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‘She was an artist, a light-giver and an original’ | Slightly Foxed gift ideas

‘She was an artist, a light-giver and an original’ | Slightly Foxed gift ideas

With Mothering Sunday approaching we thought some of you may appreciate a few bookish gift ideas for the mother figures in your lives – or for any fellow booklover or, indeed, yourself! All items can be wrapped in handsome brown paper, tied up with our cream ribbon and sent directly to recipient, or to you to hand over in person. If you’re worried about delivery times, or if you’re cutting it a little fine when placing your order, you can also choose to have an instant gift card sent to you to print out at home or sent straight to the recipient by email.
Portrait of Elmbury | From the Slightly Foxed bookshelves

Portrait of Elmbury | From the Slightly Foxed bookshelves

‘I have written a book which gives me much pleasure. It is a kind of full-length portrait of a small country town between the wars. The sort of life that will never come back,’ John Moore wrote to T. H. White in the summer of 1945. That book was Portrait of Elmbury, and we’re delighted to announce that it’s now available to readers again, published in a cloth-bound hardback Plain Foxed Edition. These sturdy little books, bound in duck-egg blue cloth, come in the same neat pocket format as the original SF Editions. Portrait of Elmbury is the first volume in the trilogy based on his home town that Moore wrote shortly after the Second World War, following it in 1946 with Brensham Village and in 1948 with The Blue Field.
‘Slightly Foxed is among the special, cherished delights of each season’ | New this spring

‘Slightly Foxed is among the special, cherished delights of each season’ | New this spring

Greetings, dear readers. We’re delighted to announce that the new Spring issue of Slightly Foxed (No. 73) has now left the printing press at Smith Settle and will start to arrive with readers in the UK very soon and elsewhere over the next few weeks. It ranges far and wide in the usual eclectic manner: Daisy Hay goes for a walk in Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire • Chris Saunders considers the art of bookselling with Penelope Fitzgerald • Suzi Feay enters the strange world of Arthur Machen • Tim Pears salutes a Bosnian chronicler • Daisy Dunn visits ancient Greece with Mary Renault • Gustav Temple is unnerved by Patricia Highsmith, and much more besides . . . We hope it will provide plenty of recommendations for reading off the beaten track this spring. With it, as usual, you’ll find a copy of our latest Readers’ Catalogue, detailing new books, our backlist, recommended seasonal reading and a selection of offers and bundles.
Lark Rise | From the Slightly Foxed bookshelves

Lark Rise | From the Slightly Foxed bookshelves

Introducing the latest addition to the Slightly Foxed Editions list, No. 58: Flora Thompson, Lark Rise, published 1 March. Lark Rise – and its sequels Over to Candleford and Candleford Green – must be some of the best loved books ever written. They are unique both for the magical quality of the writing and for the background of their author. While most other countryside writers of the period were comfortably middle-class, this record of a vanishing world came from the daughter of a builder’s labourer.
Still Life: Sketches from a Tunbridge Wells Childhood | Richard Cobb

Still Life: Sketches from a Tunbridge Wells Childhood | Richard Cobb

In Still Life, Richard Cobb recreates the small world of Tunbridge Wells in entrancing detail as he experienced it between the ages of 4 and 13. He leads us through the town and into the lives of the characters among whom he grew up, from the mysterious Black Widow to Baroness Olga, the town’s only victim of the Russian Revolution. At home his mother entertains her tweed-and-Jaeger-clad Bridge-playing friends while down the road in their large, dank Victorian mansion his extraordinary cousins the Limbury-Buses live their lives according to an unchanging regime of walks, rests and meals which are timed to the minute. ‘Strange and wonderful,’ wrote Hilary Spurling in the Observer when the book was first published. And indeed it is.
Collectable Classic Children’s Books | Slightly Foxed Cubs

