For a variety of reasons, Jim’s books are more widely known of than actually seen. HM’s book was conceived to provide some sense of Jim’s work for people who haven’t had the chance to own one of his books.
Each copy also includes two cards (from a set of 13) he issued in 1981, showing the various “unobtainable ornaments” available from his foundry. Every copy includes Jim’s Apologia (below, left), plus one of the display cards.
Much of the fun in compiling the bibliography was running down variant issues of several books. To augment the new book, here follow images of some of the more unusual items and variations....
The first book issued (but not the first printed...) by Pie Tree was done in an edition of just one copy. Luckily he bound up a second, and it now resides, along with a large archive of Jim’s work, at Simon Fraser University.
Pie Tree’s second book, Shadow River, has the most convoluted history, spanning three years, two settings, and three issue states (or four, depending how you count). Above is the true first (1996). Jim was teaching typography, printing and illustration at a two-year college program in 1994, and he proposed making the end result a book, produced by the students. Each would create a linocut for a Pauline Johnson poem, and everyone would participate in the setting and printing. The project fell apart, for several reasons, one being that much of the student’s work (including linoblocks) was thrown out during a Christmas break!
Two of the students hadn’t left their blocks at the school, and were able to subsequently print them. Jim went ahead an produced the book himself, cutting blocks for each of the poems, and issued the book in an edition of 40. The last five copies (only) included the print the two students, Monica Serwa and Edward Vandervelden, had completed. Here’s Monica’s...
And here’s Edward’s...
If Jim’s intention had been that the two students get one of the copies with their print, it didn’t happen: Edward didn’t even know the book had been completed until I managed to track him down earlier this year.
That’s the title page from second (1997), & most commonly seen version. Notice the woman turned her chair around, and got bigger? It’s colophon hints at some of the turmoil in the book’s production...
Below is what might be a unique copy of the second issue, with a completely different colophon...
Finally, in 1999 Jim completely reset in the book, in Centaur, and printed 15 copies for family & friends...
... except he later reported only seven were bound up. But at least one copy out there lacks this correction to the colophon.
His fifth book was Leaves From the Pie Tree, in which he recounted how he was press-ganged into the compositing trade by his grandfather, eventually set out as a freelance graphic artist, and started designing metal and digital types. It’s an entertaining read, enlivened with various linocuts and type samples throughout. The edition was just 40 copies, but actually there were another 10, issued through the digital foundry P22. The idea for it must have come up after he’d finished the book; copies were only available with the purchase of Jim’s digital fonts from the foundry.
Time to start drinking brandy and do battle with this bug (again). I’ll end with different copies of Shadow River; each copy features its own unique printing with cedar fronds.
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