Comments from Whittington Press about this publication:
   The catalogues and prospectuses issued by private presses are not only often beautiful examples of printing in themselves, but they can also offer fascinating clues to the development of the titles they are promoting. Many are printed on hand-made paper and from the original engravings, and can encapsulate the germ of the idea that later (sometimes much later, occasionally never), and after much labour, becomes the book itself.
       Such prospectuses have become popular with collectors partly because of the insight they offer into the activities of the presses concerned, and partly because they can be satisfying substitutes when the book is rarely available, or only at a price that puts it out of reach of most. They will usually have been printed at the Press concerned, with all the thought and care that is lavished on an object which is designed to sell the book.
       In this survey of private press prospectuses of the last hundred years, David Butcher summarizes the output of the main presses and reveals some of the fascinating stories behind the books. Prospectuses give a unique insight into the printers' attitudes and aspirations, and provide tantalizing glimpses of the books which might-have-been.
       During the last fifteen years the Whittington Press has been collecting prospectuses and catalogues, from Doves and Golden Cockerel to those issued by contemporary presses, as they are still genuinely ephemeral. We have been fortunate in being able to acquire two large collections which will allow us to include original prospectuses and catalogues in portfolios accompanying the seventy-five special copies. In addition the book will contain illustrations of some of the most interesting prospectuses.
       The increasing price of prospectuses and catalogues in booksellers' catalogues are evidence of the steady popularity of such items, and this will be the first time that they will have been described and evaluated as separate and important adjuncts of the private press movement.