Peter Davies Ltd. (London, UK)
Series dates: 1931-1934
Size: 5.25″x 8.25″
Duckworth & Co. issued a series called the Covent Garden Library (named after their location in London) from 1923 to 1928. It consisted of “Library Editions of Standard Novels by well-known authors.” Thirty-seven titles are numbered and identified in a 1928 catalog from The Reference Catalogue of Current Literature, Volume 2, Part 2 (p. 50-51; source). There is a good chance this is a complete listing of the series titles.
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Duckworth’s Covent Garden Library disappeared from the literary and book literature around 1928. A few years later, Peter Davies firm, located at 30 Henrietta St. – “Near Covent Garden” according to the publisher’s imprint – resurrects the series name for its own series of literary titles. The series included 18 titles published between 1931 and 1934.
Peter Davies was one of five brothers adopted by author J.M. Barrie after their mother’s death in 1910. He was the inspiration for Barrie’s Peter Pan, an association which troubled Davies for the rest of his life. Davies started his firm in 1926 with financial help from Barrie. “In 1937 William Heinemann Ltd took a majority interest in the firm of Peter Davies Ltd, and the two firms were closely linked for the next forty years. In 1977 Peter Davies Ltd was fully incorporated into Heinemann.” (Firms Out of Business)
Two advertisements for the series appeared in late 1931, announcing the first 10 titles, all published that year. Many were titles previously published by Davies, and some included the original (not the reprint) dates of publication (confusing the dating of volumes in the series).
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The Times Literary Supplement, Thursday, Sept. 17, 1931, Issue 1546, p. 700. |
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The Times Literary Supplement, Thursday, Nov. 26, 1931, Issue 1556, p. 938. |
An advertisement from 1933 announces the 15th title in the series:
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The Times Literary Supplement, Thursday, Mar. 30, 1933, Issue 1626, p. 227. |
Jackets are common to the series, with brightly colored and attractive designs of contrasting blue and orange with magenta typography. The book’s title and editor (in this case) are at the top of the jacket spine, and the series name and publisher are at the bottom. The same information is included on the front of the jacket (in addition to the mention of a title by the book’s editor).
This copy of The Scandal and Credulities of John Aubrey, edited by John Collier, was published in 1931 as the 11th title in the series.
The front jacket flap includes a description of the series. The series is lauded for its larger-than-typical size (for reprints) and sturdy construction, which makes it viable for long-term residence in a personal library.
The rear jacket flap lists 13 titles. The back of the jacket repeats the front cover design.
Titles in the series are listed below. Earlier years appear on some of these books, probably the original date of publication left on the title page when the book was reprinted. Some titles have months of publication (taken from The English Catalog of Books, see below for a link). The series numbering is taken from a few advertisements in the Publisher and Bookseller (see link below). These series numbers are not indicated on the jackets or books themselves. The series numbering does not continue past #13.
*#1. Book Of The Tree, edited by Georgina Mase (September 1931)
#2. Vivian Grey, by Benjamin Disraeli (1931)
*#3. The Young Duke, by Benjamin Disraeli (October 1931)
*#4. In A Glass Darkly, by Sheridan Le Fanu (September 1931)
*#5. Kachalola, by S.S. Broomfield (September 1931)
*#6. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (October 1931)
#7. Journal of The Waterloo Campaign, by Captain Mercer (1931)
*#8. Francois Villon, by D.B. Wyndham Lewis (September 1931)
*#9. Highway Into Spain, by Marcel Aurousseau (September 1931)
*#10. Beyond the Pyrenees, by Marcel Aurousseau (1931)
#11. The Scandal and Credulities of John Aubrey, edited by John Collier (May 1931, reprint November 1931)
*#12. The Diary of Peter Bussell, edited by Captain G. Turner (January 1932)
*#13. Narrative of Some Passages in the Great War With France, by Sir Henry Bunbury (February 1932)
*Marquis de Sade, by Otto Flake (October 1932)
*The Ill-Fated Princess, by Gustaaf Johannes Renier (March 1933)
*Lost Lectures by Maurice Baring (November 1933)
*Woodforde Papers and Diaries, edited by Dorothy Heighes Woodforde (December 1933)
**War Books, ed. C.B. Falls (1934)
*Month of publication from The English Catalog of Books (vol. XII, January 1931 to December 1935, reprint 1963)
**Year of publication from The Cumulative Book Index 1933-1937 (1938), p. 822
Series numbers #1 through #10 from an advertisement in The Publisher and Bookseller, 1931.
Series numbers #11 through #13 from an advertisement in The Publisher and Bookseller, 1932.
The books are bound in magenta cloth with black typography. The series name is not indicated on or in the book, making this a series in jacket only.
Blank endpapers:
The half-title page:
The title page with, in this case, the correct year of publication (1931).
This is the 2nd impression of the title, from November of 1931.
Printed in Great Britain for Peter Davies Ltd. by Gee & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