Collectable Classic Children’s Books | Slightly Foxed Cubs

Ronald Welch’s Carey novels follow the fortunes of the same family from their involvement in the Crusades to their service in the First World War. Grippingly plotted and scrupulously researched, together they join up the dots of English history in a remarkably vivid and human way. Tomorrow marks forty years since Ronald Welch’s death and, as befits a man who held such reverence for dates, we’re commemorating this anniversary and celebrating his wonderful books. He certainly knew how to bring history alive for younger readers. You can’t finish a Welch book without having grasped such precise details as the construction of a crusader’s armour and why it was so designed, or why the longbow was crucial to the English victory at the Battle of Crécy. Most importantly they’re brilliant reads – fast-paced, colourful and imaginative, with entirely believable central characters.
Literary Gifts for Saint Valentine’s Day & Other Occasions

Literary Gifts for Saint Valentine’s Day & Other Occasions

‘I can neither eat nor sleep for thinking of you my dearest love. I never touch even pudding you know the reason.’ Nelson to Emma Hamilton Greetings from Hoxton Square, where the office is looking spick and span and ready for the arrival of the spring quarter’s offerings in a few weeks’ time. However, before we look ahead to the new season, another occasion is on the horizon. For those romantically inclined readers who might have Saint Valentine’s Day in mind, please find a selection of gift ideas below. Eating and sleeping may be off the menu for the love-struck but reading is always an option. We’re able to wrap subscriptions, books and other goods in handsome brown paper with signature cream ribbon and handwritten personal notes and whisk them off to loved ones in the UK in time for 14 February (or, indeed, any other occasion). And for overseas recipients, we can e-deliver a gift card bearing a charming wood engraving, followed by the gift in due course.
‘This winter will be remembered for very many years’ | Letters to Michael

‘This winter will be remembered for very many years’ | Letters to Michael

Warm wishes from Hoxton Square, where we’re bracing ourselves for a cold snap in this corner of the world. With a forecast of snowfall and gales, Arctic blasts and freezing fog here in the UK, we’re inclined to batten down the hatches and settle down with a good book. And we have just the antidote to bad weather and troubled times. Between the spring of 1945 and the autumn of 1947 Charles Phillipson wrote a series of 150 illustrated letters to his young son Michael. Now these delightful, quirky letters, designed to whet Michael’s appetite for reading, have been gathered together in Letters to Michael. This charming cloth-bound hardback edition is full of the lightness and humour Charles found in everyday situations.
Tiger the Literary Lion | Ghosting: A Double Life

Tiger the Literary Lion | Ghosting: A Double Life

‘A large sapphire in the lapel of a bold striped suit, a vivid silk tie so bright that it dazzles . . . and on his fingers a collection of jewels: rubies, emeralds, diamonds . . .’ This is the man Jennie Erdal calls ‘Tiger’, the flamboyant figure at the centre of Ghosting, the strange and gripping story of the twenty years in which she became his ghost writer, pulling the wool over the eyes of reviewers and turning him into the literary lion he had always wanted to be. Greetings from No. 53 where we’ve been busy with subscriptions, renewals and book orders thanks to those of you who’ve been adding to your reading lists for 2022. Another recommendation for your to-be-read pile comes courtesy of Slightly Foxed editor Hazel, who wrote the preface to our edition of Jennie Erdal’s wickedly funny memoir, Ghosting.
‘Your very good health’ | New Year Reading Recommendations

‘Your very good health’ | New Year Reading Recommendations

‘Your very good health,’ Brian said, raising his glass of champagne in the trio’s direction. ‘And by the way, gentlemen, I am not an old queen.’ He paused, forcing the men to look at him. ‘I am the Empress of Ireland!’ || Christopher Robbins, The Empress of Ireland Warm wishes from Hoxton Square, where we’d like to thank you all for your support throughout the past year – and raise a glass to good health and good reading in 2022. If you’d like some reading recommendations to brighten January, and help us clear a few shelves to make space for yet more delicious titles along the way, please do browse our selection of offers and highlights . . .
W is for Warner, Sylvia Townsend | From the Slightly Foxed archives

