Of Silk and the Hammer

We've been making some slight changes to the binding for The Men of Baldfolk and Other Fanciful Tales. The black cotton cloth we were using on the test dummy for the quarter bound spine really picks up dirt and shows the scoring of the bone folder so we've gone to a beautiful black, shimmering silk moire material that really looks great I've also added more information about the contents for the book and posted an audio excerpt from one of the unpublished stories.  Work progresses on the new Lovecraft edition; I'm in receipt of some beautiful color illustrations from our artist.  I will share his name and some images soon.  We invite you to visit the page and look and listen.

https://www.peganapress.com/the-men-of-baldfolk.html

A Fold In Sime

I've just completed the next to last step for my part of the work on The Men of Baldfolk and Other Fanciful Tales by Lord Dunsany.  While listening to baseball on the Grundig windup radio I've been preparing the Sime watercolour illustration for the edition.  This entailed measuring six inches and then scoring each with a bone folder.  The sheet is then folded in half and smoothed down with the bone folder with wax paper over it, otherwise the paper gets marks on it. From there each sheet is trimmed to about 6 3/8 inches.  This leaves a small tab which allows it to be sewn into the book signature.  I then trimmed the eighty signatures to a nice even edge.  Whew!
The only thing left for me to do now is print the spine titles.
This deluxe limited edition is available for preorder and can
be viewed on our website.  We invite you to visit and look
around.

The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars

A lot of my work making books for Pegana Press reminds me of a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story in which the Mouser can only concentrate on small, seemingly insignificant details and items.  The setting of the type with little bits of metal, viewing the printing under a magnifying glass, pulling tiny cat hairs off the ink rollers, etc., etc., etc.  I've now reached one of my favorite points in making a book with The Men of Baldfolk and Other Fanciful Tales by Lord Dunsany.  All the printing is done and I've been folding pages for the past few days.  Nearly a thousand pieces of paper to fold and carefully crease while keeping them as square as possible. Then collating the pages into their signatures and trimming each one. There's something very soothing and therapeutic about repeating the same sequence over and over to create tidy piles of pages. Somewhat like mowing a lawn with all the neat straight rows. Very little thinking or decisions to make; what a relief.  Seeing all the months of work slowly taking shape as a book is immensely satisfying. Knowing I'm almost done and the relief that comes with it.  We got back the test print of the rare Sime watercolour frontispiece and it's quite lovely  I will be posting the story titles of the book soon on the website as well as more images.  It's going to be a beautiful book and we hope you're as excited as we are.

Of Dingbats and Ornaments

I have a variety of ornaments, borders, and dingbats which I use in our editions.  Many of these are cast as sets and sold that way. Some of the more ornate fonts have them included with the typeface and are meant to complement the typeface.

The embellishment of the text within a book using ornaments and dingbats is a reflection of  the intrinsic hand drawn quality of mankind's writings even from earliest times.  The language itself was defined on stone or papyrus with the use of symbols and drawings.  William Morris,  Roycrofters, and many others carried on this tradition on paper and even had artists doing watercolour initials and borders by hand for their editions.

I've begun printing the last story for the new Dunsany edition, The Men of Baldfolk and other Fanciful Tales, a beautifully lyrical prose essay that is reminiscent of the atmosphere evoked in Mona Sheehy but written in 1908. We received the paper we hope to use to cover the boards for the book and we'll share some images soon.  The rare color Sidney Sime illustration is in the printing process and will be ready soon and Rita is continuing her binding. She is completing the last sets of Lost Tales.  There are very few of the sets left so if you've been thinking about getting them don't put it off!

Next up will be an edition of Lovecraft's early dream stories that I will begin in the spring.

Straying Into Elfland

I recently recorded some moody, contemplative piano tracks to support a story for the Lost Tales audiobook that should be done later this year.  The story, Our Laurels is a classic, dreamy tale of the struggle with dark and light and the participation of man.  All in three short paragraphs of course!  First collected in Lost Tales Volume I.

I'm in the preliminary phases of designing a Lovecraft edition of some of his early dream tales accompanied by some superb illustrations for later this year.

Continuing work on the forthcoming new Lord Dunsany edition The Men of Baldfolk and other Fanciful Tales, this group of stories are all unpublished or uncollected.  From dark gods to dreaming poets, some really fine material embellished with another very rare color Sidney Sime frontispiece. Our deepest appreciation to the Dunsany Estate for their sharing of these incredible pieces.  Will begin typesetting the second to last story tomorrow.  I'm using a german laid paper of the palest sage color for the pages which should complement the binding we have in mind quite nicely.

