The Familiars provide a fresh look at the tradition of the illustrated novel, with each artist choosing a text to be reprinted in full as part of a newly created work. Each book is different in style and format, according to the needs of the artwork and the text. There are 14 books in the series. The Familiars series was nominated for the Brit Insurance Design Awards 2011. The series designer is John Morgan.
At Four Corners Books we seek to bring art history to life. Our aim is to explore unfamiliar corners of visual history, share the stories we find, and publish them as well as we can.
Run by Richard Embray and Elinor Jansz, we’ve been making books since 2003. Our aim is to create a space to reflect on artists and creative outputs from our recent past that have often been overlooked. It’s our mission to champion this creativity, in an accessible way.
We’re interested in those hidden pockets of art that can spark a bit of joy. Books that can amuse or educate, challenge or intrigue, delight or provoke. They are more than books about art. They are a way to experience it.
Publishing enquiries
Our main focus is art historical, with a particular interest in British art and design from c. 1945 to c. 2000; art or design that appeared outside of the art world, or work that wasn’t made for a gallery context; ephemera, protest, overlooked work, or collections that give an insight into social history.
Our books are primarily visual, although alongside that, we love to commission historians and art historians with new and interesting stories to tell.
For the most part we do not publish art theory or artists’ books. However we also occasionally commission artists to produce new illustrations for classic novels in our Familiars series. We are only able to commission titles in that series sporadically as these books are often slow to make.
Please contact us by email in the first instance. If you are a retailer wishing to make a trade order, please refer to our distributors listed below.
Four Corners Books, registered charity 1125471. Registered company 6591195. Company limited by guarantee, registered in England.
Trade enquiries / distribution:
Design by John Morgan studio
Programming by Benedict de Silva
Pictures by Four Corners Books
