The James J. Guthrie - Pear Tree Press Collection was purchased in conjunction with the UCSB Libraries 500,000th volume celebration in 1968. It contains the collection of manuscripts, as well as a number of printed items that have been cataloged individually and may be searched in Pegasus, the UCSB Libraries online catalog. The cataloged items primarily are monographs, but also include a few issues of serials printed by Pear Tree, some prospectuses, announcements, publication lists, and proof sheets.

James J. Guthrie (1874-1952), a Scotsman who moved to London as a child, was the founder of Pear Tree Press, which began in 1899, at a time when Guthrie was living at Pear Tree Cottage in Ingrave, Essex, England. Guthrie moved the press to Shorne in Kent, then Harting in Sussex, before settling at Flansham, near Bognor Regis, Sussex in 1907. An artist, typographer, and printer, Guthrie throughout his life was particularly interested in intaglio printing. Two of his favorite pursuits were wood engraving and book plate design. The first book issued by his Pear Tree Press was Some Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, with drawing by Guthrie, 1901 and the last, 50 years later, seems to have been his work From a Sussex Village, printed at the Mermaid Press in Flansham in 1951 as a contribution to the Festival of Britain.

.8 linear feet (2 document boxes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

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