Books For Part-Sighted

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31597, 7 February 1968, Page 14

Books For Part-Sighted

The origin of the Ulverscroft large-print books for the partiallysighted was described in Christchurch last evening by Mr F. A. Thorpe, who publishes them without profit and sells them only to libraries, hospitals, and approved welfare organisations at cost.

“I retired from publishing a short time ago after 30 years in the business and was invited by authorities in Leicester to join a committee for the aged,” Mr Thorpe said. "I learned about homes for the aged, meals on wheels, and other services, but noted that many people who had Jed an active mental life were cut off from reading as their sight failed. I then found that the Library Association and the Royal National Institution for the’Blind had been urging large-print books for 20 years but nobody would help them because of the high cost. “I decided to have a go myself or die in the attempt,” said Mr Thorpe. In 1964 he chose 12 titles and printed 3000 copies of each over three months. He had made an outlay of £20,000 of his own funds and had 36,000 volumes on his hands. They were twice the size of ordinary books, had print many times ordinary size, and four times as much ink as ordinary type, yet they weighed half as much because of specially-made paper.

Since then Mr Thorpe has printed three quarters of a million of 200 titles and sold more than half a million of them. Hospitals, homes for the aged, welfare organisations and libraries in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have the complete range and other English-speaking countries have many of them. “Many people think that once the books are available it is easy,” said Mr Thorpe, “but they don’t realise the special problems. Many of our readers have not opened a book for 15 or 20 years. They cannot concentrate for too long. Worse still they cannot go to libraries and may not have contact with a welfare group. We have to beat every bush round the world

to let them know of this service.”

For a start Ulverscroft books were light entertainment. Then travel, mystery (Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie), romance, and westerns became popular. Now. Mr Thorpe says, he has the cream of publishers’ lists at regular royalties. Ulverscroft was chosen as the name of the series because Mr Thorpe has a 200acre farm there and Ulverscroft ruins mark the first monastery of monks from Europe established in 800 A.D. Some of Britain’s earliest writings were done there. Mr Thorpe does not want to make his project a buslness. He aims to keep his

price ($2.25 in New Zealand) at the bare cost of production, excluding promotion expenses which he bears himself. But many readers want him to go into other lines with a limited sale. He has published a hospital hymn book in large type for the Free Church Council and “God Calling” (a book of daily devotions) will come out in March. He has printed dictionaries and 15 other titles for partially-sighted children, but has so far resisted requests to print knitting patterns in large type. In the, next two days, Mr Thorpe will meet many organisations in Christchurch which use his books.