Clark Ashton Smith
Poseidonis Cycle II
The Age of Whelming
Hand set letterpress printed, handbound illustrated edition.
With an introduction from Donald Sidney-Fryer and illustrations by Justine Jones.
Available from Pegana Press 2018
The first one dozen books were bound in on Monday, December 3rd and will rest under weight for 5 weeks. I had hoped to get them bound and sent out by Christmas, but it just was not to be. Never the less, work is now proceeding smoothly on the second batch of books. Yesterday, I sewed the signatures and I spent today folding the endpapers and tipping them in.
I’d like to share a peek behind the scenes...One of the things I discovered when I was first binding Poseidonis Cycle I, was how fragile the end papers were for that book. Mike had chosen a handmade paper from Nepal made of papyrus with gold streaks in it. The first book I bound with it turned out fine (beginners luck, I guess), so I proceeded to bind the first batch of books, only to discover that the binder board was showing through where there was gold. Why it didn’t happen on the first book, I have no idea. The solution, was to simply line the back of the endpaper that attaches to the binder board with an extra piece of paper which solved the whole problem.
Since we’re using the same endpapers for Poseidonis Cycle II, I spent the afternoon lining them. It’s an extra step in the process, but well worth it, to achieve the effect of decadent antiquity, we were going for with that paper.
Check back for further updates.
Rita Tortorello
The Bindery at Pegana Press
