Faber Finds :
Faber and Faber launches a new imprint that aims to combine the best of the old with the best of the new.
Faber Finds is a groundbreaking new publishing imprint whose aim is to restore to print for future generations a wealth of lost classics and authors of distinction using the latest in digital technology. There can be little more disheartening for an avid reader than to discover that your favourite book has gone out of print, or a much-loved author’s work has become completely unavailable, and Faber Finds seeks to go some way to remedying this situation.
Faber Finds (www.faberfinds.co.uk) will be launched on 2 June with a hundred titles. The initial list contains many striking names: Jacob Bronowski, one of the greatest polymaths of the twentieth century, the centenary of whose birth is being celebrated this year; Lionel Davidson the sheer quality of whose writing has always blurred the distinction between the thriller and quality fiction categories; Geoffrey Grigson, initially being celebrated as the supreme maker of anthologies that he was; F. R. Leavis, the most impressive literary critic of the last century; P. H. Newby, winner of the very first Booker Prize; A. J. P. Taylor, if not the greatest then certainly the most stimulating historian of the twentieth century; and Angus Wilson whose eclipse is unfathomable but who needs to be restored to the pantheon of great English social novelists.
Faber Finds is a rolling programme of titles throughout the year and aims to publish up to twenty titles every month. There are names that should intrigue: Celia Dale, a crime novelist highly praised by the likes of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell; Constance Garnett, the doyenne of Russian translators; R. C. Hutchinson, ambitious and consistently underrated; John Cowper Powys, one of the most extraordinary of all writers; and Nina Bawden, that much-loved writer of children’s fiction.
The range embraces fiction and non-fiction, children’s books and the arts, in a unique project - a constantly updated and expanding list chosen by writers, editors and readers. Faber’s own writers have played their part, writers such as Wendy Cope, Jan Morris, Andrew Motion and Brian Friel have all chosen books they would love to see published again, and now through our website everyone has the chance to nominate works to join the Faber Finds list.
Faber Finds was conceived by Faber and Faber CEO and Publisher Stephen Page. John Seaton is the Editor in charge of the series. Using the latest technology, the text of each book has been beautifully reset by Libre Digital, the files of which will enable us to pursue future digital editions of these lost classics. Each copy is printed specially on demand by Anthony Rowe on high spec paper.
Darren Wall is responsible for the innovative design, drawing together programmer Karsten Schmidt who has developed a world first - a self-generating technique for creating the stylish covers, and award-winning typographer Michael Place, who has created a new typeface, Hammond.
A website (www.faberfinds.co.uk) has been designed by Lateral (www.lateral.net) to house and promote the imprint, allowing readers to suggest new books and authors to join the series and to add to the database of information about each writer and book published in Faber Finds.
Stephen Page comments:
‘The ideas that Faber Finds now embodies were a response to thinking about the relationship between new technology and excellent writing. We were convinced that readers and writers should have a richer experience from new media developments and wanted to apply that to books that were unavailable due to old technology. It’s a project that has gripped our staff and many of our writers, and I hope that readers will respond with equal enthusiasm.’