Type & Forme

Type & Forme Rare books & manuscripts by Anke Timmermann & Mark James: antiquarian book specialists in Grantham We are open by appointment

A scene from the Fringe Festival? Not quite. Almost a century ago, the scenographer and costume-designer George Sheringh...
12/08/2026

A scene from the Fringe Festival? Not quite. Almost a century ago, the scenographer and costume-designer George Sheringham and the artist and scenographer Robert Boyd Morrison put together a lavishly illustrated volume of costume designs by both established and young British costume-designers.

How lavishly illustrated? We have collated and counted the following:

- 1 colour-printed frontispiece after William Orpen
- 44 colour-printed and 63 monochrome plates reproducing costume designs and drawings by Max Beerbohm, Edward Gordon Craig, Edmund Dulac, Claud Lovat Fraser, Laura Knight, Paul Nash, William Nicholson, Glyn Philpot, Charles Ricketts, et al.
- 4 half-tone plates of photographs of costumes by Oliver Messell
- further woodcut illustrations in the text, of which 6 full-page
- woodcut head- and tailpieces.

This specially bound, limited edition of The Robes of Thespis (1928) - our copy is no 12 of 25 - was printed on hand-made paper and has two additional colour-printed plates.

To see more images, or indeed to order, please visit our website. Link in first comment!

Flashback to our very first proper catalogue, which appeared 8 years ago! We are celebrating by recreating this experime...
08/08/2026

Flashback to our very first proper catalogue, which appeared 8 years ago! We are celebrating by recreating this experiment (followed by drinks with a slice of lime).

Happy weekend!

Who knew? Broiling indoors in the early 19th century followed the same practical and hygiene rules as BBQ-ing outdoors t...
04/08/2026

Who knew? Broiling indoors in the early 19th century followed the same practical and hygiene rules as BBQ-ing outdoors today - with some variation: as far as we know, it is no longer customary to 'rub the bars' of the grill 'with clean mutton suet'...

This fascinating insight into the Regency Era kitchen comes from William Kitchiner's The Cook's Oracle* (here the enlarged 4th edition of 1822). If this has whetted your appetite, there is much more to be discovered in its 545 pages. It is now available from our shop - details on our website (link in first comment)!

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The delightful full title - which would fall victim to the editor's desk today - is: The Cook's Oracle, Containing Receipts for Plain Cookery on the Most Economical Plan for Private Families: also, The Art of Composing the Most Simple, and the Most Highly Finished Broths, Gravies, Soups, Sauces, Store Sauces, and Flavouring Essences: The Quantity of each Article is Accurately Stated by Weight and Measure; The Whole being the Result of Actual Experiments Instituted in the Kitchen of a Physician … The Fourth Edition, to which are Added, One Hundred and Thirty New Receipts, for Pastry, Preserves, Puddings, and an Easy, Certain, and Economical Process for Preparing Pickles, by which they will be Ready in a Fortnight, and Remain Good for Years.

100 years ago, the Anglo-Belgian Union must have been busy planning the ‘Exhibition of Flemish and Belgian Art 1300-1900...
01/08/2026

100 years ago, the Anglo-Belgian Union must have been busy planning the ‘Exhibition of Flemish and Belgian Art 1300-1900’, which was to be held at the Royal Academy in London in 1927. It would go ahead under the joint patronage of King George V and Queen Mary of Great Britain, and King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.

This handsomely produced volume illustrates nearly one hundred of the works exhibited, and is now available at our shop. To see more images and for further information, please visit our website (link in first comment) or contact us!

Preview to September: Sir Joseph Banks - A Lincolnshire Botanist's Explorations! In this talk, we will focus on one of L...
30/07/2026

Preview to September: Sir Joseph Banks - A Lincolnshire Botanist's Explorations! In this talk, we will focus on one of Lincolnshire's most famous explorers and the plants he discovered on the Endeavour voyage. And we will have prints from his Florilegium - whose history we will trace - to show, too!

Watch this space for further details in due time.

