# Nonesuch Press > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nonesuch_Press > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nonesuch_Press.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonesuch_Press > Source revision: 1338938323 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English publishing company For other similar names, see [Nonesuch (disambiguation)](/source/Nonesuch_(disambiguation)). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 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(July 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) **Nonesuch Press** was a [private press](/source/Private_press) founded in 1922 in [London](/source/London) by [Francis Meynell](/source/Francis_Meynell), his second wife [Vera Mendel](/source/William_Mendel#Family), and their mutual friend [David Garnett](/source/David_Garnett),[1] co-owner of Birrell & Garnett's bookshop in [Soho](/source/Soho)'s [Gerrard Street](/source/Gerrard_Street%2C_London), in the basement of which the press began.[2] ## History *The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll* Nonesuch Press, 1940, page 186 Nonesuch Press's first book, a volume of [John Donne](/source/John_Donne)'s *Love Poems* was issued in May 1923. In total, the press produced more than 140 books. The press was at its peak in the 1920s and 1930s, but continued operating until the mid-1960s. During the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, Meynell ceded control of the press to George Macy, founder and owner of the Limited Editions Club. In the early 1950s, however, Meynell united with the owner of [The Bodley Head](/source/The_Bodley_Head), [Max Reinhardt](/source/Max_Reinhardt_(publisher)), and resumed control of Nonesuch. During the final years of the press's existence its remit was extended to include editions of classic children's books, such as [E. Nesbit](/source/E._Nesbit)'s *[The Treasure Seekers](/source/The_Story_of_the_Treasure_Seekers)* and [Andrew Lang's fairy tales](/source/Andrew_Lang's_Fairy_Books) (these formed part of the press's Cygnet impression). Nonesuch was unusual among private presses in that it used a small [hand press](/source/Printing_press) to design books (an [Albion press](/source/Albion_press)),[2] but had them printed by commercial [printers](/source/Printer_(publisher)): for example, the [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham)-based [Kynoch Press](/source/Kynoch_Press).[3] The purpose of this method was to produce book designs with the quality of a fine-press but available to a wider audience at lower prices. Meynell also wanted to demonstrate that "mechanical means could be made to serve fine ends."[4] He believed that the production of exquisitely designed and produced books was not the preserve of the private press predicated upon the example established by [William Morris](/source/William_Morris)'s [Kelmscott Press](/source/William_Morris#The_Kelmscott_Press), which emphasized the primacy of the handpressed book. Among the press's best-known editions were the collected works of [William Congreve](/source/William_Congreve_(playwright)) and [William Wycherley](/source/William_Wycherley), and translations of [Miguel de Cervantes](/source/Miguel_de_Cervantes) and [Dante](/source/Dante_Alighieri). A number of illustrated editions were also produced. Nonesuch's editions are prized by collectors; particularly rare and well-designed editions can sell for more than £1000 ($1774 U.S.).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] In November 2005 [Barnes & Noble](/source/Barnes_%26_Noble) issued reprints of the Nonesuch editions of [Charles Dickens](/source/Charles_Dickens)'s novels, including *[Bleak House](/source/Bleak_House)*, *[Great Expectations](/source/Great_Expectations)* and *[Hard Times](/source/Hard_Times_(novel))*, the Christmas Books, *[David Copperfield](/source/David_Copperfield_(novel))*, *[Oliver Twist](/source/Oliver_Twist)*, and *[Nicholas Nickleby](/source/Nicholas_Nickleby)*. A second set of reissues was released in November 2008, including *[A Tale of Two Cities](/source/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities)*, *[Martin Chuzzlewit](/source/Martin_Chuzzlewit)* and *[Little Dorrit](/source/Little_Dorrit)*. Nonesuch editions of Dickens's novels have also been republished by [Duckworth](/source/Gerald_Duckworth_and_Company_Ltd) in the UK. ## Week-End books *The Week-End Book* was a single volume anthology of general reading designed for a weekend away in a cottage or on a boat. It was first published by the Nonesuch Press in June 1924 and was its best selling title.[5] The first half of the book contained an anthology of English poetry. Sales exceeded 100,000 copies within the first seven years. It continued to prove extremely popular and was reprinted in England 34 times up until 2006, sometime in facsimile.[6] The 1938 edition was reissued in paperback by Penguin Books (nos. 129 & 130).