Wayzgoose Press - the terrific days of summer, very rare
(Wayzgoose Press) the terrific days of summer. Prose Poem by Ken Bolton. Katoomba. 1998. Accordion fold; 25p. each12.75” x 18.25”. Illustrated with multi-color graphic devices of collographs and monoprints, all hand-inked. Designed and letterpress printed on Magnani Incisioni 222 gsm by Mike Hudson and Jadwiga Jarvis. A separate 12p. folded illustrated Introduction by George Alexander printed on Mohawk Superfine in pocket of inside front cover. Contained in a multi-colored cloth covered portfolio on which the title and some of the graphic devices are printed. No. 20 in an edition of 35 signed copies, of which 30 are for sale. Prospectus laid in. Small bump at lower outer side of box, else fine.
Jadwiga Jarvis writes: “The orange ‘cloud’ shapes are collographs. After much testing and experimenting, we made the blocks out of a range of amorphous materials, wonderfully inappropriate for orthodox letterpress printing, and consequently managed to achieve something resembling an etched image which changed slightly with each pull. The graphic devices are monoprints, hand-inked on the press and later further enhanced with handpainting. In other words, each copy in the edition is unique. All in all, a huge, nerve-racking, but immensely satisfying job!
The other details … the author’s name is Ken Bolton. Bolton is a brilliant and significant contemporary Australian poet.
“This was more or less our departure point for the design of the book. The visual elements are all ‘the same’ but in constant transition, their colours, position on the page, relationship to each other and to the text ever-changing like the mood of the poem. The introduction will be an analysis/appreciation of the poet, the poem and our visual/typographic treatment of it.”
She also states: “Everything you have before you has been printed letterpress the hard way, ie. from original materials, not from …blocks. Even the squiggly line is a genuine lead rule, cajoled into performing acrobatics. The ‘binding’ involved gluing togetheralmost a half a kilometer of paper … by the time this job is finished we’ll be ready for a long holiday - in a Home for the Bewildered …!!”
Related items: Fine Printing & Private Press, Poetry, Typography, Jadwiga Jarvis, Wayzgoose Press