Our last exhibition at ECA Library featured artist’s books and poetry pamphlets from the Stichill Marigold Press, and closed on Sunday 3rd November.
Artist, illustrator, poet and award-winning publisher Leonard McDermid founded Stichill Marigold Press in 1990. Under this imprint he designs, hand-sets, prints and publishes pamphlets and artist’s books using the traditional letterpress process.

Leonard McDermid was born in 1933 and grew up during the war years. He left school at fifteen and worked in various jobs, including two years as a National Serviceman in the Royal Artillery. He returned to full time education in 1958.
1958 – 1962: Medway College of Art
1962 – 1963: Brighton College of Art
1963 – 1964: Newbattle Abbey College
1966 – 1969: The University of Edinburgh
Leonard taught for many years in the Scottish Borders. During this time he undertook two commissions as sea-going artist for The Marine Society, working on a troopship in the South Atlantic, ferrying members of the armed forces between Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. A further one-year commission involved worldwide sea travel, including a voyage on an oil tanker in the Arabian Gulf during the “Tanker War”.
He has been exhibited widely and his work is held in private and public collections.
You can see more of his pamphlets at the Scottish Poetry Library reference collection. Some of his work can be purchased at the Scottish Poetry Library bookshop, at Crichton’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh (off the Royal Mile).
“And for that minute a blackbird sang”:
Our display includes Leonard’s pamphlet ‘And for that minute’, which is a homage to Edward Thomas and his much-loved poem ‘Adlestrop’. The six poems in the pamphlet, interspersed with extracts from the Great Western Railway Rule Book, relate the recollections of six imaginary witnesses to that poignant moment in June 1914 when Edward Thomas’s train halted momentarily at the remote Cotswolds station.
We are so pleased to be able to show Leonard’s work here at ECA Library. Our exhibition will continue until Sunday 3rd November 2019.
Please note that after 16th September the Library will be operating under longer semester opening hours. For more information please take a look at our opening hours webpage.