Rita is being kept busy in the bindery with  batches of Lost Tales and The Golden Key as well as doing taxes and taking care of 9 chickens and 3 cats. The response to The Golden Key has been very encouraging and has kept her hopping with glue, thread and all the strange things she uses to shelter and enhance our stories.

Happy Thanksgiving from Pegana Press

Yesterday we sent out more packages to preorder customers of The Golden Key.

Expect yours soon.

And if all goes as planned, we should be caught up with orders by mid December.

#FeelingThankful at Pegana Press

An Update from The Bindery

I've really been enjoying binding The Golden Key.

Pegana Press Bindery in 2013

Since Mike and I operate Pegana Press out of our home, we have had to make adjustments along the way as we evolve and shape our mission.  When I first began binding books, I was working anywhere there was space in the house.  I've bound books in the living room and on the dining room table.  I've cut book cloth on the massage table in the room where I see clients for Reiki and energy work.  And now at last I have a designated area where I bind books.  It's a small space, but somehow it makes the whole process advance more smoothly and quickly.

Pegana Press 2015.  Cutting cloth.

Having this space has allowed me to feel more organized and grounded.  Because of this I have been able to communicate more with the people who buy our books.

The preorders began in June, and we want to keep everyone up to date. as their books become available.  One of my new favorite jobs is to email people during the binding process with updates on the status of their book.  So when I bind a small batch of books (usually 8 to 10 at a time), I will let them sit for a day or two, and then check them out to make sure all is going well.  Once I'm satisfied, I can begin emailing the next 8 to 10 customers who ordered books.

So if you've ordered a copy of The Golden Key from Pegana Press, you can expect to be notified soon on the status of your book.  That is, if you haven't already received word.

I'll be getting back to the bindery now.  I've got another batch of books to bind in today.

The Golden Key/Pegana Press 2015

I'll leave you with a quote from The Golden Key

    ... And her great blue eyes looked down on the little Tangle, as if all the stars in the sky were melted in them to make their brightness.

     "Ah! but," said Tangle, "when people live long they grow old.  At least I always thought so."

     "I have not time to grow old," said the lady.  "I am too busy for that.  It is very idle to grow old..." 

Hmmm, I'll have to remember that.
 

 

Binding The Golden Key pt 6

The Golden Key/Pegana Press 2015

As you can see, no two books are exactly alike.  Each front title and spine title are cut by hand individually.

This photo shows the front title being trimmed down from its parent sheet.


The second photo shows the spine title being trimmed down.  Requiring only a ruler and cutting tools, the most important thing is to have a good eye and a steady hand.

The Golden Key/Pegana Press 2015

The next step will be to attach the titles to each book.  After drying, the book is finished and ready to be read.

You can view the finished book on the George MacDonald tab of Pegana Press.

The Golden Key Turns the Lock

Greetings.  This is just a quick update on the status of our latest release from Pegana Press.  We're very happy to announce that after nearly a year, The Golden Key is entirely finished and is now, in the process of being bound.

My decision to devote an immense amount of energy and labor to print The Golden Key stems from being a book lover and collector.  I've always chosen works that I would want to have in my own library  Beautiful editions that support and enhance the wonder of the story that you can hold and caress.  I felt that The Golden Key needed such an edition.

We are very fortunate to have Charles van Sandwyk's illustrations for this book.  Charles is one of the truly great illustrators of our time.  His style is perfect for what I had in mind for this edition, being reminiscent of Arthur Rackham's magical images.  He has provided us with three pen and ink illustrations as well as a beautiful hand signed watercolour for the fronticepiece.  It is a wonder to see it facing the title page which is printed on rose colored paper.

Each signature of the book is letterpress printed on a different color paper.  The page colors are pale rose blush, custard yellow, soft sagey-green, and a sky blue reminiscent of twilight.  The pages are displayed to their best advantage in the soft glow of library lamps, which was an unexpected and happy result, and which exceeded my vision for this edition.

We feel in every way, that this book will be our most beautiful release to date, and that it will be a book to treasure and pass down, which must be seen and handled in person to be fully appreciated.  I've come to realize that the photos posted on our site aren't able to convey the full beauty of this book and that it really comes to life when it is held, and read, and savored.

