Susan wants her bottom smacking for implying that some passages should be cut out and some photographs omitted. This is unfair both to me and Derry. As for counting the characters and spaces of my typewritten lines, how can you assume that my typewriter characters and spaces between lines are going to coincide exactly with the printer’s type and spaces? As for single or double columns for the text, I rather favour single: your letter to me, and this one to you, have lines about the same length as a single column, and of course are quite easy to read as well as easier for a printer to set up, and fewer hyphens would be needed.
Horror
I am horrified at the emphasis being given to the cost of publication, by the counting of pennies. Your intention should be a perfect book, full stop, not a book as perfect as finances permit. By cutting costs you could lose the sale of 10,000 copies. Where’s the saving?
Please turn over;
I haven’t finished yet.
In general, I think I know from long experience what fellwalkers and Pennine wayfarers like to read and the sort of photographs they like to look at, and it is with their preferences in mind that I have been working. They are outdoor people: they like spaciousness around them and they prefer books that have the contents spaciously arranged, not cramped. They prefer large photos that make them feel they are out in the open, not pictures reduced to snaps and crowded in restricted space.
You have knocked the stuffing out of me. I like to feel free to do as I think best, not work in harness imposed by designers who may never have been out on hills and have no feeling for them.
I am sorry to be so forthright but am sure you are on the wrong tack. I have no interest in doing a book I cannot feel proud of. If you persist in taking advice from your staff, and not from me, I am afraid I must consider pulling out of our arrangement, much though I need the money for a good cause.
I think now that we are not going to produce bestsellers. Just books.
Despite all this acrimonious argument, please be assured that you still have my very best wishes.
AW
LETTER 247: TO JENNY DEREHAM, JULY 1983?
Dear Jenny,
My ideas on layouts are that they should be informal and not all be to a set pattern, which tends to become monotonous and even boring. The reader should not know in advance what the next page will be like when he turns over; let it come as a surprise and so maintain his interest. I have never in all my books had two pages together that look exactly alike. Every turn of the page is fresh and exciting. Further, the narrative on every one of my pages ends in a full stop, so that each one is complete in itself and gives the reader a chance to pause and study the illustration on that page, these being closely related to the narrative. I dislike intensely sentences that run from one page to the next, or overleaf, as in a novel, which tend to keep the reader’s attention on following the text rather than on the equally important illustrations. This is the way I plan our two books, and you will be simply thrilled to bits when you see what Derry and I have done to uphold the proud traditions of Michael Joseph Limited.
Each book will be of 224 pages, including the eight blanks at the beginning for the titles, a publishers foreword and a list of contents. A final index will not be necessary for the Lakeland book but may be advisable for the Pennine one.
Only innate modesty has prevented me from suggesting the inclusion of a few small black-and-white drawings instead of photographs to fill awkward spaces, and I am therefore glad to learn that you have the same idea. I am all for large photographs only. Colour photos reduced to cigarette card size never give the effect desired, are unfair to the photographer, and are a needless waste of money, but small drawings are not only more likely to attract the eye of the reader but can be quite decorative and much less costly to reproduce, and moreover they can show detail that the camera cannot capture; for example the view from High Street with all the distant features named. I have in fact sprinkled a few of my own illustrations in the chapters I have done so far in cases where the subject is beyond the scope of the camera but needed to illustrate the text. So I agree absolutely.
It’s you who doesn’t need to worry, not me. Derry and I are providing you with books that will be highlights in your publishing career. You’ll see! So don’t worry. Everything will be alright.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Derry, who agrees with me in all things except in the matter of pipe versus cigars, tells me he is visiting you shortly and has craved my permission to smack Susan’s bottom on my behalf. So that no further misunderstandings will arise in Bedford Square I think I should confirm to you that I have given him such permission if, after seeing Susan, he still wishes to exercise this rare privilege.
LETTER 248: TO SHEILA MURPHY, 5 MARCH 1984
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL, Cumbria
5th March 1984
Dear Sheila,
Thank you for your letter of February 28th.
I know you mean well, but, being an honest man, I must say that I found no pleasure in reading it, well written though it was, but only a mounting horror as I read through your several ideas for publicity.
Jenny will have told you what an awkward devil I am, and I hope you will not be too surprised to learn that I reject all your suggestions entirely. Your overtures have only driven me further into my shell.
I’m sorry to disappoint you but I would derive no enjoyment at all from taking part in any of your proposed interviews. Ballyhoo makes me squirm. As you say, I have many fans, and I love them but only at a distance. Nobody gets within a very long arm’s length. You might adopt a different tack: that I am a very private person (rare in these days) who prefers to keep out of the public gaze. Mind you, it’s not because I’m bad-looking; indeed, Jenny will confirm that compared for instance with Derry Brabbs I am quite presentable.
