[2] Ede was educated at the Imperial Service College, where a schoolmaster introduced him to the work of William Morris, the founder of the Kelmscott Press.
He had a place to go up to Balliol College, Oxford, in October 1939, but war was declared in September, and instead he went to France as a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps, delivering spares and supplies to units of the British Expeditionary Force.
Its stated aim was to offer "editions of the world's great literature, in a format worthy of the contents, at a price within the reach of everyman."
Only three volumes appeared in 1947, Tolstoy's Tales, George du Maurier's Trilby, and Aucassin and Nicolette, but the aim of publishing a book a month was eventually achieved.
[1] The firm he founded, Charles Ede Ltd, is still in existence, with a gallery in Mayfair and a presence at international art fairs.