Centenary Catalogue


To commemorate the Centenary of The Deveron Press we have published 10 classic Deveron texts with Leatham connections.  All our books are available in new paperback editions for purchase direct from Unco Books.

THE CENTENARY COLLECTION NOW AVAILABLE 
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Daavit

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James Leatham's biography of his friend David Scott is  'a genuine nugget of humour and character… Heaped up, pressed down and running over with droll stories'– Scotsman.
It is fortunate that the pawky Scot so faithfully depicted in these pages should have been limned by a friend who has himself a genuine sense of humour, and who adds to insight and sympathy expert literary craftsmanship – Aberdeen Free Press.

60 Years of World-Mending

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An autobiography like no other.  From 1940-1945 Leatham serialised his reflections on his life and times in Gateway Magazine it was unfinished at the time of his death. Published for the first time some 70 years later this book offers an insight into cultural and political life in Britain from the 1880's through to the 1940's. 
Leatham was in at the birth of socialism, committed to co-operative collectivism and man of unwavering principle. He believed that: 'To tell an audience of working folk vital truths that they would not be likely to hear or read from the soothsayers of the established order is very good work when it is done, not merely to make them discontented, but with constructive changes in view. 
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Fisherfolk of the North East 

First published in the 1930s, Leatham explores the life and times of the Fishing Communities of the North East, especially the herring fishing at the end of the 19th century. He writes: 'The true fisher class are a people by themselves, living in the coastwise villages, born to the calling, and having largely a language, dress, outlook, and habits of their own.'

William Morris - Master of Many Crafts 

The first biography to be written about William Morris, Leatham's 'unauthorised' version was published shortly before MacKail's more comprehensive work, and offers a personal view on Morris as a Craftsman and Socialist. 

First published in 1897


​Shakespeare Studies 

In 1905 Leatham was commissioned by Westwood School to publish a series of Shakespeare critiques.  The seventeen pamphlets he produced are republished here in their entirety for the first time, offering a unique, idiosyncratic and at times simply astonishing view of 'the Bard' and his dramatic works 

Sketches of Life Among My ain Folk

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William Alexander's less famous follow up to 'Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk' this collection of stories reveals the world of the Aberdeenshire cottar in all its awful realism. 
The varied stories introduce us to a cast of character, all of them struggling to survive in a hostile world. Allied to an uncompromising satirical style the use of the vernacular while challenging to the modern reader, is one of the works greatest strengths
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Profile of a Socialist Pioneer 

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This is a new edition of Duncan's work first published in 1978 and offers an insight into the life and times of James Leatham.
Robert  Duncan’s biographical profile of James Leatham places the man in the context of his time and reveals him as a long neglected pioneering figure of British socialism. 
 Tracing Leatham from his roots in urban Aberdeenshire, through his political awakening in the 1880’s and his 60 years in the printing and publishing trades, Duncan concludes that Leatham defies attempts at simple categorisation into any one stream of socialist thought and practice. It is his very uniqueness and life-long commitment to his beliefs that makes Leatham such an interesting character in the cultural and political history of our country 

Shows and Showfolk 
First published in the 1930s. experience all the fun of the fair as Leatham gives us his observations on the people who make their living from shows - from the fairs of North East of Scotland, through the music halls to the Moulin Rouge in France. This is a tribute to the days of travelling shows, Contemporary reviewers said: 'It is a book of much gaiety and spirit.. remarkably vivid.'

William Morris and the early days of
The Socialist Movement 

 By J.Bruce Glasier this work gives an insight into Morris the Socialist, an angle missing from other contemporary accounts. 

This  biography was published by Deveron Press in 1921 with an introduction by May Morris. 


​Socialism and Character 

Leatham's first full length published work dates from 1897. As a young man, inspired by 'The Co-Operative Commonwealth' he lays out his vision for Socialism as more than simply a political movement. 


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