovered on our website.

Explore these, and more, on our website - link in the first comment!

30/09/2026

An interesting find: this is not just any copy of T.E. Lawrence's Secret Despatches of 1939 (from the political paper The Arab Bulletin, which Lawrence had founded) - it is a copy formerly belonging to, and annotated by, a British officer who served in the Middle East during World War II.

Upon reading Lawrence’s famous ‘Twenty-Seven Articles’ – intended as a vade mecum for ‘beginners in the Arab armies’ – this reader wrote in the margin: ‘Very very good’.

To find out more about this remarkable copy and its former owner, visit our website, where this copy is now available. The link is in the first comment.

25/09/2026

We loved taking part in day 1 of the Book Festival at Wyndham Park, Grantham! We will be back tomorrow from 2-3pm for free 'Antiques Roadshow'-style book valuations. Looking forward to it!

23/09/2026

New exhibition at The Linnean Society of London! We had the pleasure of seeing 'Herbarium: Plants in a New Light' last week, and it is spectacular!

'In 2022, artist and photographer Lena Granefelt spent several days at the Linnean Society, photographing a selection of pressed plants (herbarium) sheets, from the collection of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). Lena photographed each specimen sheet using two flashes positioned behind it to provide backlighting, thereby capturing details of the flowers, leaves and stems that are not seen with the naked eye, as well as the structure of the 18th-century paper with its watermarks, laid and chain lines.

'These photographs became part of Lena's project A Linnean Collection, which was exhibited in Stockholm, before becoming a book, the English edition of which was published last year:The Hidden Stories of The Linnaean Herbarium (2025).'

Reuniting these photographs with Linnaeus's herbarium specimens, this is a free and wonderful exhibition, open Tuesdays to Fridays 10am-5pm. Highly recommended!

19/09/2026

One of T.E. Lawrence's personal followers in Arabia, Hameid abu Jabir was recruited because (Lawrence explained) ‘in view of the new importance of the Hauran, there was need for us to learn its dialect, the construction and jealousies of its clan-framework, and its names and roads'. Hameid abu Jabi was among those who 'would teach me their home-affairs imperceptibly, as we rode on business, chatting’.

This is one of 225 limited edition prints published by the Castle Hill Press from Kennington's portraits for Seven Pillars of Wisdom. To see more, follow here, or visit the online gallery of our bookshop. Link in first comment!

18/09/2026

Come and see us present (Friday, 2pm) and do live valuations (Saturday, 2pm) at the inaugural Wyndham Park Book Club Book Festival!

If you are curious about the value of a book you own - whether inherited, bought, or given as a gift - you can apply to have your book featured in Saturday's valuation session! Just email Alison Lewis [email protected] to request the application details. Submissions received by this coming Wednesday will be considered!��Many thanks for Alison Lewis and her team! See you there?

📚Could your bookshelf be hiding a hidden gem?

As part of the Wyndham Park Book Club Festival, we’re inviting local book lovers to send in details of their books for the chance to have them valued by Type & Forme.

Whether it’s an old favourite, a family heirloom or a book you’ve picked up over the years, you could discover it’s worth more than you think!

📩 To take part, email details of your book to [email protected] by Wednesday 23rd September.

Find out more about the Book Club Festival and the weekend’s literary fun below 👇

https://ow.ly/zh2v50ZOmS6

18/09/2026

Inspired by today's start to the T.E. Lawrence Society's Symposium, we have the pleasure to introduce the men who worked alongside Lawrence in Arabia through Eric Kennington's portraits.

According to Lawrence, Alayan ‘was our most excellent informant in the War'. His expression shows more of his history though. Alayan was 'looked down upon by his fellows because he took money for his work. He lost the money in a bad trading venture after the armistice, and now without either friends or substance must serve as a donkey-boy where he once walked free. His face shows his sense of the broken world about him: but when he was sent for to be drawn he ran home and put on his best clothing'.

This is one of 225 limited edition prints published by the Castle Hill Press from Kennington's portraits for Seven Pillars of Wisdom. To see more, follow here, or visit the online gallery of our bookshop. Link in first comment!

15/09/2026

Did you miss our Joseph Banks talk and exhibition? Would like to learn more about these beautiful prints from Banks' Florilegium?

Watch this space for further information - or contact us (preferably by email) to be among the first to see the catalogue once it is ready!

11/09/2026

If you have missed our Joseph Banks talk today, visit our pop-up exhibition at Grantham Museum tomorrow!

Some beautiful engravings from Banks' Florilegium will be on display, and we (Mark and Anke) will be there all day for conversation.

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Free selling exhibition at Grantham Museum, Saturday 12 September, from 11am-4pm. We look forward to seeing you there!