Pursuit: The Memoirs of John Calder

by John Calder

  The restructuring of John Calder Publishers and its bookshop was a long and at times painful process that lasted more than two years. But it was not all grief along the way – on the contrary. It was a rewarding feeling to see this sleeping publishing giant re-emerge from its slumber, and one of the greatest joys for me was to see John’s work as a publisher find a new incarnation in beautifully produced volumes that continued to sell, inspire people and receive critical acclaim. Dozens of the works that he fought to see in print and promoted for decades were made available again or reissued in new editions. Some of them, such as Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night and Queneau’s Exercises in Style, were – and still are – among the best-selling titles of our classics list.

  It was a great privilege for me to get to know John, enjoy his company, witty conversation and wealth of anecdotes over the years here in London, in Edinburgh and Montreuil, and discuss with him – often over a bottle of wine – our views on the publishing world and ideas for new book projects. It was also a great pleasure to meet a great number of his friends and inspiring people such as Barbara Wright, Kyril Zinovieff, Al Alvarez, Robert Rietti, Jim Haynes and many others who have helped him on his publishing journey and who fill the pages of this autobiography.

  Through the many Thursday-evening readings I have attended at the Calder Bookshop – and the ensuing dinners at the Italian restaurant nearby with him, his friends and the talented actors who had brought the texts to life – I learnt the importance of the human touch and working with people in our business, and rediscovered my enthusiasm for the written word, which had been blunted by recent negative experiences. For all this, and for the trust he put in me to take forward his list, I am eternally grateful to John.

  The publishing landscape has evolved in recent years, with a drift towards the commercial, the escapist and the mindless. Across the world, the book trade has been transformed beyond recognition from the days when John Calder was active as a publisher: many bookshops and libraries have closed down, smaller independent publishers are being subsumed into larger corporate groups and retail and online behemoths are squeezing traditional publishing out of existence.

  In 2010 we had to take the difficult decision to focus on our publishing activities and sold the Calder Bookshop to a small group of actors, who are still bravely running it today, offering customers new and second-hand books and performing edgy plays in its refurbished theatre area. John has since moved from the small flat near the shop and now spends most of his time between Montreuil and Edinburgh. Whenever there is an opportunity, we still meet and have a good chat about books and publishing.

  As we prepare for a major revamp of the Calder list next summer, with freshly designed books from its backlist and newly commissioned works of international literature, we are delighted to see that John’s cutting-edge books are finding many more readers among the younger generations, and that his ideals and vision live on almost seventy years since he started his company. John’s publishing achievements shine through this book – and the future is bright for his name and his publishing legacy.

  – Richmond, September 2016

  * * *

  1Public school in the British sense (i.e. privileged private education in a strictly disciplined environment).

  2The letter must have been found and put among my personal papers by Berry Bloomfield, my secretary (about whom more later), and somehow it became part of the files bought by the Lilly Library in 1975.

  3 “There goes Herr Stein (Stone).” “No, Herr Kingstone.”

  4Lord Jowitt, The Strange Case of Alger Hiss. London, 1953.

  5“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

  6J.K. Galbraith, A Life in Our Times. Boston, 1981.

  7The Garden of Eros. London, 2013.

  8Apart from Alexander Trocchi, the other editors of Merlin were: Christopher Logue, the poet; John Coleman, an accountant who wanted to be a writer and was business manager; Baird Bryant, who eventually married Trocchi’s girlfriend and backer, Jane Lougee, after he left his wife; and John Stevenson, among several others.

  9Some later turned up at the Lilly Library in Indiana.

  10The South African Treason Trial. London, 1957.

  11The International Music Club occupied a large, well-furnished house on South Audley Street in Mayfair and was the brainchild of a Mrs Hubbard, a Woolworth heiress. She wanted it to be the centre of London’s musical life, where all the top musicians could eat, drink, meet and use the library and luxurious facilities. The restaurant was first-class, but fairly expensive. I once took Richard Coe there and introduced him to Tournedos Rossini, after he had translated the Stendhal Rossini biography. Musicians were wary, rather overawed and used it little. Glock first heard of its sudden closure through the press.

  12A fuller account of this appears in my book The Garden of Eros.

  13This was Rosamund Lehmann, who told me during the conference that she had been unable to write anything since the death of her daughter, which is strangely prefigured in her novels.

  14Les Jardins d’Éros. Paris 1994.

  15Paris, 1977.

  16New York, 1981.

  17Director of Public Prosecutions.

  18Alexander Trocchi. The Making of the Monster. Edinburgh 1991.

  19The Mystery of Moral Re-Armament. London, 1964.

  20Mannerism. London 1965.

  21“Captain Godot welcomes you on board.”

  22Come and Go.

  23London: Faber and Faber, 1984.

  24In its first episodes, it was called The Plane Makers.

  25Theatre Clubs, only open to members, were immune to censorship.

  26London, 1969.

  27Head on a Stalk.

  28London, 1981.

  29The Companion to 20th Century Music. London, 1992.

  30London, 1975.

  31London, 1976.

  32Les Jardins d’Éros. Paris, 1994.

  33This happened during the Sixties. It was a big commitment for which I was never paid, because it did not succeed financially (the theatre was too big to fill and the company a large one). I spent much time bailing the company, by British standards a largely amateur one, out of jail on various small charges, from drug offences to creating a nuisance to others.

  34Les Jardins d’Éros. Paris, 1994.

  35In Defence of Literature, ed. Howard Aster. Toronto, 1999.

  36Sir John Drummond, Tainted by Experience. A Life in the Arts. London, 2000.

  37Barker and Davies, Books Are Different, London, 1966.

  38Bertrand Russell, Autobiography. London, 1967.