THE ANGELA THIRKELL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICAANGELA THIRKELL’S PUBLISHERS
Angela Thirkell worked with a variety of publishers: in the UK, Hamish Hamilton was the original and long-time publisher of the Barsetshire novels (as was Oxford University Press for Three Houses). These first editions often are difficult to find, as they have been picked up by collectors. Penguin Publishers succeeded Hamish Hamilton as holders of the Barsetshire novels copyrights, and in 1998, Penguin in the UK issued The Brandons, Before Lunch, and Cheerfulness Breaks In. Virago Press in 2012 began gradually reissuing Angela Thirkell’s works in a very attractive paperback format, and these are available in both the UK, and increasingly in the US, in both paperback and electronic versions, including High Rising, Christmas at High Rising (a short story collection), Wild Strawberries, Pomfret Towers, August Folly, Summer Half, and The Brandons, as well as several others.
Original American hardcover editions were published by Alfred A. Knopf, now a part of Random House. The University of Texas at Austin has the records for Angela Thirkell at Knopf/Random House, roughly corresponding to the years of publication in the US. Moyer Bell (Asphodel Press) kept most of the Angela Thirkell Barsetshire novels in trade paperback form in stock throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, and these versions are widely available. The small-format paperback books published by Pyramid, with their covers showing lurid romantic adventures (now humorous) are increasingly rare, as their paperback format makes them increasingly fragile and hard-to-find. The Common Reader, no longer in business, published two of Angela Thirkell’s non-Barsetshire works with Common Reader Editions of Trooper to the Southern Cross and Tribute for Harriette (previously published as The Fortunes of Harriette).
Audio CD versions of High Rising, August Folly, Before Lunch, Summer Half, The Brandons, Cheerfulness Breaks In, and Coronation Summer are available as well.
Finally, it should be noted that many books are available in the US recorded and in braille from the NLS, a service of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). These include recordings of Before Lunch, The Brandons, Cheerfulness Breaks In, Coronation Summer, County Chronicle, The Duke’s Daughter, Enter Sir Robert, Growing Up, Happy Returns, and The Headmistress. Braille versions are available for: The Brandons, Cheerfulness Breaks In, County Chronicle, A Double Affair, The Duke’s Daughter, and The Headmistress.