Open House 2018 and Book Sales

A couple of pictures taken at this year's London Open House. The view from the 42nd Floor of The Leadenhall Building, designed by Richard Rogers and with a terrifying express lift ride on the outside of the building - impressive to be looking down on the 'Walkie Talkie'. Also Michael Ayrton's Minotaur (see earlier posts), now installed outside Salter's Hall, which was open (although I had visited it last year) - Clothworker's Hall was spectacular inside with beautiful tapestries old and new and some excellent examples of book bindings, which the company sponsors, see here. Also visited, but not pictured, The Layered Gallery in Percy Street, which was one of the places that makes Open House worthwhile.

The historic London Stone is about to be returned to its most recent site at 111 Cannon Street in this article. John Clark has written extensively on the history and folklore of the stone, for example here.

Also, a friend sent me a photo of a table display at Treadwells, which has been the best shop outlet for Netherwood, having sold over 40 copies so far.  Secret Tunnels has also sold very well there. Now down to under 50 copies for that book, so the price may start increasing.

All books also available on the shop on The Big Cartel here.

Hare & Hawthorn in Hastings has also been selling copies of Accumulator Press books and did very well during Jack in the Green, see here. Some extra copies have now been delivered to the shop. One Netherwood was shoplifted - appropriate perhaps.

Coming Up

This is pretty much it for the rest of the year, attending and doing events:

Thursday 28th August Westminster  London's Divided Selves

Saturday 13th September Newhaven  Fort Process

Saturday 20th September  London Open House

Thursday 25th September  Westminster  The Big Smoke

Friday 26th September William Burroughs, An Alien in London

Monday 29th September Komedia Brighton Syd Arthur

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th October Malmesbury Philosophytown

Saturday 15th November London Jazz Festival 2014, Servants Jazz Quarters, Dalston, Strobes and Shiver 

Friday 21st November London Jazz Festival 2014 Hedwig Mollstad Trio Club Inegales, London

Thursday 11th December Kensington Central Library Sax Rohmer Event with Phil Baker and Gary Lachman

Friday 19th December Forum, Kentish Town  Slowdive

I really hope that the Sax Rohmer book will finally emerge in the autumn.  I've made corrections to the typeset pdf file, but there's been a further delay with a redesign of the cover (how very 1970s prog rock).  Sincere apologies to anyone who's been waiting - I know there are a few out there.

Work on another book is well underway and I hope to publish it through Accumulator Press in spring or autumn next year.  I'm so excited by the cover design that I have to get the book written to go with it.

Open House in Battersea

Each year my enthusiasm for London Open House declines (too many crowds and queues and public transport in London is far more crowded than it was when I lived there) but I still manage to drag myself around a handful of places.  This year I decided to stick south of the river.  My plan to visit Battersea Power Station was stymied by meeting someone who'd just passed the massive queues, so I decided instead to revisit some old haunts (from the outside - they weren't part of Open House) namely my old school Sir Walter St John's in Battersea High Street.  Buildings still there, but no longer a state grammar school.  Hard to believe now but round the corner, at what was then called Devonshire House, we had our sixth form common room and various beautiful wood-panelled chambers at our disposal for tuition - now in private hands of course and probably worth millions.  The queue to view the house next to the old school was too long so I wandered off to the De Morgan Centre in Wandsworth.  The collection there used to be housed in Old Battersea House owned by the Forbes Foundation - in the mid-1980s they allowed me inside to see their considerable cache of Evelyn de Morgan paintings as part of the research for my thesis on the influence of Florentine painting on Edward Burne Jones and his followers.  Nice to see them once again - bottom pic Flora by Evelyn de Morgan.