{"id":1433,"date":"2025-06-02T11:40:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T11:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2026-07-16T11:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T11:44:22","slug":"stanley-catalogue-sizes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/stanley-catalogue-sizes\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanley catalogue sizes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my\u00a0earlier post\u00a0on <a href=\"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/2025\/02\/01\/1966-and-all-that-stanleys-last-catalogue\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stanley&#8217;s 1966 catalogue<\/a>, I noticed an oversight that deserved clarification. Having described the two formats of catalogue that Stanley relied on from the early years of the 20th century until the &#8220;A&#8221; edition of 1960, I remembered that there was in fact a\u00a0third format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Three sizes of Stanley catalogue - view of spines\" class=\"wp-image-1319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/graphography.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stanley_catalogues_3_sizes_02-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Besides the large hardcover editions intended for the office and smaller paperback pocket versions, I have a single example of what might be described as a &#8220;waistcoat pocket&#8221; size abridged &#8220;J&#8221; edition catalogue from 1909. Containing sections 2 and 3 only (drawing instruments and drafting supplies), this is almost a novelty item, the text so small that I need a magnifying glass to read it comfortably. In that sense, it reminds me of the\u00a0miniature version\u00a0of the <a href=\"https:\/\/findingaids.library.columbia.edu\/archives\/cul-6179350\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Andrew Alpern collection<\/a> catalogue that seems to have specially published for distributed to friends of the author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don&#8217;t know if these miniature Stanley catalogues were produced in any other years &#8211; there is no mention of them in the reasonably comprehensive list put together in 2012 by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/drawing-instruments.groups.io\/g\/main\/message\/3622\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nick Mills<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211; and it is difficult to tell them apart from the ordinary pocket editions in photographs (indeed, based on its internet listing I had assumed my copy was the standard paperback). There is a hint that something of the kind might have been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/drawing-instruments.groups.io\/g\/main\/topic\/95751683#msg10792\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">produced in 1953<\/a>, but perhaps this refers to the ordinary pocket catalogue that is more commonly seen even than the full size version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my attempt to&nbsp;photograph all three sizes&nbsp;with a forced perspective diminution for the title image, somehow I managed instead to evoke the spirit of those&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/auctions.burstowandhewett.co.uk\/catalogue\/lot\/5f4bea009fb276e4e182246985bf2cff\/c87e406e317d82bb64ed7e2ebc5bb166\/antique-sale-lot-52\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">flying duck ornaments<\/a>&nbsp;so beloved of 1940s British households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my\u00a0earlier post\u00a0on Stanley&#8217;s 1966 catalogue, I noticed an oversight that deserved clarification. Having described the two formats of catalogue that Stanley relied on from the early years of the 20th century until the &#8220;A&#8221; edition of 1960, I remembered that there was in fact a\u00a0third format. Besides the large hardcover editions intended for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[39,347,9,36,126,236,346,4],"class_list":["post-1433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drawing-instruments","tag-20th-century","tag-books","tag-catalogues","tag-drawing","tag-england","tag-instrument","tag-miniature","tag-stanley","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1433"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1724,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433\/revisions\/1724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphography.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}