This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Size | 24 items |
Abstract | Thomas Balston (1883-1967) was director of the publishers Duckworth and Co., as well as a distinguished scholar of English book production, notably illustrations. The collection consists of material concerning efforts in the 1940s to publish a set of engravings by John Martin illustrating John Milton's "Paradise Lost." Included are two typescript versions of an essay, "John Martin's 'Paradise Lost'" by Thomas Balston (1883-1967), which was to introduce the engravings, and letters from representatives of King Penguin Books, which had initially planned to publish the work, to Balston. The work was never published. |
Creator | Balston, Thomas. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Rare Book Literary and Historical Papers. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, May 1996
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Thomas Balston (1883-1967) was director of the publishers Duckworth and Co., as well as a distinguished scholar of English book production, notably illustrations. In 1947, he published a full-length biography of John Martin (1789-1854). Martin had been commissioned (circa 1822) by the London publisher Septimus Prowett to design and engrave twenty-four plates for a large paper edition of Paradise Lost and a similar set of smaller plates to appear in a smaller edition of the work. It is this smaller set of plates which, in the 1940s, Balston wanted King Penguin Books to publish. King Penguin Books initially accepted the idea, but later decided the plates could not be reproduced adequately. Thus, the work was never published.
Back to TopThe collection includes two carbon copy typescripts of "John Martin's Paradise Lost" by Thomas Balston, which includes a lengthy biographical sketch of John Martin and twenty-four quotations from Paradise Lost to accompany the plates. There are also letters from King Penguin Books expressing interest in publishing Martin's engravings with Balston's introduction. The letters discuss the scope of the text and proposals for illustrations within the introduction. The project was abandoned when the printer announced that the plates could not be adequately reproduced.
Back to Top
Folder 1-2
Folder 1Folder 2 |
Thomas Balston Papers |