Helping to redress the imbalance in the general understanding of what constitutes quality book production

(Wayzgoose Press) Private Impressions (No. 1-8). Plus Introduction. A collection of monographs about printing and other book arts. Written by Mike Hudson & Jadwiga Jarvis. Katoomba. NSW Australia. 1995-1996. 2000-2001 n.p. 11.75″ x8.25″. Illustrated with appropriate examples of printing from the periods under discussion, hand set and printed letterpress in several colors on Mohawk Superfine 148 gsm. and stitched into stiff printed wrappers with the monograph number highlighted in color. The set includes the 8-page wrappered Prospectus produced in 1995.

The Introduction to Private Impressions is No. 13 in an edition of 45 copies.

Nos. 1-4: A Pressing Argument, May 1995; It goes against the Grain …, August, 1995; Broadly Speaking, November 1995; Printers & Politics, February 1996.

All Nos. 1-4 in an edition of 50 copies signed by Hudson and Jarvis.

Nos. 5-8: Evolution (including Introduction.) June 2000. Tells the story of the early Greek convention of ‘aural reading’from papyrus rolls, through the Dark Ages and the monastic traditions. The ‘invention’ of the Carolingian manuscriptstyle and the rise of secular, silent reading practices in the early Renaissance.

No. 6: Revolution. Presents the Gutenberg Bible as the beginning not just of a new technological age but as the start ofthe compromise work practices that mass production activities encourage.

No. 7: discusses the fits and starts of the book trade and the drive for rationalization of techniques at the expense ofthe creative potential of authorship throughout the 20th century. The value of Stanley Morison’s & Beatrice Warde’ssobering influence is examined and questioned.

No. 8: Re-evaluation. Weighs the benefits to text and reader of an individual and creative approach to book design,typography and illustration against the losses inflicted by mass production principles.

Nos. 5-8 are number No. 13 in an edition of 60 copies signed and numbered by Hudson and Jarvis. Fine.

In the prospectus announcing this series of monographs, Jarvis and Hudson write “there is surprisingly little published material concerning the nature, craft, technology or philosophical rationale of why and how such things as private presses actually exist - particularly in these days of electronic data transmission. We hope to redress this imbalance in the general understanding of what constitutes quality book production by publishing monographs on the art & craft of letterpress printing, wood engraving, wood and linocutting, typography and layout, binding, book design, private press history, etc.”

The Wayzgoose Press published these excellent monographs to redress some of the gaps in our knowledge of the art and craft of handhand-printed bookmaking

Susan Stewart wrote The Elements, this long poem in four parts, in collaboration with artist Enid Mark, who created the book’s visual form. The poet, author of three previous books of poetry and a MacArthur Fellow, called on the long Western history of myths and literature on air, fire, earth, and water; in the end she created a sequence unified by the themes of love and strife traditionally associated with the elements. … The poem unfolds in time as a meditation on time and mortality.
“Each of the sections of The Elements - Air, Fire, Earth, and Water - is defined by a visual image. This image is introduced as a horizontal band that has its own rhythm, fading and increasing in dimension and intensity as the pages turn. On the final page opening within each section, three-color lithographs bleed over the four edges of the … spread of the book. Throughout the work, the concrete forms of the sections of the poem, unique to the volume with its wide format, become an integral part of the visual imagery.” -Prospectus.
Susan Stewart received the 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry, for Columbarium, a trade edition published by the University of Chicago Press. Columbarium features Air, Fire, Earth, and Water from The Elements.

(Laura Wait) Momentum Arbusti: a celebration of trees. Unique Variant artist’s book by Laura Wait. [Steamboat Springs,Colorado.] 2008. n.p. 14.875” x 5.874” x 1”. Woodcut, collograph, handwriting and painting. Sewn on linen cords with green linen thread. Additional sections of thick card were sewn on for boards, and cords laced in. These boards were covered with patinated embossed copper in shades of green and yellow with the copper undertone. Jill Bergman assisted with the binding. Black dropback box with paper title label; gray suede lining. No. 2 in an series of 6 unique variants signed and dated by Laura Wait. New.

This series celebrates the three kinds of trees: Life, Magic & Immortality. A shorrt history of the meaning and importance of trees in world culture is written in the middle of many pages.The book was begun in 2004 with the creation of extra pages of “In the Garden”. Additional imagery was added in 2006-2008 using paste painting, stencils and many layers of handwrriting as text and image. Text is on libretto included with the book.

(Laura Wait) Volute. A unique variant artist’s book in a series of 9 by Laura Wait. [Steamboat Springs. 2008.] 9 leaves. 13.5” x 6.75”. The pages were first printed with intaglio plates on an etching press, using Rives BFK paper with Graphic Chemical etching ink. Collographs and woodcuts of spirals and labyrinths were printed in color with Akua ink on top of the black. Acrylic paste painting and ink writing complete the pages. Bound in the drum leaf style with a brown calf leather spine stamped with a woodcut, with paste paper sides made from the collographs from the book. Black cloth dropback box with dark pastepaper lining. Jill Bergman assisted with the printing, binding, and box-making. No. 6 in a series of 9 variant copies, signed by Laura Wait. New.

