Near-Complete Collection of T. N. Foulis Press Books to Auction

Lyon & Turnbull

The T. N. Foulis books coming to auction

More than 1,000 books fom the Edinburgh-based T. N. Foulis publishing house will go under the hammer at Lyon & Turnbull this week.

T. N. Foulis was founded in 1903, although the Foulis family had been publishers since the 18th century, and became known for its illustrated fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and gift books with high production values and contributions from important artists including Jessie M. King, Hannah MacGoun and Walter Crane.

Many of the books going under the hammer feature these Foulis hallmarks, such as colored buckram or vellum binding, tipped-in color plates, Auriol typeface, and rose-watermarked paper with rough cut edges.

Highlights of the sale which have an estimate of £4,000 - £6,000 include:

  • Letters of John Keats, 1908
  • Edward Bannerman Ramsay, Reminiscences of Scottish Life & Character, (no date)
  • Charles St John, Wild Sports & Natural History of the Highlands, 1919
  • Frank Brangwyn, illustrator, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 1919
  • Robert Burns, The Songs & Poems, 1912

T. N. Foulis also published a series of poetry booklets known as Envelope Books, partly as a substitute for Christmas cards, with colour plate illustrations and original commissioned artists of the period. Among those are:

  • Various envelope booklets designed by Jessie M. King (including The Dream of Gerontius, A Little Book of Sundial Mottoes, and The Blessed Damozel)
  • Okakura Kakuzo, The Book of Tea, 1919
  • R.W Billings, The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, 1908