See all our items from Wayzgoose Press

With the kind assistance of an Australian collector, the following entries give some idea of the work and output of the Wayzgoose Press, one of the world’s most prestigious small presses, established in 1985 in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. As most of the publications of the press are long out of print,this is a good time to look back at the achievement of the creative team of Hudson and Jarvis as shown on these pages – especially with the publication now of The Wayzgoose Affair - the history of the Press. About Jadwiga Jarvis and Mike Hudson:

“Mike Hudson was born in London in 1939 and studied design at the Hornsey College of Art where he later became a senior lecturer in photography. He has worked in the UK and in Australia as a graphic designer and a photographer. His wide-ranging skills include calligraphy, typography, wood engraving, lino cutting, book binding and printmaking.“

Jadwiga Jarvis was born in Poland in 1947, from where nine years later, together with her family, she migrated to Israel. As a teenager she studied art at the Hornsey College of Art where she met Mike. Their relationship, which she describes as ‘a teenager/man-about-town friendship’, was interrupted when Jadwiga was drafted into the Israeli army. In 1968 she migrated to Australia. In 1977 Jadwiga’s and Mike’s paths crossed again in London and they decided to settle in Australia together. Jadwiga’s loves are music (she studied piano), literature and art. For much of her adult life she worked as a film animator.”

-The Wayzgoose Affair .

About the Press:

“…That two unusually talented people from different parts of the world should ultimately meet and share such an arcane obsession [as printing, designing and publishing books in small runs - using centuries old printing methods -] is simply regarded as fortunate. That they could pursue this passion in a corrugated ironshed in the Australian bush and then have their hand made limited editions collected by such august institutions as the Museum of the Book in Holland, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, [The National Gallery of Art  and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. is particularly gratifying]. … Jadwiga Jarvis and Mike Hudson are a rare partnership.  … Over the years the Press has received many accolades and is greatly admired internationally by book collectors and peer practitioners alike.

“Since 1985 the Wayzgoose Press has produced 20 books and close to 50 broadsides in limited editions of between 10 and 50 copies, as well as numerous ephemeral printings. All texts are hand set, illustrated with relief imagery (wood engravings,linocuts, monoprints and collographs), printed on a proof press and hand-bound or hand-assembled and housed in a purpose-made box. … Every aspect of production, sometimes even the writing, takes place in house, or, more precisely, in shed.

“Contrary to their name, Wayzgoose, an old English word referring to the annual printers’ picnic, the Press has found that ‘printing by hand ain’t no picnic!’ … This cry is all the more poignant given the scope of what Wayzgoose Press has taken on. The Press has always incorporated into its production the entirety of the book artist’s armoury: typography, layout, colour, design, illustrations, textures, binding … A love of black humour and the occasional profanities (Ockers) add textual meat and an element of adventure to their publications, together with the visual puns,the symbolism, literary references and the vibrant colour.”

Note: Most of this Introduction is extracted from the text on the dust jacket of The Wayzgoose Affair by Carolynne Skinner. (with some additions by us!)

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(Wayzgoose Press) The Wayzgoose Affair. [By] Jadwiga Jarvis. The Wayzgoose Press. Katoomba. 2007. 177p. 14” x 11.5”. Black cloth boards with illustrated endpapers. Black and red dust jacket. One in an edition of 500 copies. Signed specially for us by Jadwiga Jarvis. New.

Carolynne Skinner, an Australian-based publisher and arts promoter, in writing about this book states: “In compiling The Wayzgoose Affair, Jadwiga Jarvis has used excerpts from her correspondence with friends, colleagues, supporters and, occasionally, detractors, to weave a story both instructive and amusing. She records the setbacks, successes, irritations and even disasters with a wicked wit and an often sharp and critical tone. No holds are barred. She begins with the setting up of the press, its search for a permanent home,and more-or-less chronologically descries the technical challenges, frustrations and pleasures of each project, complete with illustrations.”

Carolynne Skinner, writing in the November/December edition of The Book Arts Newsletter No. 38, of the School of Creative Arts,Department of Art and Design, UWE Bristol, UK, states in her review of The Wayzgoose Affair:

“Has there ever been a book like The Wayzgoose Affair? I doubt it, or if there will ever be another like it. Until now, books written by small press printers about the practice of book making have been few and slight – largely because most productions from the traditional private press fraternity are not much to write home about, particularly concerning their literary, historical or visual significance. Similarly, books written by private press biographers – whether about individual presses or the movement as a whole – have lacked colour, life and typographic spirit. Until the Affair.

“The Wayzgoose Affair is an admirable compilation of an extraordinary effort, maintained against the odds and for a time span that is all the more remarkable because it straddles the period that has seen the digitised typesetting and printing revolution establish new parameters of design thinking. Although this edition of 500 copies was printed commercially, it has all the hallmarks of a private press visualisation. Conceived and designed entirely “in house” on a PC, in its generous proportions, dramatic layout and idiosyncratic selections it pays homage to the pioneers of the manuscript book, when time and money were emphatically not the desiderata of production.”

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