Whilst many passers-by might overlook the faded hand-painted signage found on buildings across the world, ghost signs provide an important snippet of history that could otherwise be lost.
Co-author, Sam Roberts has been fascinated by ghost signs for over 15 years and in 2009/10 curated the History of Advertising Ghostsigns Archive. Three years later, Roberts launched walking tours in London and beyond, and in 2016, he co-edited the academic book Advertising and Public Memory: Social, Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Ghost Signs.
Boots ghost sign on Camden high street. Image: Roy Reed
Photographer and co-author, Rod Reed, first began documenting writing on walls in the 1970s when he began documenting political graffiti. Reed then went on to begin photographing ghost signs in 2006.
Ghost Signs: A London Story documents around 250 historic ghost signs in London which are accompanied by archival images and introductory information on how the signs were produced, their restoration, and conservation.
Featuring around 300 pages, more than 40,000 words and 300 photos, the book is then made up of themed chapters which showcase the many purposes for the ghost signs in their time, such as entertaining, branding, and building.
Walker Bros ghost sign on Stoke Newington Church Street. Image: Roy Reed
With plans to be published by Isola Press, the book needed to hit its £15,000 target to be brought to life. The Kickstarter achieved this on Thursday 13th May with less than a month to go.
As well as the book, backers to the fundraising campaign can choose to add ghost signs postcards, art prints or a private virtual ghost signs tour. There is also the option to sponsor or nominate a specific ghost sign which will result in a personal dedication in the book.
Now that the target has been met the book is expected to be sent to print in early September for a November delivery.
Backers can still donate via the Kickstarter to enable the authors to add more to the book here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/isolapress/ghost-signs-a-london-story?ref=cxl0qa
If you have any news, please email carys@linkpublishing.co.uk or join in with the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn.