What the Papers Say

Book of the Month. Coffee Table Choice. Brilliantly executed. A delightful visual feast. Marvel of bookmaking. Hilarious! These are some of the things people are saying about Very Heath Robinson.

You spend four years producing a book, you publish it and then – you wait to see what people say. We are glad to report that Very Heath Robinson has attracted positive reviews, excerpts, features and interviews in The Daily Telegraph, iNews, The Spectator, Country Life and an eclectic mix of other publications on- and off-line.

‘Be aware this is a b-i-g book,’ said one Amazon customer. ‘Adam’s whopping (1.9 kg) wonderful new book’ seconded Guy Procter in Country Walking. We were almost taken aback ourselves when the advance copies arrived, but to give the pictures the space they need, you have to have a big format. This doesn’t come cheap: £40, not to put too fine a point on it. Luckily people have seen the value in it. ‘It may sound like a hefty price tag,’ wrote one Waterstone’s customer, but she felt it was well worth it and another reader echoed the point. ‘Unlike many Kickstarter books that are smaller than expected,’ wrote one of our subscribers, ‘this is a major work, very impressive.’

In a book like this the pictures dictate the subject matter, but we spent more time telling the stories behind the pictures than choosing them, so we are gratified to find that people are reading the book! ‘Hart-Davis writes in an engaging, entertaining style,’ says Jill Glen in Optima. ‘His pithy comments against each drawing greatly enhance this large volume,’ adds This England. It’s hard to choose a favourite comment, because frankly we’re spoiled, but we like ‘This is a book which warms your heart and allows you to revel in the skill and imagination of one of the great British illustrators’ from Derek Brazell of The Association of Illustrators and ‘A delightful visual feast complemented by the author’s enthusiasm for a man who brought warmth to his subjects while giving a discreet two-fingered salute to officialdom’ from Juliette Foster of Surrey Life. We are pleased that Philip Pullman’s Foreword was reproduced on a double-page spread in the Saturday edition of The Daily Telegraph, with half a dozen pictures from the book and a thematic pull-quote that captures the essence of Heath Robinson and his analogue age: ‘Our world has lost a lot of charm in the process of becoming digital.’

To see these and other press comments, please to go to Very Heath Robinson.