Being old fashioned, I think a book should sell on its merits, not on the personal idiosyncrasies of the author.
Don’t worry about it. I seem to be always upsetting somebody at Michael Joseph’s.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
Despite all his moans and quibbles, AW worked happily with Jenny Dereham for the next eight years. Meanwhile he had not forgotten Ron Scholes, suggesting ideas for him and keeping him up to date with his own books, his state of health and the plans for Kapellan, the property Animal Rescue bought to convert into an animal refuge in 1984.
LETTER 249: TO RON SCHOLES, 28 FEBRUARY 1984
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL
28th February 1984
Dear Ron,
I expect to finish my book by the end of March to coincide with your final touches to the Countryside book??? Then I would like to try the first three maps of your Cambrian Way as a test to see whether I can do them satisfactorily for reduction to a scale of one inch = one mile. I will get Andrew to print them on a reduced size and let you see the result.
I have been thinking more about Frank Rodger’s books, which makes fascinating reading. This is the sort of book you would do extremely well and thoroughly enjoy doing. So what about a new series by Ron Scholes:
STAFFORDSHIRE ODDITIES
SHROPSHIRE ODDITIES
CHESHIRE ODDITIES
All these you could do without having nights away from home.
The Planning authorities have told me that they have received several objections to our proposed use of the property we are aiming to purchase, so it is by no means certain we shall get it. Their decision will be taken on March 13th. We might be back to Square One.
Sincerely,
AW
LETTER 250: TO RON SCHOLES, 22 APRIL 1984
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL, Cumbria
22nd April 1984
Dear Ron,
Good news and bad news.
The good news is that we have been granted planning permission to kennel dogs and cats at the premises we have provisionally agreed to purchase, despite objections by the neighbouring farmers, an
d so we are now free to go ahead. Betty is over the moon. We can now hope to be settled there within a couple of months. Next time you come over we will take you around the property, in which, of course, you have very right to feel you have a stake.
Other good news is that I have finished the Peak District book and got it off to the Gazette.
The bad news is that I have clearly come to the end of the road as far as close pen work is concerned. After a frustrating three weeks struggling to hand-write the captions, being unable to see properly what I was doing, with my writing constantly straying from the pencil guide lines, I had to give up and ask for the captions to be set in type. This disability does not augur well for the set of Cambrian maps you require, although I would still like to have a shot at it. Mentioning this to the Gazette, they say ‘Why doesn’t Ron do his own maps?’. Apparently, unknown to me, they have seen some maps you have done in connection with the book, and they say they are very good.
Another bit of bad news is that I have had an attack of bronchitis over the past few weeks, which left me totally disinclined for effort of any kind and did not help in completing the Peak District book. I am getting over this now and beginning to feel more normal again.
Now what about your Countryside book? Tell me it is finished!
Yours sincerely,
AW
LETTER 251: TO RON SCHOLES, 16 MAY 1984
16th May 1984
Dear Ron,
Having received your version of these few first maps I will see what I can do to copy them, but I still think that (quite apart from the fact that I can no longer see to do close work) your own efforts would be preferable to mine, if only because of your intimate knowledge of the terrain.
I am now quite well again, thanks, as I hope you are. You will be greatly relieved when the Countryside book is finally out of your hands. We are off to Galloway this weekend. I will keep all the maps you have sent in safe custody but do nothing with them until I hear from you again.
Sincerely,
AW
Cannot even see my typewriter lettering now!!
LETTER 252: TO RON SCHOLES, 15 AUGUST 1984
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL
15th August 1984
Dear Ron,
Thank you for your letter received today. I am sending you a well deserved complimentary copy of the Peak District book – not one with which I am particularly pleased (age is telling) and not helped by the Gazette printing the ‘list of books’ opposite the title page instead of at the front. Things at the Gazette are in a muddle. There has been a 3 months delays in getting the book out, due to staff shortages and now Andrew has been off sick (vertigo) for some weeks and nobody else there seems able to take over.
I saw two eye specialists, and neither gave me any hope of a cure. The trouble is not cataracts, as I thought, but damaged retinas at the back of the eyeballs. A symptom of old age, they said … so I have come to the end of the road as far as close penwork is concerned. Latterly, as an experiment, I have been trying to draw maps, and find it quite impossible. Not only cannot I see what I am doing but am getting blind spots as I work. I am afraid I will not be able to do the Welsh maps for you, and am sorry about this because I would have liked to help.
Michael Joseph’s seem pleased with the initial response to the Fellwalking book, and have commissioned two others. As these will require only a written narrative and no close work I will probably be able to manage these.
The work of adapting Kapellan is proceeding apace. Betty is up there every day, painting and acting as clerk of works.
