Two new books nearing the press...
First out will be a new collection of 12 poems by
Harold Budd, titled
Angel. The book will be printed on sheets of Barcham Green's Bodleian paper (80 g, white laid), of which we have just enough for an edition of 26 lettered copies (plus a few H.C.) The text will be set in 18-pt Perpetua italic (the same font we used for
Iskandariya) with our newly acquired Monument for titles. It will be a single signature (28 pp, 7 x 10 inches) – the thinness of the paper avoiding any awkward bulking – sewn into a paste paper wrap, with a printed tissue jacket. Issued in a slipcase. Some portion of the edition will be offered for sale (price TBA). To be issued before the end of the year.
Angel was somewhat unplanned for in HM's schedule. The poems were initially considered for inclusion in what will now be our subsequent publication (title as yet undecided), a typographic frolic that will show off the metal types held at HM. The idea was sparked with the arrival of some new (to us) types this past summer, which led to a re-organization – and rediscovery – of all the metal type at the studio. As a showcase for our metal types, it will be something of a companion to
Types/Paper/Print, and also underscore some of the challenges raised in that book around using metal types. Where
Types/Paper/Print was purely focused in the types used for setting blocks of texts, the new book will instead be using the fonts on hand to create patterns, borders and any other designs that occur, incorporating a brief quote related in some manner to the face and/or its designer. Another difference between
Types/Paper/Print (and most every previous HM title) and the new book will be an abundance of color on each page. A preliminary sketch for the Perpetua page is shown below.
The primary faces showcased (one per page, rectos only)
will, in alphabetical order, be: American Uncial, Bembo, Centaur, Goudy
(combining Old Style, Bold, and Bible!), Hannibal (with Duensing),
Monument, Morris Black Face, Optima, Perpetua, Rubens, Unciala,
and Verona (a.k.a. Bologna). Supplemental faces that may be sprinkled
around include Columbus, Garamont, Shadow, Huxley Vertical, Lombardic,
Reiner Script, and de Roos.
In addition to being a collection of types, the book will contain a unique collection of papers: so far we've assembled sufficient quantities of Van Gelder laid, two different laid sheets from Barcham Green, a W.A. Sanders cream laid from the 1950s, two different papers made by Reg Lissel, and kitikata.
The book (40 pp, 7 x 10 inches) will be uniformly cased in (various) marbled papers over thin boards, like the regular edition copies of
Types/Paper/Print. The edition will be 26 press-lettered copies. Price TBA. Publication is planned for early spring 2013, with a copy being displayed at the Codex Book Fair in February.
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