Ouch

The tympan bone isn't connected to the frisket bone. That's a problem. Was (finally getting around to) printing a broadside of one of the poems from Harold Budd's Angel, titled "Autumn Song 1990." It's one of the longer poems, and the intent was to print it on halves of Reg Lissel's folio sheets, so trimmed that would be about 6 by 18 inches. It's the same setting as printed in the book, but arranged in a single column.

 
Makeready didn't go well, in part because the initial (lazy-ass) plan was to arrange the forme within the existing skeleton, which meant the roller would pass parallel to the type, rather than perpendicular as it should. (For explanation, see Rummonds.) That clearly wasn't going to work, so a quick re-jig to insert new bearers for (proper) perpendicular inking was undertaken, and all of the accompanying re-jig of packing. Better, but still not great. Two pulls of that and there was a scraping upon the platen when the bed was rolled in, that shouldna' been there. Splits goes one of the hinges holding the frisket to the tympan.

Said hinge was dummied up about 12 years ago by someone doing their best, but with no concept of what a typman is or how things worked. Long story short, too much solder was used to attach the (newly fabricated) frisket to the (old) tympan; grinding ensued, and over the past dozen years, what solder remained has finally given up the ghost. All work has, therefore, come to a complete stop, and having, for once, an excuse for this state of affairs, we are inclined to see how long this can be played out. 

Meanwhiles, we have finished the jackets for Angel. Our plan to do paste papers didn't do justice to Harold's arabesques, so we instead used the same c.1960s hand-marbled papers used for the slipcases as jackets, and covered those in a kozo sheet upon which the book's title was printed.

Cutting Through

Cutting Paper, the next book from the Hodgson/Cohen team, is making progress with many small, precise cuts. In terms of collating the signatures and many samples presented on individual leaves, it is perhaps the most complex book the two have yet undertaken (which, when you consider The WunderCabinet and their color series, is saying something).

Over the past eight months Barbara has worked full-time on the brief essays describing each of the sections focusing on cut paper art from specific countries, cultures and techniques, and the overall design for the book. Claudia has been developing ideas for the binding (handmade paper with the tile and designs cut out, over thin boards; an early prototype shown above), and both of them have been hunting for historical samples (in sufficient quantities for the edition) and creating original pieces for the book (Claudia's poor apprentice has been cutting out dozens of tiny paper swans).

A page for the book has been added to the HM site, with some additional details. We'll continue to post project updates on this blog as production progresses. We will have a copy on display at the Codex book fair next February. Later this month we will be contacting our regular booksellers and collectors of previous works by Barbara and Claudia, to reserve copies. Like their previous books, we expect demand to exceed supply (the edition will be just 30 copies).

Magic In the Air

The rules of the universe don't always apply at and around HM. For example, today: a leaf frozen eight feet above ground, outside the studio door. 

Back from the Seattle book fair. A comparatively muted affair this year. One fun treasure: a folio-sized pamphlet titled "A Typographic Divertisement" for a joint meeting of the Roxburghe and Zamarano clubs, 1966.

The paper is an unidentified but beautiful handmade. Goudy's type is well-suited and attractive. Veblen's comments, taken from The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), are the usual whinings of someone who objects to books being treated as anything but pottage for "the people." One great line, however: "The claims to excellence put forward by the later products of the book-maker's industry rest in some measure on the degree of its approximation to the crudities of the time when the work of book-making was doubtful struggle with refractory materials carried on by means of insufficient appliances."

Insufficient appliances; and excellent motto for HM. And the pamphlet is a perfect companion to our copy of The Kelmscott Golden Legend (Yellow Barn Press, 1990), which also includes a sample leaf.

Feeling Moogy

 

The new collection of poems by Harold Budd, Angel, is almost ready. Got the trial slipcase from Adele Shaak yesterday: looks good. The signed colophons from Harold will arrive any minute. Copies are collated & pressing. All that remains to be done is to make the paste paper wraps. Copies should be ready for shipping before the end of the month.

 
The edition is so small in part because we had enough of the Barcham Green paper for just 26 copies (plus a couple of proofs), and not all 26 will be offered for sale. Probably only about 20. So, those interested should get in touch. A bit more info is available on the book's page at the HM site.

 
For those in, or able to get to North Carolina on October 27, Harold will be performing with MoonLiner's Keith Lowe (bass) at this year's Moogfest. Their set is billed as "These Old Love Songs," a selection of works from Harold's career. If we can get a set list, we'll post it. Be interesting to know which of his songs he'd include under that heading. (One could argue all of them, so who knows.)

Angel Close to Getting Its Wings

Silence a result of immersion in Angel. The BG Bodleian is glorious. Will post about how we're damping it soon, for those interested. Printed the colophons last week, press-lettered in 30-pt Monument, printed in silver. They go off to Harold for signing this week, while the last few sheets of the book are printed. Might all come together in time to have a copy ready to show off at the Seattle Book Fair. After printing, we need to make the paste paper wraps, which will reproduce one of Harold's arabesque drawings...

Heavweight Type Punch

Was in a metal shop today, for reasons to be discussed next week. Saw this in a corner: the world's biggest tape label maker? It punches capitals on a 2-inch-wide strip of steel ribbon (spool's at the top of the wheel; reflection in mirror seen behind; copper tube is adjacent "art").

Check out the wheel's options for fine setting (SPACE, FINISH, START) and glyphs (– or &, your choice).

Senior member of the HM board denied an initial request to acquire the item. We'll see. The thing would pay for itself in no time at all...

Two New Books from HM

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.