W is for Warner, Sylvia Townsend | From the Slightly Foxed archives

Greetings from Slightly Foxed, and a very happy New Year to you all. Before we look ahead to this year’s crop of new publications, we’re taking stock, delving through our bank of back issues and sharing some good reading from the archives. Sylvia Townsend Warner’s joie de vivre – evident in her diaries and described by Jonathan Law in his article from Slightly Foxed Issue 48 – is especially appealing this January.  ‘In 1927 Sylvia Townsend Warner was given a smart notebook by a friend; a day out prompted a few hesitant jottings and, before she knew it, she was off . . .’ If you have received a new diary this Christmas, or if we can tempt you with our selection of smart Slightly Foxed notebooks, then perhaps Sylvia can provide inspiration when faced with the blank page. Whatever the case, and wherever we find you, we do hope you’ll enjoy dipping into her life and writing.
Last orders, please | Seasonal reading from Slightly Foxed

Last orders, please | Seasonal reading from Slightly Foxed

Warm wishes from Slightly Foxed where wrapping paper is running off rolls, ribbon is spiralling from bobbins and the final post bags are filling up as we ready ourselves to close the office for Christmas on Wednesday afternoon. Tomorrow (Tuesday 21 December) is the last advised posting date for First Class mail to arrive at destinations in the UK by Christmas, and Wednesday 22 December is the last day for Special Delivery. Please do place any last orders for Christmas as soon as possible, making sure to select First Class or Next Day Delivery as your postal option on the website or over the phone. We’ll send out some cheerful missives to keep you all fully foxed while we’re away but otherwise we look forward to catching up with you when we’re back at our desks on Wednesday 5 January. Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm throughout the year.
‘An exquisite book’ | Letters to Michael

‘An exquisite book’ | Letters to Michael

An antidote to troubled times and a perfect Christmas present. ‘Between early 1945 and autumn 1947, Charles Phillipson, an illustrator in the publicity department of an electrical company, wrote 150 letters to his young son, Michael – amusing drawings of daily life accompanied by a few cheerful words . . . His wife, Marjorie, kept them all and they have been gathered into an exquisite book, Letters to Michael, published by Slightly Foxed.’ Country Life, 2021 advent calendar issue
By people who love books, for people who love books | Slightly Foxed Editions

By people who love books, for people who love books | Slightly Foxed Editions

‘Smashing little hardbacks, the way hardbacks used to be . . . produced by people who love books, for people who love books.’ Belgravia Books There’s still time for us to help with gifts for booklovers before the year is out, and we’d like to draw your attention to our Slightly Foxed Editions – beautifully produced pocket hardbacks, just the right size to hold in the hand and with a ribbon marker to keep your place. Perfectly designed to curl up with, these reissues of classic memoirs are highly individual and absorbing reads. So whether you’re in need of a good book or a present for someone you’re fond of, do seize the chance to stock up now.
‘A subscription would make an inspired gift for a hungry reader.’

‘A subscription would make an inspired gift for a hungry reader.’

Greetings from Hoxton Square where we’re busy wrapping and packing great piles of subscriptions and books and sending them out to readers near and far for Christmas (and many other occasions besides). A subscription to Slightly Foxed magazine opens up a whole world of good reading. Companionable, entertaining and elegantly produced, it’s more like a well-read friend than a literary review. So whether you’re in search of stimulation, consolation or diversion, a treat for yourself or a present for a bookish loved one, we recommend taking out a subscription to Slightly Foxed or giving a single issue or one of our books a try. For all gift subscriptions, we can send out the first issue with a handsome card bearing your gift message. We can send it directly to the recipient or to you to hand over in person, and, if you like, we can wrap the first issue in good brown paper and tie it with our smart foxed ribbon too. 

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