TABB HOUSE was founded in January 1980. In the previous few years its director Caroline White had by chance met several authors with interesting lives or good stories to tell, but no publisher. One of these was Father Brocard Sewell, former editor of the literary magazine The Aylesford Review and at that time editor of an as-yet unpublished book on Henry Williamson (this was a collection of biographical and critical essays that included an address by the poet Ted Hughes and a piece by one of the Mitford sisters, Diana, Lady Moseley.) Another was Daphne Jackson, a redoubtable lady interned in the Second World War by the Japanese in Java. The coincidence of these encounters provided the impetus for the start of Tabb House. Father Sewell’s knowledge of literary matters and advice on publishing made it possible to create a small list that would contain books on aspects of literature, with 'living history' as memoirs and biography, and some ‘grass-roots’ writing by local authors. In time these categories expanded to include other matters such as children’s fiction, more types of history and factual books, while the location of Tabb House at Padstow in Cornwall resulted in an enlarged emphasis on Cornish subjects.

    Among early, widely praised titles from Tabb House are biographies including THE SLENDER TREE: a Life of Alice Meynell by June Badeni; also A RADICAL ARISTOCRAT: Sir William Molesworth of Pencarrow by Alison Adburgham (republished in paperback in 2007); and MUSIC IN THE AIR, the memoirs of a classical musician, Clifton Helliwell.

   Fiction ranges from the satirical short story MR GEORGE JONES, PRESIDENT, by John Retallack: ‘knocks Private Eye into a cocked hat’ said Peregrine Worsthorne, through light reading to John Adlard’s THE TIMID BENDING VENUS: ‘contains more wit than many novels twice as long’, The Times; and A  SEASON OF  LAMPLIGHT, by Trefor Vaughan, as poignant and as full of suspense as The Go-Between: ‘the best of a batch of new novels’, said the Guardian.

  Poetry includes Jack Clemo’s acclaimed THE DIFFERENT DRUMMER: ‘the language blazes with force and colour’, said Peter Porter in the Observer; and UNDER HELICON: Journeys in the Mediterranean by Penelope Tremayne: ‘not just unique and haunting but a triumph of book production’, Peter Levi, the Spectator.

   Childhood and country memoirs include LOBSTER AT LITTLEHAMPTON by Clare Sheppard and amusingly illustrated by her daughter Christine Sheppard: ‘indeed, I laughed aloud’, Frances Partridge, the Spectator; CAUGHT FROM TIME: A Country Diary of the 1920s by Anne Garnett: ‘charming’, The Field; and A BOY IN HOBNAILED BOOTS, the memoirs of Edward Prynn, the quarryman son of a Cornish farm labourer: ‘the great fascination of this racy story’, the Western Morning News.

   Cornish titles are represented in almost all Tabb House categories; notable are John Bartlett’s SHIPS OF NORTH CORNWALL: ‘a book of great quality’. Classic Boat; Helen McCabe’s HOUSES AND GARDENS OF CORNWALL: A Personal Choice, which also contains intriguing histories of the families of many of the places included in the book: ‘sympathetic, authoritative and enjoyable’, said A.L. Rowse; C.R. John’s THE SAINTS OF CORNWALL: 1500 Years of Christian Landscape; and one of our most popular Cornish titles, VIRGINIA WOOLF AND VANESSA BELL Remembering St Ives by Marion Dell and Marion Whybrow.

Many titles have won national acclaim: The Slender Tree by June Badeni and And Then There Was One by Joyce Denys were recommended for the Whitbread Biography Literary Award, and Celia Lucas won the Tir na N-og Welsh prize for a children’s book in the English language. Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, Remembering St Ives by Marion Dell and Marion Whybrow won the Holyer an Gof award for best in its class, and I Would not be Forgotten by Patrick Hutton and One and All by Hugo White  were commended in theirs.

    ‘Tabb House has rendered valuable service to Cornish literature’, said A.L. Rowse, and another writer, Bret Guthrie, who consequently asked Tabb House to publish his book Cornwall in the Age of Steam: ‘In a shop specializing in Cornish titles, to my pleasure I found more than fifty Tabb House titles; I was confirmed in my admiration of their quality.’

   Tabb House books are well written and well produced. ‘Elegant editions’ wrote Publishing News of the Encore Series of classics, and ‘beautifully written’ says Professor Charles Thomas.