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The Themerson ArchiveThe Themerson archive consists of thousands of documents relating to the work of Franciszka and Stefan Themerson. Their work encompassed film-making, publishing (Gaberbocchus Press), painting, writing, graphic design, theatre design, and, above all, experiment within these fields. The archive material relates principally to their life in London between 1940 and 1988. An important part of that life was their foundation of the Gaberbocchus Press, the largest small press during the 1950s and 1960s in London. The archive includes letters, accounts, photographs, printed ephemera, books, artwork, printing plates, manuscripts and typescripts, designs, sketches, catalogues of their exhibitions and reviews of books published by Gaberbocchus Press, founded by the Themersons in 1948 and remained under their control until 1979. Also included is material connected with Gaberbocchus Common Room which occupied the basement of 42a Formosa Street, where lectures, recitals, film screenings and performances were held between 1957 and 1959. The purpose of the Common Room was to breach the gap between the arts and the sciences by bringing together people interested in both cultures. Apart from material directly related to the Themersons’ publishing activities, there are manuscripts, books and personal correspondence of Stefan Themerson (film-maker, writer, publisher) and Franciszka Themerson (film-maker, painter, stage designer, publisher, illustrator), in three languages (Polish, French, English) and relating to their lives and work in Poland before the war, in France from 1938 and subsequently in England. The archive also contains articles and reviews about the Themersons and their work; their collection of books by various collaborators and a further collection of books on subjects of relevance to their work. Since 1988 (when both the Themersons died), the
archive is organised, housed and looked after by Jasia Reichardt and Nicholas
Wadley. The object of creating and maintaining the Themerson Archive is its preservation (documents are filed in plastic folders for protection and bound so that they can be read like a book), widest possible accessibility (the archive is intended ultimately for a public institution) and usability (the filing system is alphabetical and chronological; with cross references). Subjects of the archive include: art, the avant-garde, book production, books, concrete poetry, constructivism, dada, decency, ethics, experiment, film, humour, language, London, nonsense, philosophy, poetry, prose, publishing, the relationship between art and science, satire; science, the Second World War, semantic poetry, theatre, translation, typography. The archive throws light on 50 years of an independent creative enterprise and intellectual life in a cold climate, encompassing a great variety of activities with contacts spanning Europe, America, Australia, Canada, Mexico and South America. The material is housed in a first floor room at 12 Belsize Park Gardens. It is contained in folders on shelves, filing cabinets and boxes. Themerson Archive Website: www.themersonarchive.com |