Theme of the Month: The Month of May
Contributed by Catriona

There is often a moment of panic when I'm reminded it is my turn to write Theme of the Month for the website and this time was no exception. However, the title of a Madrigal being learned by my local choir keeps going round in my head and it became the title of this article.

The madrigal (a part song for several voices, usually unaccompanied and often from the Renaissance period for those who were wondering) was written by Thomas Morley and published in 1595...

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Featured Book: The Costume of Yorkshire
Contributed by Sonia

George Walker was the son of William Walker, a successful Leeds businessman. He was born in May 1781 at Killingbeck Hall, Seacroft near Leeds.

He was educated in York and then went on to become an artist, initially concentrating on local and rural life.

In 1814, he was commissioned by a local bookseller to produce a series of paintings known as The Costume of Yorkshire. Here we are given glimpses of the occupations, dress and life of the labouring classes in Yorkshire at the time.

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Bonus Article: T.N. Foulis, Publishers
Contributed by Mr. Eric Arbuckle

The Edinburgh based publishing house of T.N. Foulis was founded in 1903 by Thomas Noble Foulis and Douglas A Foulis. The title ‘T.N. Foulis’ was adopted in 1905.

The output of the firm during the first quarter of the 20th century, was outstanding in terms of book design, illustration and production. T.N. Foulis himself declared in his catalogue of 1913 - "Each Foulis book is the particular outcome of much personal thought and consideration. The more mechanical methods of modern publishing, which pours out wholesale, indiscriminately bound, or with featureless uniformity, have no attraction for Mr. Foulis and his fellow craftsmen...."

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