The Gaberbocchus Press was a London publishing house founded in 1948 by the artist couple Stefan and

Franciszka Themerson Franciszka Themerson (28 June 1907 – 29 June 1988) was a Polish, later British, painter, illustrator, filmmaker and stage designer. Biography Themerson was born in Warsaw in 1907, the daughter of the artist Jakub Weinles and pianist Łucja ( ...

. Alongside the Themersons, the other directors of the Press were the translator Barbara Wright and the artist Gwen Barnard who also illustrated a number of the company's publications. The name is the Latinized form of ''

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a Nonsense verse, nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' ...

'' and the earliest books were printed at their home on

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

and in 1956 they moved to 42a Formosa Street in

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

, London. In 1959 the basement of their office was turned into the Gaberbocchus Common Room, a meeting place for those interested in art and science. They showed films, plays and held poetry readings.Obituary of Stefan Themerson
in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' Over its 31 years the Gaberbocchus Press published over sixty titles, including their own works and those by

Oswell Blakeston Oswell Blakeston was the pseudonym of Henry Joseph Hasslacher (1907–1985), a British writer and artist who also worked in the film industry, made some experimental films, and wrote extensively on film theory. He was also a poet and wrote in non- ...

, the Irish poet George Henry Perrott Buchanan, Christian Dietrich Grabbe, Hugo Manning,

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

Raymond Queneau Raymond Auguste Queneau (; ; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo (), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau, the only child of Auguste Que ...

C. H. Sisson Charles Hubert Sisson, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (22 April 1914 – 5 September 2003), usually cited as C. H. Sisson, was an English poet, novelist, essayist, and translator. Life Charles Hubert Sisson was born on 22 April 1914 in B ...

Stevie Smith Florence Margaret Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), known as Stevie Smith, was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, bas ...

Anatol Stern Anatol Stern (24 October 1899 in Warsaw – 19 October 1968 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer and art critic. Born 24 October 1899 to an assimilated family of Jewish ancestry, Stern studied at the Polish Studies Faculty of the University ...

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave ...

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

(Themerson wrote ''Kurt Schwitters in England'' in 1958), and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

. Alfred Jarry's

Ubu Roi ''Ubu Roi'' (; "Ubu the King" or "King Ubu") is a play by French writer Alfred Jarry, then 23 years old. It was first performed in Paris in 1896, by Aurélien Lugné-Poe's Théâtre de l'Œuvre at the Nouveau-Théâtre (today, the Théâtre de ...

became one of its most celebrated titles and was published in many editions. The

National Art Library The National Art Library (NAL) is a major reference library, situated in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), a museum of decorative arts in London. The NAL holds the UK's most comprehensive collection of both books as art and books about art, ...

owns 20 of their titles. Yearly greeting cards were sent to various contacts in the publishing business and a large set of these have been preserved at the

National Library of Poland The National Library (, ''BN'') is the national library of Poland, subject directly to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The main seat of the National Library is located in the Ochota district of Warsaw, adjacent to the Mo ...

as ''Gaberbocchus: some of the old favourites''. The content of the Themersons' own books were often experiments with language and visual effects. The form was tailored for each publication to support and complement the content, using self-produced paper and other techniques. The couple sold their publishing company in 1979 to the Dutch publishing house

Uitgeverij De Harmonie De Harmonie is a Dutch publishing company best known today as the publisher of the Harry Potter series of books since the 1990s, though their largest success didn't come until the 2000s and since 14 February 2008 they are located on Herengracht in ...

, which was also making experimental visual publications throughout the 1970s.

Books published by Gaberbocchus Press

* Stefan Themerson. ''Jankel Adler - an Artist seen from one of many possible angles.'' 1948 *

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

, The Eagle & the Fox & The Fox & the Eagle: two semantically symmetrical versions and a revised application, (devised by Stefan Themerson). Illustrated by Franciszka Themerson. 1949 * Hugo Manning. ''The Crown and The Fable. A poetic sequence.'' 1950 * Stefan Themerson & Barbara Wright. ''Mr Rouse builds his House''. 1950 * (Translation of a story for children) ''Pan Tom buduje dom'' by Stefan Themerson, with 122 drawings by Franciszka. (Original Polish version published in Warsaw, 1938). * Stefan Themerson. ''Wooff Wooff, or Who Killed Richard Wagner?''. A novella with drawings by Franciszka Themerson. 1951 * Alfred Jarry. ''Ubu Roi. Drama in Five acts followed by the Song of Disembraining.'' First English translation and preface by Barbara Wright. Drawings by Franciszka Themerson. 1951 * Hugo Manning. ''This Room before Sunrise''. Prose poem. 1952 * Bertrand Russell. ''

