Herb Lester

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Herb Lester

Guides to the usual, the unusual, and other things.

24/07/2024

More than half the pre-orders dropped in time to make the 5.30 post pickup. The rest will go tomorrow. Thanks to all who preordered, and to and for making this thing.

23/07/2024

Birthday greetings to the incomparable Raymond Chandler (23 July 1888-26 March 1959)
Explore his world in our authoritative guide, written by , illustrated and designed by

22/07/2024

👀

18/07/2024

Remembering these Old New York postcards by and thinking about bringing them back. Who’s in?

15/07/2024

Luggage tags for air, rail, land and sea. Printed in England.

20/06/2024

Nice weather for it. Design by in an uncharacteristic palette.

17/06/2024

Promo postcards we pack with most orders, designed by the incomparable

15/06/2024

All the seasons are covered in Illustrated Ivy, making it a handy companion for an average English summer’s day. ☔️🌦️⚡️

22/05/2024

Out now! Facts Concerning HP Lovecraft And His Environs - bonus postcard pictured.
Written by Gary Lachman
Illustration and design by pulpmaster supreme
Today, HP Lovecraft’s name is a byword for the mysterious, the arcane and the bizarre. His stories of fantasy and horror are revered, and his creations are still vivid. Yet during his short, unhappy life, he was all but unknown. Physically weak and tormented by his own eccentricities, his was a hand-to-mouth existence spent in shabby dwellings in Providence and Brooklyn. From childhood, he fantasised about life in pre-Revolutionary America; as an adult, he undertook long sojourns up and down the eastern seaboard, visiting sites he associated with an age of lost glory. All of this is documented in the map and guide within, along with the real-life locations that formed the basis for his most famous fictional creations – Arkham, Innsmouth, Dunwich and Kingsport. Welcome to the world of HP Lovecraft: you might say it’s an interesting place to visit, but we wouldn’t want to live there.
Facts Concerning HP Lovecraft And His Environs is written by Gary Lachman, author of books on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness to literary suicides and the history of the occult. He has also written numerous biographies, including those of Aleister Crowley, Rudolf Steiner, C. G. Jung, and Colin Wilson. As Gary Valentine, he was a founding member of the pop group Blondie.

24/04/2024

Relax baby be cool… pre-orders for our guide to Serge Gainsbourg’s Paris are now open. Design by

18/03/2024

You gotta know when to hold ‘em.

16/03/2024

Allow us to assist with this weekend’s itinerary.

15/03/2024

Packing a pleasingly pink order.

01/03/2024

Teaser for another forthcoming publication. Exceptional graphic ex*****on by

27/02/2024

Partial reveal of the extra item coming with the next publication. Looking forward to sharing the full extent of this beautiful work by

02/02/2024

A Valentines gift for the lovelorn and lonely. Designed by , written by sad Mr Lester.

03/01/2024

Hope to resurrect some old titles this year. Which would you like to be made available again?

31/12/2023

Ending the year with a teaser for the one ahead: a scandalous guide designed by the inestimable , written and doggedly researched by
So many plans for this little company in 2024, some of which may even come to pass. Watch thus space.

20/12/2023

Last Christmas orders are now in the post.
Thanks to all who have bought Herb Lester products this year and of course to the many wonderful collaborators it is my pleasure and privilege to work with. In no particular order, that means you - .work and the untaggable Robert Bruce and Gary Lachman. Much more in store for 2024. Crimble greetings one and all!

01/12/2023

Join us this weekend at The Bloomsbury Jamboree. Stock up on Herb Lester items for Christmas aalongside other small press publishers, illustrators and printmakers. Entry is just £2, advance tickets available on eventbrite.

27/11/2023

This Saturday and Sunday December 2 and 3. I’ll be hawking Herb Lester items at alongside other small press publishers, illustrators and printmakers. Entry is just £2, advance tickets available on eventbrite.

19/11/2023

Greatly looking forward to the weekend of December 2 and 3, when I’ll be peddling Herb Lester product at alongside other small press publishers, illustrators and printmakers. Entry is just £2, advance tickets available on eventbrite.

