A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift – Mid 2011
When my wife was pregnant with our first child, several weeks before the due date, we listened to a BBC panel discussion on Swift's brilliant satirical pamphlet. From then on, we often referred to the sumptuous feast our firstborn would one day provide. Our yearling survived, saved by precocious beauty, but baby, this one's for you.
*Update: The text follows that of George Faulkner's edition of Swift's Works, 1735, including the complex italicization used in the first edition by Sarah Harding, 1729.
4.75" x 9" Double Pamphlet with accordion fold on Zerkall Nideggen, 22pp. Set in VanDijck. Dyptych illustration. 80 copies, including 10 deluxe (plus 1 hors commerce). Standard edition comes in a printed envelope, $75. Deluxe edition comes with quarter-cloth folio with printed wraps, $115. Reserves now being accepted for standard copies only; all deluxe have sold out.
Songs to Julia, Robert Herrick – Late 2011
Herrick composed many poems to a number of 'mistresses' of his imagination, Julia the prime of them all. His relationship to her ran the gamut of love through the years—his desire for her body, uninhibited and playful; enduring her ire; parting, reuniting, meditating on death and confessing his own failures. The goal is to make a book much like Herrick's passion for Julia—playful, seductive, growing into a longstanding intimacy. A small book, easily tucked away.
4.75" x 6.5" 60 copies, including 14 deluxe (4 hors commerce). Standard quarter-bound in red leather with printed wraps. Deluxe in quarter red leather with vellum, slipcased. More details to come.
Pride and Prejudice, 3 vol., Jane Austen – Vol. 1, Late 2012
What can one say? I must be mad to tackle a three-volume novel beloved by so many people. This project is still in the design phase. What I can tell you is that it will be published in three volumes, one per year starting with a late 2012 release. Each standard volume will be $300 to $325 dollars each. It will be illustrated with wood-engravings. The deluxe will come with extra stuff, like some of the letters printed separately. There will be no more than 125 copies altogether. Alanna Simenson, bookbinder, has graciously agreed to partner in on the project, for she has long desired to have a copy of PandP bound just the way she wants.
Octavo. Set in Fournier and printed on Arches Text Wove. Longbourn Edition (standard) quarter-bound in green silk with printed wraps. Pemberley Edition (deluxe) details to come.
The Tarot of BC Printers, ? – No date yet
The printing community in BC has been nothing short of fantastic for an upstart such as myself. I have never failed to find advice, encouragement, or a piece of equipment that I needed to continue confidently in my print work. Private presses of BC, here is my tribute. A trump deck of tarot cards shall feature the icons of BC presses and elements of letterpress printing. A companion book will provide some historical information on the presses, along with instruction on the 'reading of the cards' – useful oracle work before beginning any printing project.
