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The book

 

Critical reception

 

Overseas editions

 

 

 

UK editions:

 

 

1935. Shallowford Edition: HW had thirteen sets of page proofs of the book (far more than the usual two or three copies) bound up as a special edition. These are chunky volumes (as page proofs, they are printed on one side of the paper only, so doubling the number of pages to be bound). Each copy is individual: half-bound in morocco leather, varying in colour (dark red, blue, green, brown, black) with four raised bands across the spine, and blending matching marbled boards, completed with gold lettering across the spine of title, author, and with ‘Shallowford Edition’ at the bottom. End papers are of a similar matching design. Each copy has an extra typed correction page bound into the text at page 312.

 

salar shallowfordedition

 

salar ltdsheet

 

salar p312

 

salar ltd lastpage

 

 

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There is a normal paperbound proof copy from which this Shallowford edition was set and which bears a considerable number of corrections and revisions even at this very late stage of production (unfortunately these are almost illegible on the scan of the sample page below):

 

salar proof

 

 

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1935. Faber & Faber, 17 October 1935 (actual date taken from reviews), 7s 6d:

 

The dust wrapper features a superb wrap around cover painting by C. F. Tunnicliffe; there is a striking vignette of a fishtail diving into water on the title page, and a new singular colophon design of a salmon with HW’s initials within its curve on the last page: both designed by Charles Tunnicliffe.

 

salar cover1935

 

salar cover1935b

 

salar fishtail

 

salar colophon

 

This edition was not illustrated but had charming endpapers of a decorative map covering the area of the book, not attributed, but obviously designed and executed by Tunnicliffe. This map, surely a key feature, was never repeated in future editions.

 

salar endpaper

 

This first edition was reprinted in November 1935 and December 1935, and later in 1941 and 1943. For some unknown and strange reason, considering the very effective cover design of the first edition, the dust wrapper for the November 1935 second impression was laminated with silver foil, with HW's salmon colophon as its centre feature:

 

salar cover1935 2imp

 

salar cover1935 2imp2

 

 

There are a large number of other editions of Salar the Salmon, with various changes of text and number of Tunnicliffe illustrations: a selection of those still held in HW’s archive is given here, but further information can be found in Hugoe Matthews, Henry Williamson: A Bibliography (2004).

 

 

1936. Faber & Faber, new illustrated edition, October 1936, with a new cover design by Charles F. Tunnicliffe and a total of 66 illustrations, including the previous black and white chapter headings (as in the USA edition), but with chapter endings now included, and also 16 superb colour plates, by Tunnicliffe. The endpapers have a design of a selection of the chapter-heading vignettes. The colour plates never appeared in any other edition (a great shame, but the cost would have been a major factor).

 

salar faber1936

 

salar faber1936 end

 

 

salar faber1936 illus

 

 

1941. Faber, The Faber Library series, July 1941, 3s 6d:

 

salar faber 1941

 

 

1943. Faber, a reprint of The Faber Library edition, 3s 6d:

 

salar faber 1943

 

 

1944. Faber, new edition, reprinted 1945, 1948 – 'produced in complete conformity with the authorized economy standards'; this is the dust wrapper for the second impression of July 1945:

 

salar faber1945

 

 

1946. Putnam (under licence from Faber): Limited edition of 500 copies, to match a complete set of The Henry Williamson Nature Books (see separate list of New editions published in the 1940s), with black & white Tunnicliffe illustrations: a full-page frontispiece which is unique to this edition, chapter heads & tailpieces. Chapter headings are set in the margins. There was no dust wrapper. It is not a particularly striking limited edition, partly because the blocks from which the illustrations were printed were by now well worn, so that illustrations are not as crisp as they were in earlier editions; though the five books make a nice set.

 

salar putnam1946

 

salar putnam1946a

 

 

1948. Faber & Faber, new edition, with 48 illustrations by Tunnicliffe:

 

salar faber1948

 

 

1949. Penguin Books, with their familiar classic orange and white cover design, no illustrations, 1s 6d:

 

salar penguin1949           salar penguin1949b

 

 

The printing of Salar in The Henry Williamson Animal Saga (Macdonald, 1960) is dealt with in that entry.

 

 

1960s. Faber issued further editions in 1961 and 1967, the latter as one of their 'Faber paper covered Editions', shown below:

 

salar faber1967

 

 

1972. Faber, illustrated edition, with cover illustrations reproduced from wood engravings by Elizabeth Trimby:

 

salar faber1972           salar faber1972b  

 

 

1986. Faber, a reprint of their 1972 edition, with a different cover (and which gives mention that there is a Henry Williamson Society, with the then current contact address):

 

salar faber1986

 

 

1987. Webb & Bower, a completely new hardback edition, £14.95.  Lavishly illustrated with cover, 31 colour paintings, and 18 black and white drawings by Mick Loates; Foreword by Mick Loates; Introduction by Richard Williamson (HW’s son, also a naturalist and writer), which gives an ‘insider’ view of HW and his writing:

 

salar webb1987

 

salar webb1987b

 

 

2010. Little Toller Books, with an Introduction by Michael Morpurgo, £10.00; the cover illustration is by Mark Hearld. The latest of the many editions of Salar, this has now gone into a second impression:

 

salar toller2010           salar toller2010b

 

 

 

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The book

 

Critical reception

 

Overseas editions

 

 

 

 

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