The Good Citizen's Alphabet ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

''. An adventure in wicked humour. Illustrated by Franciszka Themerson. 1953 * C.H. Sisson. ''An Asiatic Romance. A satirical novel''. 1953 * Stefan Themerson. ''Professor Mmaa's Lecture, An insect novel''. Preface by Bertrand Russell. Illustrated by Franciszka Themerson. 1953 * Stefan Themerson. ''The Adventures of Peddy Bottom.'' A story illustrated by Franciszka Themerson. 1954 *

John Conrad Russell John Conrad Russell, 4th Earl Russell (16 November 1921 – 16 December 1987), styled Viscount Amberley from 1931 to 1970, was the eldest son of the philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell (the 3rd Earl) and his second wife, Dora Black. H ...

.'' Abandon Spa Hot Springs.'' With two drawings by the author. 1954. Black series no.1 * Raymond Queneau. ''The Trojan Horse & At the Edge of the Forest.'' Translated by Barbara Wright. 1954. Black series no.2 * Franciszka Themerson. ''The Way it Walks. A book of cartoons.'' 1954. Black series no.3 *

Eugene Walter Eugene Ferdinand Walter, Jr. (November 30, 1921 – March 29, 1998) was an American screenwriter, poet, short-story author, actor, puppeteer, gourmet chef, cryptographer, translator, editor, costume designer and well-known raconteur. During his y ...

. ''Monkey Poems.'' Illustrated with 8 engravings of monkeys. 1954 * Christian-Dietrich Grabbe. ''Comedy, Satire, Irony and Deeper Meaning. Drama in five Acts'' written by Grabbe in 1822, with drawings and collages by his contemporary Dr S. Willoughby. 1955 * Gwen Barnard. ''The Shapes of the River''. A sequence of colour monoprints of the London Thames by Gwen Barnard with Comments by Eugene Walter. 1955. * C.H. Sisson. ''Versions and Perversions of

Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...

''. English version of 14 political poems by Heinrich Heine. 1955. Black series no.4 * Pol-Dives (Vladimir Polissadiv). ''The Song of Bright Misery/Le poème de la misère claire.''36 illustrations by Pol-Dives from magic lantern slides, accompanied by an explanatory parallel text in French and in English. Translation by Barbara Wright. Preface by Stefan Themerson. 1955. Black series nos. 5-6 * Patrick Fetherston. ''Day Off''. A story with drawings by

Patrick Hayman Patrick Hayman (1915–1988) was an English artist who worked in a variety of media including painting, drawing and three-dimensional constructions as well as poetry. Although he only lived in Cornwall for a few years, he was closely associated ...

. 1955. Black series no.7 * ''The Gaberbocchus Independent''. Broadsheet about Gaberbocchus with extracts from books and reviews. 1955 * Stefan Themerson. ''factor T. An essay on human nature and another on beliefs, concluded with the Semantic Sonata and an index.'' 1956. Black series nos.8-9s. * J.H. Sainmont. (pseudonym of ), translated by

Stanley Chapman Stanley Chapman (15 September 1925 – 26 May 2009) was a British architect, designer, translator and writer. His interests included theatre and 'pataphysics. He was involved with founding the ''National Theatre'' of London, was a member of Oul ...

. '' Camille Renault (1866-1954): World-maker.'' 1957. Black series no.10 * Axel Stern. ''Metaphysical Reverie'', 1956. drawings by Jean Krillé . Black series no.11 * Beverly Jackson Huddleston. ''A Line in Time''. Cartoons. 1957. Black series no.12 * ''The First Dozen by various authors''. (The Black Series in a single volume) 1958 * Raymond Queneau. ''

Exercises in Style ''Exercises in Style'' (), written by Raymond Queneau, is a collection of 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different style. In each, the narrator gets on the "S" bus (now no. 84), witnesses an altercation between a man (a zazou) with a l ...