[7] Each *Week-End Book* contained works of fiction and non-fiction in small articles that could be read in moments of leisure, and included a wide range of subjects including poetry, religious works, songs, jokes, games and recipes,[8] An American edition was added later.[9] It was designed for a [middle brow](/source/Middlebrow) reader who wanted a wide range of cultural topics but never to go in too deep. [Virginia Woolf](/source/Virginia_Woolf) once commented about the books, "The [Hogarth Press](/source/Hogarth_Press) may not make any money but at least we did not publish *The Week-End Book*." ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Knorr_1-0)** Miranda Knorr. ["The Nonesuch Press: A Product of Determination"](http://kalamalkapress.com/bookexhibit/nonesuch.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131103091548/http://kalamalkapress.com/bookexhibit/nonesuch.html) 3 November 2013 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). An Exhibit of Rare Books at the Okanagan College Library; unavailable 14 Dec. 2021. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Dearden92_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Dearden92_2-1) James A. Dearden, ["Nonesuch Press"](https://books.google.com/books?id=5D_TCESmm5AC&dq=%22kynoch+press%22+%22nonesuch+press%22&pg=PA93), in [Allen Kent](/source/Allen_Kent), Harold Lancour, Jay E. Daily (eds), *Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 20*, New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1977, p. 92. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["The Kynoch Press"](http://www.typographichub.org/research/entry/kynoch-press-project/), The Typographic Hub. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Francis Meynell, "Personal element", in [Symons, A. J. A.](/source/A._J._A._Symons), Francis Meynell and Desmond Flower, *The Nonesuch Century: an appraisal, a personal note and a bibliography of the first hundred books issued by the Press, 1923-1934* (London: Nonesuch Press, 1936), p. 43]. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Do It Yourself Fun, 1920s Style"](https://www.nypl.org/blog/2010/03/03/do-it-yourself-fun-1920s-style). *The New York Public Library*. Retrieved 30 September 2019. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["How to sing round the campfire (and other weekend tips)"](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-to-sing-round-the-campfire-and-other-weekend-tips-307085.html). *The Independent*. 20 August 2005. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-to-sing-round-the-campfire-and-other-weekend-tips-307085.html) from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2019. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [The week-end book](https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?q=%22week-end%20book%22%20penguin&rn=8); Jisc library hub Discover 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Object of the Week: The Week-End Book"](https://www.anthonyburgess.org/object-of-the-week/object-week-week-end-book/). *The International Anthony Burgess Foundation*. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2019. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** MONTAGU, ASHLEY (1983). "The Nonesuch Press". *The Princeton University Library Chronicle*. **44** (2): 127–134. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/26402244](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F26402244). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0032-8456](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0032-8456). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [26402244](https://www.jstor.org/stable/26402244). ## Further reading - [Dreyfus, John](/source/John_Dreyfus). *A History of the Nonesuch Press* (Cambridge University Press, 1981) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0370303970](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0370303970) - Meynell, Francis. *My Lives* (The Bodley Head, 1971) - Rogerson, Ian. *Sir Francis Meynell and the Nonesuch Press* (1979) - Rogerson, Ian. *Sir Francis Meynell Designer Extraordinary* (1992) - [Waugh, Arthur](/source/Arthur_Waugh) (et al.) *The Nonesuch Dickens: Retrospectus and Prospectus* (1937) ## External links - James A. Dearden, ["Nonesuch Press"](https://books.google.com/books?id=5D_TCESmm5AC&dq=%22kynoch+press%22+%22nonesuch+press%22&pg=PA93), in Allen Kent, Harold Lancour, Jay E. Daily (eds), *Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 20*, New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1977, pp. 91–100. Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF National United States Israel Other IdRef Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nonesuch Press](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonesuch_Press) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonesuch_Press?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.