Thank you for all the enquiries you have made about a venue for an exhibition, but please cancel the tentative arrangement at Hanley and do nothing further at present. I will await the response to the leaflet, sell as many drawings by post as I can and have the rest on display at an exhibition in Kendal in December.
I note with some dismay that you have still not completed the Countryside book. It is becoming a life’s work!
Sincerely,
AW
LETTER 253: TO RON SCHOLES, 8 DECEMBER 1985
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL
8th December 1985
Dear Ron,
Thanks for your letter and kind donation.
I hope your book is selling well. I am working on my penultimate effort ‘Lakeland Mountain Passes’ for Michael Joseph, but with difficulty. I am obviously nearing the end of the road. I cannot now see what I am typing and must ask you to excuse errors. The TV programmes are having a great success in the Northeast, according to the producer. I have seen videos of the first two and am not at all enthusiastic about my performance. He is bringing Nos. 3 and 4 over this week for a preview.
I am having a car park made at Kappellan following police complaints about cars parking on the roadside. All goes well there.
With best wishes for Christmas and a good 1986.
Sincerely,
AW
Ron Scholes’s book Understanding the Countryside was published by Moorland in 1985. The book about Wales he was working on with AW never got completed, leaving Ron with ten AW drawings, which he always treasured. Ron retired as a headmaster in 1989. Between 1997 and 2006 he had six further countryside books published. AW’s relationships with Michael Joseph produced nine handsome coffee table books which sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Part 21
Letters to Regular Correspondents, 1980–8
AW kept up with his regular writers – people from his past or correspondents who had been writing to him for some years – despite all the books he was doing and his eyesight and strength beginning to fade.
He didn’t though keep up with many of his relations, but in 1980 he wrote to his nephew Jack Fish (son of his sister Alice who died in 1971) in Blackburn and offered him seventy-eight drawings from his latest book which could be sold to help the funds of Furthergate Congregational Church, which AW had attended as a boy, though he no longer was a church goer. The sale realised £1,000 for the church.
LETTER 254: TO JACK FISH, 20 JANUARY 1980
38 Kendal Green
KENDAL, Cumbria LA9 5PP
20th January 1980
Dear Jack,
In a few weeks time I shall have a book published under the title of A RIBBLE SKETCHBOOK. This is a collection of 78 drawings of scenes in the Ribble Valley, and, as with all the similar books I have turned out over the past few years, the original drawings will be sold for the benefit of charities or other worthy causes.
It seems to me appropriate that in the case of the Ribble the drawings should be sold in the Blackburn area, and that, in view of your New Church Appeal, the proceeds should go to that Fund.
It you would like to have them for that purpose, and can stage an exhibition for their sale in the Memorial Hall or elsewhere in Blackburn, you can have them with pleasure. They would come to you mounted and signed ready for framing. Similar drawings from other recent books have usually sold for 12.50 each and there has been no lack of buyers. I will send a copy of the book to the Features Editor of the Blackburn Times when it is published, for review, and he might be persuaded to give it some publicity, with a note of the exhibition arrangements. You might be able to think of other ways of bringing it to notice, for example, by a circular to the other churches in the district.
I enclose a copy of a companion volume, A LUNE SKETCHBOOK, which has just been published, to give you an idea of the sort of drawings that will appear in the Ribble book. The Lune drawings are to be exhibited and sold for Animal Rescue at The Bookshop, Market Street, Kirkby Lonsdale, on Thursday to Saturday, February 14th to 16th. I mention this because if you are interested in my offer it would be a good idea for you to come over to Kirkby on the Saturday afternoon about 2 o’clock (bringing Winston and Linda if they are likely to want to help) and see for yourself how such drawings are usually exhibited and to discuss any matters that may occur to you.
I expect the book to be published and the drawings to be ready in about
two months time, but would like to know whether you are willing to undertake the exhibition and sale as soon as possible so that I can notify the details on a leaflet to enclose with notices of publication that are always sent out to prospective purchasers on a mailing list who always request details of any sale of drawings.
Sincerely,
AW
George Haworth, his exact contemporary, who had been at school with him, had now moved to Arnside and wrote about all the great walks he was able to do, despite his age.
LETTER 255: TO GEORGE HAWORTH, 17 APRIL 1980
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL
17th April 1980
Dear George,
Thank you for your letter. Yes, I remember you writing some years ago, but increasing age has not improved my memory and I still cannot place you. There were so many Haworths about in those days.
I never before heard of anyone climbing Meldon Hill, or even wanting to, although obviously someone has and indeed lived there. I have often wondered about the ruins of Meldon Hall; there could be a story there. Take a photo if you ever get there. But beware the guns of Warcop. These hills are their firing targets.
Funny you should have planned a book on the Eden. The Lune book is the first of a trilogy. A companion book on the Ribble has just come out and my version of the Eden will be published in the late summer.
The Wainwright Letters Page 38