''. The story of a minor brawl in a Paris bus, told in 99 different ways. First English translation by Barbara Wright. 1958 * Stevie Smith. ''Some are more human than others. A sketchbook with handwritten comments and drawings by the author. 1958 * Stefan Themerson. ''Kurt Schwitters in England: 1940-1948''. The first publication of Schwitters' English poems and prose, written during the last 8 years of his life. 1958 * George Buchanan. ''Bodily Responses.'' Poetry. 1958 * George Buchanan. ''Green Seacoast.'' Autobiographical essay. 1959 * James Laughlin. ''Confidential Report & other poems'' (''Selected Poems'' in some copies). 1959 * Harold Lang & Kenneth Tynan. ''The Quest for Corbett.'' Written for radio. Presentation by Franciszka Themerson. 1960 * Edmund Héafod (pseud. Osias Bain). ''Gimani. Prose journal.'' 1961 * Eugene Walter. ''Singerie-Songerie. A masque on the subject of Lyric Mode'' with illustrations by Zev. 1961 * George Buchanan. ''Conversations with Strangers''. Poems and notes. 1961 * Oswell Blakeston. ''The Night's Moves. A thriller.'' 1961 * Stefan Themerson. ''Cardinal Pölätüo''. Novel. 1961 *

Raoul Hausmann Raoul Hausmann (July 12, 1886 – February 1, 1971) was an Austrian artist and writer. One of the key figures in Berlin Dada, his experimental photographic collages, sound poetry, and institutional critiques would have a profound influence on ...

& Kurt Schwitters. ''

Pin A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

and the story of Pin''. Edited and introduced by

Jasia Reichardt Jasia Reichardt (born Janina Chaykin; 13 November 1933) is a British art critic, curator, art gallery director, teacher and prolific writer, specialist in the emergence of computer art. In 1968 she was curator of the landmark ''Cybernetic Serendi ...

. 1962 * Anatol Stern. ''Europa. Facsimile reproduction of one of the first Polish futurist poems, 1925. Translated from the Polish by Michael Horovitz and Stefan Themerson.'' illustrated with stills from the Themersons' lost film of 1932. 1962 * Bertrand Russell. ''History of the World in Epitome (For use in Martian infant schools)''. 1962 * Franciszka and Stefan Themerson. ''Semantic Divertissements.'' 1962 * Oswell Blakeston. ''Fingers''. Prose with drawings by ''Herbert Jones''. 1964 * Stefan Themerson. ''Bayamus and the Theatre of Semantic Poetry. A semantic novel.'' 1965 * George Buchanan. ''Morning Papers''. 1965 * Stefan Themerson. ''Tom Harris. Novel in two parts''. 1967 * Patrick Fetherston. ''Three Days After Blasphemies.'' Poetry. 1967 * Stefan Themerson. ''

Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early ...

's Lyrical Ideograms.'' 1968 * Franciszka Themerson. ''Traces of Living''. Drawings. 1969 *

. ''The Good Citizen's Alphabet''. An adventure in wicked humour. Illustrated by Franciszka Themerson & ''History of the World in Epitome (For use in Martian infant schools)''. published in one volume. * Stefan Themerson. ''Special Branch.'' A novel. 1972 * Stefan Themerson. '' St. Francis and the

Wolf of Gubbio The Wolf of Gubbio was a wolf who, according to the ''Little Flowers of St. Francis'', terrorized the Umbrian city of Gubbio until he was tamed by Francis of Assisi acting on behalf of God. The story is one of many in Christian narrative that depi ...

, or Brother Francis' Lamb Chops. An opera''. 1972 * Cozette de Charmoy. ''The True Life of

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...

.'' 1973 * Stefan Themerson. ''Logic, Labels & Flesh.'' 11 essays. 1974 * David Miller. ''South London Mix''. Poetic prose. 1975 * Stefan Themerson. ''On Semantic Poetry''. 1975 *

Henri Chopin Henri Chopin (18 June 1922 – 3 January 2008) was a French avant-garde poet and musician. Life Henri Chopin was born in Paris, 18 June 1922, one of three brothers, and the son of an accountant. Both his siblings died during the war. One was sh ...

. The Cosmographical Lobster. A poetic novel. 1976 * Stefan Themerson. ''General Piesc, or the Case of the Forgotten Mission.'' A short novel. 1976 * Stefan Themerson. ''The Urge to Create Visions.'' Essay on film. 1983 * Stefan Themerson. ''The Mystery of the Sardine.'' A novel. 1986 * Stefan Themerson. ''Hobson's Island.'' A novel. 1988 *

Nicholas Wadley Nicholas Wadley (30 April 1935 – 1 November 2017) was a British art critic, art historian, biographer, cartoonist and illustrator. Biography He was born in Elstree, Hertfordshire, the youngest child of Kitty, an administrator at the Bank of E ...

, ed. ''The Drawings of Franciszka Themerson'', 1991 * Stefan Themerson. ''Collected Poems''. 1997

References

External links

official website
Archive
website in UK {{Authority control Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1948 Publishing companies established in 1948 Publishing companies disestablished in 1979 Publishing companies based in London Small press publishing companies 1948 establishments in England 1979 disestablishments in England King's Road, Chelsea, London