Charles Richard Montague Ede (22 October 1921 – 29 May 2002) was a British publisher and dealer in art and antiquities. He founded the Folio Society in 1947.

Early life

Ede was born at Dean Lodge,

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, the eldest son of Colonel Bertram Montague Ede, a soldier and farmer. He was a grandson of Charles Montague Ede, a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

businessman. His father was later head of the

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

outpost on

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ede was educated at the

Imperial Service College The Imperial Service College (ISC) was an English independent school based in Windsor, originally known as St. Mark's School when it was founded in 1845. In 1906, St Mark’s School absorbed boys from the former United Services College, which ...

, where a schoolmaster introduced him to the work of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, the founder of the

Kelmscott Press The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published 53 books in 66 volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many books were illus ...

. He had a place to go up to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, in October 1939, but war was declared in September, and instead he went to France as a driver in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

, delivering spares and supplies to units of the British Expeditionary Force. He was evacuated from Brest twelve days after the end of the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

in June 1940, trained as an army officer, and was commissioned into the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

. He saw service at the Siege of Malta, in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, Egypt, and Italy, and then transferred to the Intelligence Corps.Charles Ede
Obituary in

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

, 6 June 2002. Retrieved 21 December 2011
Archived here.
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Career

After the War, instead of going up to Oxford, as he had planned, Ede completed a course at the London School of Printing. In 1947, inspired by the Kelmscott Press, with the help of Alan Bott, founder of the Book Trust and

Pan Books Pan Books is a British publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. History Pan Books began as an indepe ...

, and

Christopher Sandford Christopher Sandford (1902–1983) of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice ...

, who owned the

Golden Cockerel Press The Golden Cockerel Press was an English fine press operating between 1920 and 1961. History The private press made handmade limited editions of classic works. The type was hand-set and the books were printed on handmade paper, and sometimes ...

, Ede founded the Folio Society, a publisher of high-quality illustrated books, mostly well-known works. Its stated aim was to offer "editions of the world's great literature, in a format worthy of the contents, at a price within the reach of everyman." Only three volumes appeared in 1947, Tolstoy's ''Tales'',

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and a Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Trilby (novel), Trilby'', featuring the char ...

's ''

Trilby A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in UK, BritainBernhard Roetzel, Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. B ...

'', and ''

Aucassin and Nicolette ''Aucassin et Nicolette'' (12th or 13th century) is an anonymous medieval French fictional story. It is the unique example of a ''chantefable'', literally, a "sung story", a combination of prose and verse (similar to a ''prosimetrum''). Histor ...

'', but the aim of publishing a book a month was eventually achieved. In the 1960s, Ede launched a further business, Folio Fine Art, which sold watercolours, maps and prints, autograph letters, fine bindings, and antiquities by mail-order. In 1971, Ede sold his share in the Folio Society and set himself up as a dealer in

ancient art Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the Advanced culture, advanced cultures of History of society, ancient societies with different Writing system, forms of writing, such as those of Ancient China, China, Ancient India, India ...

. The firm he founded, Charles Ede Ltd, is still in existence, with a gallery in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

and a presence at international art fairs.Charles Ede Ltd.
/ref>

Personal life

In 1947, Ede married Elizabeth Craze, and they had four sons and two daughters. Their youngest son succeeded him as managing director of Charles Ede Ltd. when he stood down in 1986.

Selected publications

*''The Art of the Book: some record of work carried out in Europe and the U.S.A. 1939-1950.'' London: Studio Publications, 1951. *''Collecting Antiquities: An introductory guide''. London; Dent, 1976.

References

External links

Charles Ede Ltd.
– Ancient Art Antiquities Gallery * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ede, Charles 1921 births 2002 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople Alumni of the London College of Printing British publishers (people) British Army personnel of World War II Intelligence Corps officers Military personnel from Kent People educated at the Imperial Services College People from Sevenoaks Royal Tank Regiment officers