13/11/2023

Another Bloomsbury-themed posts as we look forward to the on the first weekend in December
Taken from The Beast In Britain, written by Gary Lachman and designed by

09/11/2023

On the first weekend in December we will be at the - look it up, you’ll be pleased you did.
We love Bloomsbury and it features in many of our guides, so as we count down to the event, we’ll share some extracts from our guides that highlight events in the surrounding streets.
We begin with a dead letter drop from The Secret City, written by and designed by

27/10/2023

Scarf weather has arrived. Image from our Illustrated Ivy guide by Kazuo Hozumi.

24/10/2023

Spotted at in the excellent company of EB White and our friends . Tip o’ the hat to eagle-eyed for the photo.

13/10/2023

Happy Friday the 13th!

07/10/2023

So much spookiness in store at herblester.com.

25/09/2023

Something beastly coming soon. Pre-order info going out to mailing list subscribers this week.
Design:

06/09/2023

A fan’s guide to the London of Jackson Lamb and his slow horses.

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Videos

Coming next. Pre-order yours now! Design by @ssugiuchi Text and tireless research @staceyboy06

New guide incoming! Tabloid-tastic design by @ssugiuchi Text and tireless research @staceyboy06

Cock a hoop to have How To Find Old New York back - almost! Stock arrives next week. In the time since we published the original How To Find Old New York much has changed - some places have closed, others have modernised, a few have let standards slip. And so we’re delighted to present a thoroughly updated guide featuring 45 of the finest extant examples of Old New York. A guide revealing yesterday’s city today! Here you’ll find history and oodles of character: weathered saloons with a century of service; blazing neon signage; a restaurant with a relish tray, gratis; smoked fish that becomes the object of obsession; pastrami and matzoh ball soups that inspire fierce partisanship; the quintessential pizza; bookstores and newsstands; a candy shop and a pickle emporium, and no management consultants to optimise the brand. These are not the destinations you’ll see in every guide - you know all those. They’re spots that hit the mark of time gracefully or disgracefully, in our book of favourites. Here is our beloved Old New York, the city we can still find despite the whims of fashion. How To Find Old New York appears in a new, fold-out format, which concertinas to reveal 10 A5 panels, all litho-printed in England on sturdy yet luxurious 300gsm stock. Written by Jon Hammer and Karen McBurnie Design by Jim Datz

Making up menu translators as summer approaches.

What do Patricia Highsmith fans make of the latest Ripley?

Brooklyn Mom & Pop: written by @gradeafancymag cover design by @hoodzpahdesign page design by @mike_lemanski

Making some themed collections of our guides. Look for them in the Bundles + Offers section of the site.

All three London spy-related are in stock and, just between us, we’re selling them as a set for the discounted price of £30.

So good to visit @schulzmuseum. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

Where it all went wrong for Walter Neff. The house from Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity.

Back in stock, grab it while you can. Words @gradeafancymag Design @kiracrugnale

Coming soon! Written by @thatufopodcast and designed by @bethmathews

Revisit the London of Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols in our new guide, Situation Vacant. Written by Paul Gorman, McLaren’s acclaimed biographer, designed by Ricardo Santos, it charts the inspiring, irrepressible McLaren’s journey from Stoke Newington to Soho and beyond and that of his protégés, from Hammersmith to Buckingham Palace. https://www.herblester.com/products/situation-vacant-the-sex-pistols-and-malcolm-mclaren-in-london

Situation Vacant

Revisit the London of Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols in our new guide, Situation Vacant. Written by Paul Gorman, McLaren’s acclaimed biographer, and designed by Ricardo Santos, it charts the inspiring, irrepressible McLaren’s journey from Stoke Newington to Soho and beyond and that of his protégés, from Hammersmith to Buckingham Palace. https://www.herblester.com/products/situation-vacant-the-sex-pistols-and-malcolm-mclaren-in-london

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About us

We started Herb Lester in 2010, making simple folded guides to the cities we love. It’s our intention to have a distinctive voice and follow our interests rather than respond to passing fashions. Everything we include in our guides and everything we do is because we like it and think our readers will too.