Writer's Block

My sister, Miranda, came to lunch recently and brought me this:

King Alfred School bookplate block

It is a printing block engraved by our father, Cecil Watts Paul-Jones, ‘Paul’, in the 1960s or 70s for our mother, Nikki, who was head teacher at King Alfred’s School, Hampstead, London NW11.

The block was used to make labels to go inside books which had been presented to the school’s Junior Library. The image would be mainly the colour of the ink - probably black but maybe green which was the colour often used by the school. It would have a white crest and lettering and a white space at the bottom to write the name of the person donating the book. KAS was a progressive, private school. Due to a combination of fees, a liberal outlook and it's location the school had an significant number of ‘celebrity’ parents and ’celebrity-to-be’ pupils. So it is probable that some of these books have very valuable labels in them. Or rather, had very valuable labels in them, as I suspect the best will have been harvested and put in autograph collections or on eBay*. Cynical? Me? Heaven forfend...

The block is boxwood obtained from an engraving supplies dealer in central London. Paul took me to the shop in the 1960s and I think about that visit occasionally. I thought it may have been in Covent Garden or thereabouts, maybe Neal’s Yard. My memory is certainly of a dark and dingy corner of London and as I remember we had to climb to the first or second floor on an external stairway. It had the grim feel of Fagin’s loft and the place was staffed by old men in brown storemans’ coats. The colour scheme was old wood with the occasional bit of dull green thrown in to add some gaiety. Of course I may have made up some of the detail, but it is the image I have in my mind and gives as good a feeling of this esoteric establishment as any.

Fagin's Loft

In a moment of blind optimism I Googled ‘wood block engraving suppliers london’ and found Lawrence’s in Lewes and Hove, formerly of Bleeding Heart Yard, Farringdon, London EC1. I called the Lewes shop and spoke to Adam Lawrence who knew the ‘old place’. I asked if my memories of old dark wood, green paint, external stairways, old men and a Dickensian atmosphere were indeed those of Lawrences. He said “”Yes, that’s it, you were probably served by Stanley.” 

It seems Stanley was something of a singular character. I do not remember exactly what he said, after all it was nearly sixty years ago, but these were the days when small boys were called ’Sonny Jim’ in a patronising manner which would have put me firmly in my place. It was not meant to be aggressive or mean, but betrayed the attitude that children were little more than an irrelevant nuisance.  

Stanleys grandson, Simon Lawrence wrote a book, Tales from Bleeding Heart Yard as a commemoration of Stanley’s 80th birthday. 

Stanley Lawrence

It includes some quotes which tend to support my impression that he was not big on the niceties of customer service and explains why my memories of the visit have a foreboding quality:

"the uncertainties of dealing with him made for him a name recognised 

far and wide for probably the wrong reasons."

(Stanley said) "What do you want?", 

I said "I'd like to buy some blocks". 

He said, "I don't sell to new people". 

My other lasting memory is that Paul bought what seemed like an extremely small amount of wood for an extortionate amount of money.  But it would appear that this was a seller’s market, witnessed by Stanley’s handwritten notice which the book says was displayed next to the bookshelves:

"CUSTOMERS WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT PRICES 

MUST FIND AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF SUPPLY"

I notice that Stanley is not wearing a storeman’s brown coat in the engraving - maybe he discarded it for the occasion…  another engraving shows the steps up to the shop. It is sort of as I remembered, in that they were external and wooden, but there are only three and the shop is on the ground floor. Seems I have been channeling Fagin’s loft all along...

Paul showed me how to hold the engraving tool so that the right amount of pressure could be used for the cut, while keeping it in control and avoiding ruining either the uncut block or those parts already engraved. 

How to hold an engraving tool

It felt very unintuitive and ‘wrong’ to me as a ten year old - strangely similar to the discomfort I felt in the shop. I wanted to push the point using the ball of my thumb, but, as usual in these things, Paul was right and this grip is the best way of making delicate engravings. 

Paul’s remaining boxwood blocks, engraving tools, ink dabber and roller have been taken over by my nephew, Magnus, who has the skill and patience to use them properly.

Work By The Hands Stands The Test Of Time
whittled and engraved boxwood, approx 1" x 1" x 2"
Magnus Scholefiled 

And so the circle turns...

*A half-hearted look on eBay turned up nothing at time of writing.