Never the less, please visit Pegana Press online, to see for yourself the recent addition of the frontispiece.

We wish you many years of happy reading, surrounded by beautiful books.

From Mike & Rita at Pegana Press

This Week At The Press: New Projects and More

This week has been busy at Pegana Press.  Mike is finished printing The Golden Key, and we are just waiting for the watercolor frontispiece to arrive from the printer before we begin the binding process.  It won't be long now.  Just a reminder, the special preorder price on this book is only offered until the release date.  This book really is special.  Charles Van Sandwyk has done some outstanding work, as usual, adding to the beauty of this offering.  Truly an heirloom quality book to treasure.  And limited to 80 copies.


Mike is already two pages into the next printing project, and we will be announcing details about that book soon.

Today, Mike is in the recording studio working on some audio readings with music.

And in the bindery, Rita is finalizing The Golden Key binding design, as well as binding our last available Clark Ashton Smith book, The Age of Malygris.  This final finished book will make two only, available at the press.  If you've been wanting to add The Age of Malygris to your collection, please don't hesitate to order while we still have it.

For Dunsany collectors, interested in the Lost Tales 3 volume box set, the last finished set went out this week, and I will be working on binding 4 more sets and making slipcases for them as time permits.  They are currently on special, so if you'd like to add this set to your collection, please order before the sale price ends.  But please allow 2 to 3 weeks for availability.



Finally, our webpage had a remodel last weekend and we think we've improved it, making it funner and easier to navigate.  Stop by and see if you agree.  https://www.peganapress.com/

Cheers for now, from Pegana Press.

The Adventures of The Golden Key

Let me take you on a fantastic journey.  A journey through colored pages of palest rose, custard yellow, light sagey green, and dusky blue.  We will follow the trail of ornate letters of a bygone era pressed into the paper, and the words will be our guide through Fairyland where we will meet Tangle and Mossy and accompany them on their quest to find the lock that fits The Golden Key.

The Golden Key title page.

...It was a curious creature, made like a fish, but covered, instead of scales, with feathers of all colours, sparkling like those of a hummingbird.  It had fins, not wings, and swam through the air as a fish does through the water.  Its head was like the head of a small owl.

The Golden Key by George MacDonald.  With illustrations by Charles Van Sandwyk.  Available from Pegana Press.

A Name to the Book

Doing the title page to a book after long months of printing is a refreshing and inspired time.  Although it's the beginning it signifies an end.  We hope you like it.  The special preorder price for The Golden Key is due to end on August 31st.  I'm now on the final steps of finishing the book and will keep everyone posted.  More information can be found here. 

Scenes From Fairyland

I've printed several of the illustrations for The Golden Key using the magnesium dies and they've turned out beautifully.  We are so pleased Mr. Van Sandwyk has provided these wonderful drawings to decorate the prose imagery of George MacDonald's Fairyland.  The special preorder price will end very soon.   Rita has done a test binding with the Florentine endpapers and it looks stunning. We invite you to visit our website for more information and images of the book.

The Harvest of the Blade

The parent sheets of light green paper being cut down for the "Old Man of the Sea" illustration page from The Golden Key by George MacDonald.  Every page of our books are cut by hand with this nifty german guillotine whacker.  Once I get the metal dies back they'll get locked into the press and the pen and ink illustrations will be printed.  More information about this limited letterpress edition of The Golden Key and how to pre-order can be found here.

A sheaf  of Lord Dunsany material I've been reading through in consideration for the next Lost Tales edition. All will be unpublished or uncollected.  It's hard to choose because Dunsany's writing is all so enjoyable. Even his reviews of stage productions from the early 1900's have a lyrical quality and depth that is hypnotic.
More information about the Lost Tales series can be found here.

The Pen of Fairyland

     We are now in receipt of the pen and ink illustrations by Charles Van Sandwyk for The Golden Key edition and they are really superb.  Charles has created a wonderful aeranth flying fish creature which will decorate the title page.  He's done an incredibly detailed and sublime portrait of The Old Man of the Sea for the interior of the book. Quite breathtaking!  The book will finish with an ornate rendition of The Golden Key itself facing the last page.  He's now working on the watercolour painting which will face the title page and reportedly be a magical forest scene set in Fairyland from the beginnings of the story.
     Rita is starting on a trial binding for the book with the beautiful yellow cloth and blue ornate endpapers that are reminiscent of the William Morris Victorian style and should complement MacDonald's brilliant novella very well.
The Golden Key is still available for Pre-Order at a special price and can be found here.

