{{Short description|British publisher, artist (1883–1967)}} {{for|the English cricketer|Thomas Balston (cricketer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} [[File:Thomas Balston in 1921 by Mark Gertler.jpg|thumbnail|''Thomas Balston''. Mark Gertler, oil on canvas, 1921. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.]] '''Thomas Balston''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|MC}} (30 July 1883 – 4 October 1967)<ref name="Who's Who 1969, p. 144">Who's Who, 1968-1969, A. & C. Black, 1968, p. 144</ref> was a director of the publishers Duckworth and Co., and a noted scholar of English book production and illustration.<ref>[http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/objects/paintings/WA1968.21.php Mark Gertler (1891 - 1939)] Ashmolean Museum, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.</ref><ref name=Louis>[http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Balston,Thomas.html Collection Title: Thomas Balston Papers, 1946-1948] Rare Book Literary & Historical Papers at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.</ref> He was also an amateur painter, having studied under Mark Gertler.<ref name="Who 1962, p. 29">Who's Who in Art, vol. 14, The Art Trade Press Ltd, 1962, p. 29</ref>
==Early years and education== Balston was born at Bearsted House, Bearsted, Kent, fourth son of University College, Oxford-educated<ref>{{alox2|title=Balston, William Edward}}</ref> William Edward Balston and Emily Julia (née Whitehead).<ref name="Who's Who 1969, p. 144"/><ref name="Who 1962, p. 29"/> The Balston family had been paper-makers since the 18th century, entering business with the Whatman paper-making family. Their success in business led to social prominence and the Balstons were regarded as being amongst the gentry of their county.<ref>Walford's County Families of the United Kingdom, 52nd edition, ed. Edward Walford, Spottiswoode & Co., 1912, p. 1229</ref><ref>William Balston, paper maker, 1759-1849, Thomas Balston, Methuen & Co., Ltd, 1954, pp. vii, viii, 171</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap12072/w-r-balston-ltd | title=W & R Balston Ltd | Science Museum Group Collection }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1086282| title = Former Rag Room at Springfield Mill, Non Civil Parish - 1086282, Historic England}} </ref> His paternal great-uncle was Rev. Edward Balston, headmaster of Eton from 1862 to 1868.<ref>Dr Balston at Eton, Thomas Balston, Macmillan, 1952, p. ix</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/4th-april-1952/42/an-eton-headmaster | title=An Eton Headmaster » 4 Apr 1952 » the Spectator Archive }}</ref>
Balston was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford.<ref>{{alox2|title=Balston, Thomas}}</ref> Before being called to the bar in 1909, he served as tutor to Count Gianbattista Spaletti and his brother Count Cesare Spaletti in Italy. From 1912 to 1914, he was secretary to the publisher T. Fisher Unwin.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma/collection/b/ba30-001 | title=King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : BALSTON, Maj Thomas (1883-1967) }}</ref>
==Military career== Balston was awarded the Military Cross<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29886|page=30|date=29 December 1916|supp=y}}</ref> and an O.B.E. by 1940, at which time he was a Major on the Army's General List,<ref>Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in Cambridgeshire, Andrew Ellis et al, Public Catalogue Foundation, 2006, pg 207</ref><ref>Supplement to the London Gazette 26 April 1940, pg 2463- https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34837/supplement/2463/data.pdf</ref> having served during the First World War with the 12th Gloucestershire Regiment in France and Belgium from 1914 to 1919, as a staff captain with the 96th Infantry Brigade from 1915 to 1917, and as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General to the 3rd Division and 3rd Brigade from 1917 to 1918 and 1918 to 1919 respectively. His service in the Second World War came to an end when he was invalided out after three months due to suffering from pneumonia, having been called to Southern Command as a staff captain.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}
==Book illustration== At Duckworth from 1921 to 1934, Balston promoted the work of English wood engravers. He produced several books on the history of the subject.
==Death== Balston died in 1967. He bequeathed his collection of pictures, drawings, and prints to The Art Fund, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum and other public institutions in Britain.<ref>[http://www.artfund.org/what-we-do/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/3820/portrait-of-thomas-balston-mark-gertler Portrait of Thomas Balston by Mark Gertler] The Art Fund, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.</ref>
==Papers== Papers from Thomas Balston relating to the Sitwells, published by Duckworths, are held at Washington State University.<ref name="wsu">{{cite web|url=http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc/finders/cg9.htm#N10000|title=Guide to the Thomas Balston Papers of the Sitwells 1924-1960Cage 9|publisher=ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu|accessdate=2014-08-12}}</ref> A small collection of Balston papers relating to John Martin are held at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library.<ref name=Louis/>
==Selected publications== ===Books=== *''Sitwelliana. 1915–1927. A Handlist.'' Duckworth, London, 1928. (Compiler) *''The Life of Jonathan Martin, Incendiary of York Minster: With Some Account of Richard and William Martin''. London: Macmillan, 1945. *''John Martin, 1789–1854. His Life and Works''. Duckworth, London, 1947. *''The Wood Engravings of Robert Gibbings''. Art and Technics, London, 1949. (Later edition Dent) *''English Wood Engraving, 1900–1950''. Art and Technics, London, 1951. *''William Balston: Paper Maker, 1759–1849''. Methuen, London, 1954. *''The Housekeeping Book of Susanna Whatman 1776-1800''. Geoffrey Bles, London, 1956. (Editor) Wood engravings by Frank Martin. *''James Whatman: Father & Son''. Methuen, London, 1957. ===Articles=== * "Illustrated Series of the Nineties", ''The Book Collector's Quarterly'', 1933
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Art UK bio}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balston, Thomas}} Category:1883 births Category:1967 deaths Category:People educated at Eton College Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:20th-century English publishers (people) Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Gloucestershire Regiment officers Category:People from Bearsted Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:English barristers Category:English art historians Category:Military personnel from Kent Category:British Army personnel of World War II