Dolphin Books

I rather love Dolphin Books. Not books about dolphins (though I’m sure there are some great examples out there), but a short-lived series from Chatto and Windus in the early 1930s. Here are the ones I have…

I haven’t done an enormous amount (read: any) research into them, but there were at least 16 titles in the series – because Dickens by Osbert Sitwell (my most recent purchase) is #16. I don’t think there were very many more, despite their ‘future titles in process’ declaration.

It was my study of Sylvia Townsend Warner that alerted me to them. When I wanted to read her Opus 7, this was the version that arrived – or perhaps, before that, I read her interview in Louise Morgan’s delightful Writers at Work. Either way, I wasn’t intending to come across the series – but once I’d seen one, I was in love. They are a nicely tactile hardback, very short (all under 100pp, I think) and just lovely objects. Quite an eclectic mix of topics, but largely non-fiction – though Opus 7 is a long poem.

Writers at Work was hard to get affordably, but I waited until it was – because it’s such a nice set of interviews with various authors, exploring how they work and where they write. Think a Paris Review Interview but earlier and a little more homely (in the British sense of the word!) But besides that, I’ve not really actively sought them out – I’ve mostly just waited until I’ve seen them on bookshelves. I could probably complete my collection pretty cheaply with a few clicks, but it’s fun to keep an eye out and slowly build up my Dolphin Books pile with serendipitous finds.

(Unless this post means all of them suddenly disappear of course…)