Chapbooks, Broadsheets and Toni Savage

In 1969 Spike published a small 24 page volume of poetry containing thirteen previously unpublished poems. The booklet was titled Values and the publisher was Offcut Press the imprint of one Toni Savage. Thus began a number of private limited edition publications, produced almost exclusively by Toni Savage. This series of works ran in parallel with Spike Milligan's commercial publication business.

The publications consisted of small booklets and broadsheets. These sorts of publications have a long history. Originally used as a means of distributing official proclamations to the people they gradually came to include sort of primitive newspapers and scandal sheets handed out or sold very cheaply to the populace. This tradition of street literature dates back to the 16th Century. The booklets were printed in the chapbook format.

Read about how these publications came about

A Chapbook (cheap book) was a sheet folded in four, eight, twelve or sixteen making a small uncut booklet of eight, sixteen, twenty four or thirty two pages. Spike's chapbooks are one or more single sheets folded once. The broadsheets are single pages, mostly just printed on one side which more correctly should be called broadsides.

See these publications