GWR books and booklets
History books
The very first series of travel books published by the GWR, starting in 1904, were written by A.M.Broadley, a well known writer of the day. These books were very poular and certain titles remained in print with successive editions being published until 1926. His attempt at documenting the history of the GWR was not as successful however. When proof copies of his All about the Great Western arrived at Paddington in 1911 it was so badly received that the project was curtailed despite there already having been a large outlay involved in getting that far. Following this false start it was to be more than a decade before another attempt was to be made.
In his memoirs, Sir Felix Pole recalls how a GWR sponsored and published history eventually came to be produced. A body of material had been collected by George Milford who was head of the telegraph office in Bristol with the intention of producing a book, but had not proceeded further. Sir Felix Pole, by then the General Manager of the GWR, knew of this initial work and was keen to see a comprehensive and authorative history of the company published. A conversation between him and Mr. E.T.MacDermot, who was a barrister and Great Western enthusiast, led to a commission to produce the work. The research already completed by George Milford was handed over and MacDermot was given free access to the Company records in order to complete the task. He was assisted by E.L.Ahrons and A.C.W.Lowe who compiled the chapters on locomotives and rolling stock. The work was published in two stages. The first volume, in two parts, was published in 1927, with the second volume following in 1931.
These books certainly received much advanced publicity, and an
eight page leaflet
Author's collection
Click or tap link to scroll through
a gallery of images from this leaflet
promoting the two part Volume I was released in 1927. As with the other publicity at around the same time, this leaflet promised that volume II would be available 'next year', that would have been 1928, but it did not actually appear until 1931. Despite being an official GWR publication, the books were available via theThe Railway Magazine, and the leaflet had a tear-off order form addressed to them on the back cover. Despite being well received these books were never reprinted, possibly the price of 10/6 for each of the three books in the set was a bit expensive compared to other GWR publications. The three books were revised by C.R.Clinker in 1964 and have been republished a number of times since.
Our set of these books came with a three page typed list of errata
Typed list of errata
Author's collection. The introduction to this list reads The following list contains all the errata that the author accepted during his lifetime. It was published in "The Journal of Transport History" Vol.1 No.3 (The University College of Leicester) May 1954. The published list may well have served as the basis for the subsequent revision by C.R.Clinker.
Volume I (parts I and II) published in 1927 and Volume II published in 1931
Written and edited by E.T.MacDermot
Frontispiece to Volume I part I
The GWR published a number of other books illustrating various aspects of the history of the Great Western Railway and we illustrate those in our collection below. As with MacDemot's history set, several of these books were republished many years later, some in facsimile form. In 1971 Adams & Dart of Bath published a hard back book 
The Birth of the Great Western Railway
Author's collectionThe Birth of the Great Western Railway – Extracts from the Diary and Corresponence of George Henry Gibbs. This book was edited by Jack Simmons and contained the complete text from the original GWR publication (itself originally published in serial form in the Great Western Railway Magazine between 1909 and 1910) with the addition of a preface, introduction, and explanatory notes by the editor. Another book, published by David & Charles in 1972, was The Great Western Railway's Last Look Forward. This was a monochrome reprint
Reprint published by David & Charles
Author's collection of Next Station with an added introductory note by the original author, Christian Barman. In it he records that the GWR edition may well have been one of the last books with colour plates printed by traditional lithography. Thomas Edgar Griffits, a highly skilled lithographer, was due to retire at the end of 1947 and it was arranged that the artists' drawings for the seven colour illustrations
One of the colour illustrations from
Next Station should be hand-copied by him on lithographic plates. He was the author of several books including The Technique of Colour Printing by Lithography which was published in 1944 with a foreword by Frank Pick, and The Rudiments of Lithography which was published a year before he died in 1957.
Published circa 1912
Introduction by Rt. Hon. Lord Aldenham
published by the Great Western Railway Magazine
Published in 1922 by Selwyn and Blount
Written by Edwin A. Pratt
distributed by the Great Western Railway Magazine
Published in 1935
Reprint of the GWR Centenary Number of "The Times"
produced for presentation rather than for sale
Published in 1945
Ashley Brown
published in 1947
Christian Barman
published by George Allen & Unwin for the GWR
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Other publishers
Before the GWR sponsored E.T.MacDermot's history of the Great Western Railway, a few independant authors had tackled the subject.