Did you know that T.E. Lawrence came through Grantham (where we are located) on his motorcycle, following the Great Nort...
25/07/2026

Did you know that T.E. Lawrence came through Grantham (where we are located) on his motorcycle, following the Great North Road en route from London to Bridlington one wet night in 1934? We had not been aware - until we started research for our upcoming catalogue of rare books and prints relating to Lawrence, his life and the myths surrounding it.

Incidentally: if you would like to receive the catalogue but are not yet on our mailing list, let us know! We will then send it to you as soon as it is ready.



Photo adapted from the rear dustwrapper of Knightley and Simpson's 'The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia' (1969).

The holidays have started - time for a treat! This complete set of the first children's deluxe edition of the Harry Pott...
21/07/2026

The holidays have started - time for a treat! This complete set of the first children's deluxe edition of the Harry Potter season may just be the perfect reward for a school year well navigated (for fans of Hermione) or birthday present for those celebrating far away from friends (akin to Harry, whose birthday falls on 31 July).

This set has never been read. We hope it will go to a fan who will enjoy it for many years!

To learn more about this set, or indeed to place an order, please go to our website (link in first comment) or contact us.

’In order to have a living school of Art’, according to William Morris, ‘the public in general must be interested in Art...
18/07/2026

’In order to have a living school of Art’, according to William Morris, ‘the public in general must be interested in Art; it must be a part of their lives; something which they can no more do without than water of lighting. We must not be able to plead poverty or necessity, as we do now, as an excuse for ugliness or dirt. If we raise a building, whether it be palace, factory, or cottage, it must be a thing well understood that it must be sightly: if a railway has to be run from one place to another, it must be taken for granted that the minimum of destruction of natural beauty must be incurred, even if that should increase the expense of the line largely’.

This inspiring quote is part of an address delivered by Morris to the first cohort of students of the Birmingham Municipal School of Art in 1894. The address was, appropriately, first distributed in pamphlet form, but then edited by S.C. Cockerell for this first ‘Golden Type’ octavo edition in 1898: the type was set by the Kelmscott Press compositors, and the formes were then supplied to the Chiswick Press. This is one of 2,000 copies, here retaining the scarce and ephemeral letterpress slip with Cockerell’s address to the reader.

This volume is now available from our shop. More details - including the full description - on our website: https://www.typeandforme.com/index.php/2026/04/22/william-morris-an-address-delivered-to-students-of-the-birmingham-municipal-school-of-art-1898-1st-golden-type-octavo-ed-125/

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These beautiful William de Morgan tiles surround the fireplace at the University Women's Club, London, where Anke is a m...
15/07/2026

These beautiful William de Morgan tiles surround the fireplace at the University Women's Club, London, where Anke is a member. We often enjoy visiting for a cup of tea in between appointments in London.

William De Morgan (1839-1917) was a friend of William Morris's as well as a highly accomplished and imaginative designer of the Arts and Crafts movement in his own right. How the two men's lives intertwined and informed each other is described in fascinating detail here: https://www.demorgan.org.uk/discover/the-de-morgans/william-de-morgan/ We find this absolutely fascinating!

How did William Morris find inspiration for the Kelmscott Press’s publications? One of his first sources of knowledge ab...
11/07/2026

How did William Morris find inspiration for the Kelmscott Press’s publications? One of his first sources of knowledge about the Middle Ages was a mid-19th-century edition of 13th-century French romance. Morris translated this work before adapting some of the stories for presentation in their new Kelmscott Press guise. The most substantial of these volumes was published in 1894 comprising two stories: ‘The Tale of King Coustans Emperor of Byzance’ and ‘A Tale of Over Sea’.

We currently have this copy - a characteristically simple binding surrounding the fruits of Morris’ imagination - which was acquired by the previous owner from Henry Sotheran Ltd, the longest-established active antiquarian bookseller in England, which counted William Morris among its clients.

To read the full description (or indeed place an order), please visit our website. Link in first comment.

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Office No 4, Grantham Museum, St Peter's Hill
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NG316PY

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