The Adventures of Billy Boy

Louisville: Contre Coup Press, 2016. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. One of 19 copies (unnumbered), small quarto size, 96 pp. Timothy Hawley, founder of The Contre Coup Press, bought his first press in 1979. His first book was published in 1980 and he would print "stuff that [he] enjoyed reading and..wanted to share with others" through 2019 (n.b., p. 12 of the bibliography, see "Citation" below).

This volume relates stories originally told by Timothy Hawley's grandfather, Ralph Perkins Hawley, to Timothy's father, Ralph Johnson Hawley. Apparently Ralph Sr. would tell Ralph Jr. "adventure" stories at bedtime, but when away from home (traveling for work) he occasionally wrote or typed these stories. While some terminology used in reference to other people in the adventure stories is certainly not correct according to our 21st-century sensibilities, "some of the stories reflect very forward-thinking values" (n.b., see p. 89 of the text). Also included is a biographical sketch of Ralph Perkins Hawley, "who led a strange and eventful life" (n.b., per the bibliographical entry).

With three photographs tipped-in and issued in an edition of only nineteen copies. Scarce: as of this writing, there are no copies online and our search of OCLC locates one institutional holding (University of Louisville).

___DESCRIPTION: Quarter brown cloth with decorated paper-covered boards, the title in gilt on the spine, brown laid paper endpapers, frontispiece one of three photographs, title page in black and brown, the other two photographs at pp. 66 and 85; hand-set Perpetua type on Hahnemuhle Gutenberg Laid mould-made paper from Germany, small quarto size (9 3/4" by 6 3/4"), pagination: [6] [1] 2-90.

___CONDITION: Fine overall, the boards clean, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a hint of a small spot of soil near the head of the spine, else fine.

___CITATION: Farrington, Lynne (Introduction), "Made (By Hand) In the Midwest, The Contre Coup Press, 1979-2019", published 2025.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note the following: (i) additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs, please inquire for details; and (ii) any taxes, duty, or tariffs charged by your country will, of necessity, be your responsibility.

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