Colour lithograph print of Pangbourne Station
J.C.Bourne - 1846
A collection of lithographs illustrating the construction of the London & Birmingham Railway by John Cooke Bourne was published in book form in 1839 by John Britton who supplied the accompanying historical text. The success of this work led to Bourne producing a similar work documenting the GWR. The first lithographs were published in 1843 and the final collected volume in 1846 by Tilt & Bogue with text by George Thomas Clark. Both these very large format books were republished in facsimile form by David & Charles
Facsimile books published by David & Charles in 1969/70
Author's collection in 1969/70, albeit with reduced and uncoloured content, with the GWR one again in a limited edition of 500 to mark their 21st anniversary in April 1981.
We are pleased to have in our collection this print of Pangbourne Station which is understood to be one of very few known examples of a hand coloured lithograph produced from the original lithograph stones circa 1860.
A History of the Great Western Railway written by G.A.Sekon
published in 1895 by Digby, Long & Co. of London
G.A.Sekon - 1895
The author George Augustus Nokes, who wrote under the name G.A.Sekon, wrote several books on railway history, and was the founding editor of The Railway Magazine. He wrote A History of the Great Western Railway, with the subtitle 'being The Story of the Broad Gauge', which was published in 1895 by Digby, Long & Co. of London. This illustrated book covered the life of the broad gauge until its final demise.
This is a fascinating book and it is very obvious that the author is a staunch supporter of the broad gauge and much opposed to the 'narrow gauge'. In the section which deals with the conversion of gauge, it is interesting to read that the very first line to be converted from broad to narrow (or standard) gauge was the seven mile branch between Priness Risborough and Aylesbury. This was completed in 1868 and apparently left the branch cut off from the rest of the network for two years until the main line of the Wycombe Railway was converted in 1870.
At the end of the introduction the author notes that ...'The only other history of the Great Western Railway was published forty-eight years ago, and cost £4, 14s, 6d. per copy, so that I think it cannot be denied that a cheaper and up-to-date work on the subject is requisite. Whilst not mentioning it by name, he was referring to Bourne's book.
The Romance of a Railway
published in 1925 by The Albion Publishing Co. Ltd.
Unknown author - 1925
In 1925 The Albion Publishing Co. Ltd. of London produced The Romance of a Railway - The Great Western Railway which contained much information regarding the history of the Great Western Railway up until grouping. This 10" x 8" book contained forty numbered pages plus almost as many pages of advertisements. Whilst it is not noted in reference sources as being a GWR publication, it certainly gave the impression that it was, bearing as it did the company crest and name on its title page, and it is regarded as such by some collectors.
The Locomotive Magazine and Railway Carriage and Wagon Review, Volume 32 No. 404 (15 April 1926) carried this short review of the book. ...An illustrated booklet, nicely printed, has just been issued by the Albion Publishing Co. Ltd. Opening with a section on the genesis of railways, the remainder of the book is practically a condensed history of the Great Western Railway, with chapters on the battle of the gauges, and the development of the line and its rolling stock. There are many illustrations and a map of the G.W.R. system.
Sir Felix Pole's memoirs
Published for private circulation in 1954
Felix J.C. Pole - 1954
We feel privileged to have in our collection a copy of the book published by Sir Felix Pole in 1954, intended for private circulation at Christmas. He was general manager of the Great Western Railway between 1921 and 1929, and the book recollects his working life. Our copy carries a hand written note To Mrs. Payne, With all good wishes & thanks for much help - 1954 signed Felix Pole. Mrs Payne was the lady who typed up the original manuscript and the book was bought from a member of her family. The book was printed for him at the printing works of the Reading Standard, and a facsimile edition was produced by Town and Country Press Ltd. of Bracknell in 1968. Both these editions were published as hard back books but a paper back version has also been seen.
This book is a personal memoir, and so covers a wider subject matter than purely GWR history, it nonetheless contains much insight into the GWR during his association with the company. Whilst it is not a history book as such, it was felt that this page was the most apropriate place to record it.
