Books You’ve Never Read

Books You’ve Never Read

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Books You’ve Never Read
Books You’ve Never Read
About the Obolus Press and the Blog

About the Obolus Press and the Blog

I ferry dead authors and artists into English and back into print

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Andrew Rickard
Jul 07, 2024
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Books You’ve Never Read
Books You’ve Never Read
About the Obolus Press and the Blog
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Do you like the smell of old books? Do you prefer pubs without televisions? Are you the sort of person who turns off the radio when the news comes on? If so, welcome friend!


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My name is Andrew Rickard. I am a translator and used to be an in-house book editor. I started The Obolus Press to share the works of lesser-known European artists and authors, and it is going well; my translation of Hans Ostwald’s history of the Weimar hyperinflation was favourably reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement, and I’ve been profiled in the New Criterion.

Mainstream publishers are not interested in the books you’ll find here because they are unfashionable and unprofitable. Monographs about neglected European painters and obscure memoirs from the 19th and early 20th centuries are unlikely to even qualify for, never mind win, the government grants that fund so many literary projects today. The Obolus Press, however, was founded on a different model.

I use this blog (hosted on Substack) to post excerpts from my translations and the occasional article. In this quiet grove you will hear no mention of current events or politics. If you crave that sort of thing, you are well served elsewhere.

Everything is free; there is no paid subscription tier at the moment.

You can learn more about me here, read about the origin of the press here, and find contact details here.


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Alexander Litovchenko, detail from Charon Ferries Souls to the Underworld (1861)

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By Andrew Rickard
The Obolus Press: Books about European art and history, translated into English for the first time.
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Books You’ve Never Read
Books You’ve Never Read
About the Obolus Press and the Blog
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Why Study the Humanities?
A quote from Émile Amiel's biography of Erasmus
Apr 9 • 
Andrew Rickard
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Books You’ve Never Read
Books You’ve Never Read
Why Study the Humanities?
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Are AI Slop Publishers Salting the Earth for Literary Translations?
Why yes, yes they are.
May 22 • 
Andrew Rickard
15

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Books You’ve Never Read
Books You’ve Never Read
Are AI Slop Publishers Salting the Earth for Literary Translations?
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Pierre Jean Van der Ouderaa and a Plea for Posterity
Émiel van Heurck wrote the artist's obituary, and I have translated it.
Jul 17, 2024 • 
Andrew Rickard
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Books You’ve Never Read
Books You’ve Never Read
Pierre Jean Van der Ouderaa and a Plea for Posterity
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