The Dovecote Press 50 Year Anniversary
The Dovecote Press was founded by David Burnett in 1974 to publish A Dorset Camera 1855-1914. It had been turned down by every publisher David approached, so he decided to publish it himself: it went on to be sell nearly 12,000 copies.
The first office was a garden shed, which David’s wife later accidentally burnt down. A barn overlooking the River Allen and its water meadows a few miles from Wimborne then became both warehouse and office.
Over the years that followed the Dovecote Press has published well over 300 titles, many of them about Dorset. Its authors have included Cecil Beaton, David Cecil, John Fowles, Jack Hargreaves (whose autobiography Out of Town has sold 80,000 copies), James Lees-Milne, John Julius Norwich, Hugo Vickers, and a long list of distinguished local historians experts in their field.
Amongst many forewords, those by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and the King when Prince of Wales are of particular note.
Again and again reviewers have remarked on the quality of Dovecote Press books and the care taken in their design and production.
The passing years and a recent move to the Marshwood Vale seem a fitting moment to celebrate 50 of the most enjoyable years any publisher could wish for.
A selection of some of our books over the years
