Types/Paper/Print: Cased Close

Getting into the thick of sewing copies of Types/Paper/Print and making the cases.

The sections were trimmed to 8 x 12 inches before sewing. The nipping presses become the bottleneck, and the solution is to complete each copy from sewing through casing in, rather than working through each stage of the process for the entire edition. The book is sewn and the spine pasted up; while it sets, the case is made. Then the book gets stuffed in the case, nipped and pressed while the next copy is prepared. After 30 minutes (the time it takes to sew a copy and make the case) between boards in the nipping press, the book is added to a small stack in a second press and left for about 24 hours. Boring, repetitive work. Even worse than printing. But at least something different for a while.

The endpapers are, alas, tipped on, a tactic we have always dismissed as something akin to a clip-on tie. But in this instance, for this book, it made sense, in part because it allowed us to make the slight adjustment in the press for the papers to be used in Claudia's deluxe copies (which most definitely will not be tipped on; hence the need for an increase to the space between what will be the doublure and the fly). For the front of the book we printed 48-pt Perpetua:

For the back, 60-pt De Roos semi-bold:

The cases are being covered in a variety of Payhembury hand-marbled papers. Labels printed in gold are set on to the spine and front board, as shown above.

Getting into the binding of Types/Paper/Print has reminded us of the book that was, if not exactly a model, at least an inspiration. It's a specimen book issued by the Alcuin Press in 1928, beautifully printed in various types on Batchelor's Kelmscott paper.

The book opens with a page set in 72-pt Cloister,

followed by a spread set in 36-pt, and then settles into a variety of faces in book sizes.

The text is an interesting precis of the fine press movement and the history of printing, concluding with a brief summary of the press's abilities in, and philosophy toward binding. In this instance, an elegant quarter-cloth case made with thin board.