“This series celebrates the essential cyclical nature of art, agriculture, and the universe.” - Laura Wait.

(Laura Wait) T-crossed. Unique variant artist’s book by Laura Wait. [Steamboat Springs.] 2007. 20 paper leaves, 8p. of mylar. 10” x 4” 1”. Etchings, letterpress, handwriting and painting. Handwritten in manuscript on the half title and throughout the book. The pages and the Mylar sheets were first printed with wooden type on an etching press, and the paper versos were printed with etchings. Paste-painting completed on both sides of all paper in many layers. Handwriting on many pages. Sewn onto a concertina with linen thread. Spine of brown Harmatan leather with a gold “T” handtooled at the top. Boards are aircraft plywood covered in etchings printed on Japanese paper. Multiple layers of acrylic paint and varnish were applied to the covers. Brown endpapers of Walnut dyed Cave paper. Black cloth dropback box lined with brown painted paper; paper title label on spine. One in a series of seven unique variants on the intertwined symbols of “T” and the cross. Colophon handwritten and signed by the artist. Fine.

(Laura Wait) Open Road: Vol. 1 -The Mountains and Deserts, Vol. II - The Pacific Coast. Artist’s book by Laura Wait. Denver. Colorado. 1997. Accordion fold. 7.5” x 22”. Open -15’. Hand colored lithographs printed on Saunders Waterford paper. Concertina binding on yellow and black cloth bristol boards which hold the prints in place. Title page contains a ‘Legend’ of words having to do with road signs, and as keys for the images. End boards of yellow cloth with hand-colored acrylic stencils of road signs. Black dropback box with recess containing handpainted road signs in yellow and black. One in an edition of 12 signed sets. Fine.

“These images were developed over a twenty-five year time period. I used to draw in the car while driving across the west, and include the mirrors and road signs, as they are an inseparable part of the view. The postcards were collected along the way, or sent by friends. Together, these images provide a better feeling of the journeys than photographs, which are so important in recording modern travels. This book is meant to be traversed: stand it up on a big table and walk along it.” — Wait.

This interesting work contains drawings from sketchbooks, and postcards collected on the trips, the 15’ opening gives some feeling of road travel.

(Verdigris) Aux États-Unis d’Amérique. [To The United States of America.] (In English and French.) [By] Victor Hugo. Mezzotint by Judith Rothchild. [Octon, France.] 2007. 8” x 5”. Accordion fold book with four boards.  Printed by Mark Lintott on Rives BFK on an Albion press. Mezzotint printed on Hahnemühle. The French text is attached to the inside of the front board and the English text is attached to the inside of the back board. The two bottom boards lie flat to allow the full view of the mezzotint. Black cloth outer spine with tan paper title label; relief title on front board. Inner boards with black cloth spines. Slipcase of tan/brown marbled paper, which tones with the brown/black outer boardcovers; inner board covers of beige/light brown. All covers are in toning shades. An edition of 45 copies, signed in pencil by Judith Rothchild. Fine.

A letter written by Victor Hugo on December 2nd, 1859. It is a passionate plea to the people of the United States to save John Brown from the gallows.

(Verdigris) Magie blanche. [French.] Text by Marie Rouanet. Mezzotints by Judith Rothchild. [Octon.] 2006. 16” x 12”. A suite of 10 mezzotints (11 plates) and text in loose sheets of Hahnemühle paper. Mezzotints and screen prints printed by the artist. Text printed in handset letterpress in Vendome Romain on an Albion press by Mark Lintott.  Yellow dropback box covered in Fabriano Ingress screen printed with mimosa leaves; Gray cloth spine with paper title label. Loose gray sheet printed with the mimosa pattern laid on top of the sheets. One in an edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered by the author and artist, with the individual prints initialed by the artist. 21 loose sheets. Fine.

The original text by Marie Rouanet was inspired by ten mezzotints by Judith Rothchild and the spirit of the restaurant, The Mimosa, created by Bridget and David Pugh.

(Verdigris) Écriture aux objets d’encre. [French.] Original text by James Sacré written in response to a series of four mezzotints by Judith Rothchild. {Octon. France.] 2005. 7.75” x 8.75”. Mark Lintott printed the text letterpress,handset in Vendome Romain on an Albion press. Printed in the form of aleporello on Hahnemühle paper. The mezzotints are composed of five objects of different periods and continents which fold out to form a unity of similar volumes and helixes. The mezzotints, as well as the screen prints on the charcoal/black wrappers and slipcases, are printed by the artist. Lintottmade the slipcase and the gray marbled endpapers are by Lintott and Rothchild. One in an edition of 50 copies signed by the author and artist. Fine.

12 O’Clock News was first published in 1976 in the collection Geography III. The text is a seeming description of a landscape, but we are made aware at the end of the book just what kind of a landscape it is!