     In Lord Dunsany news, I've nearly completed the first story for the audiobook of Lost Tales.  My musical collaborator has created a Golden Age of Spain feel for the story Romance that supports the lyrical prose of Dunsany beautifully.  I hope to have the audiobook done in a few months for public release.  I'm continuing reading through rare and unpublished stories for the new Lost Tales book and planning the design. Printing will begin very soon for this volume of Lost gems from our guiding visionary Lord Dunsany.

     For those waiting for more Clark Ashton Smith I am of course in preliminary phases of design and planning for Poseidonis Cycle II "The Age of Ending" which should occur in the Spring.  It will really be nice to have all the Atlantis stories together in a set with these magical bindings and paper.

Origami Dreams

I've been folding the finished pages of The Golden Key.  Approximately 1200 pages get folded by hand (no machines here) and then they will be gathered into their signatures and trimmed (one at a time as well) laborious but strangely soothing work.  From there Rita will begin sewing the signatures together to prepare them for binding.  We've got some samples of endpaper we are looking at and they are quite spectacular.

Here is the prelude for The Golden Key which I printed yesterday morning before it was too hot to work in the pressroom.  Macdonald originally used this quote as a chapter heading in Phantastes and I found it appropriate for the new book and for life in general.  More information about this limited edition and how to place a preorder can be found here.

I've begun recording the narration for an audiobook version of the Lost Tales series by Lord Dunsany.  We hope to release this before the end of the year.  Working with a local musician to provide atmospheric color behind the stories.  This will provide fans of the stories to hear them dramatized and to view them from a different perspective or be their companions at work or on a journey.

Been reading more unpublished Dunsany stories for the next book which I will begin in the fall.  Lots of really good material as candidates and I will of course try to bring out something special for you patient Dunsany collectors out there.  That's all for now, back to work for us.  We wish you well.

Graven Images

The pen and ink illustrations for The Golden Key should be arriving soon from Mr. Van Sandwyk.  High resolution scans will be taken of the artwork and the images will be etched into copper and mounted on wood blocks. These blocks are "type high" and will be locked into the press and the printing will begin. Etched copper plates give exquisite detail and depth to the artwork. It's a slower and more expensive process than digital printing but well worth the result.

I'm nearly done printing the text and have to keep reminding myself to quit stopping and trying to read various meanings into Macdonalds's brilliantly phrased prose images.  There's something very hypnotic about reading a word and line at a time as you set type that makes you appreciate the magic of the writing.  Of course it takes about 8 hours to read and set one page of text so patience is a virtue with this craft.  We will share artwork images as soon as they're available.  Copies will be bound in small quantities and numbered and shipped in the order they're received.  The earlier you order the lower the number (which we collectors covet) copy you receive.  We thank you for your patronage and do hope you will embrace this brilliant fantasy novella as we have.
The Golden Key special preorder price can be found here.

The Ties That Bind

I was thinking of all those who become a part of our books as we make them.  There are the author's estates who are supported by royalties to keep the legacies alive for us.  There are the 500 year old german and french paper mills for the pages.  The natives in Nepal harvesting renewable plants for the beautiful endpapers.  The 1920's formulation of ink from a small company in Illinois.  The parts and materials for the press coming from Fritz singlehandedly maintaining materials for the old equipment.  Cloth and glue from a lady serving the book arts community out of her house.  Copper plates from photoengravers in the town of Owosso.  The tiny local print shop who is kind enough to cut our boards even though it dulls their blades.  An artist dreaming of fairies on a remote isle.

The spirits, passions and dreams of all these people are woven into our books as they take form.  So the next time you open one of our books we invite you to see the patterns of energy that bind it together.  You are part of a much larger community when you dream those dreams written with such grace and printed on the page.

The Golden Key Pre Order Announcement

An illustration from the Blue Fairy Book
by Charles Van Sandwyk

We are very excited to announce that  renowned Vancouver artist Charles Van Sandwyk is working on illustrations for The Golden Key edition by George MacDonald.  One of the great fantasy illustrators of this century, his work on The Blue Fairy Book and The Wind In the Willows is superb and will complement this incredible allegorical fantasy journey.  The book is now available to pre order here.
The Golden Key by George MacDonald.

Charles works on a remote Fiji island and his watercolours and pen and ink are delicate and fantastic.  We expect this edition to sell out quickly and the special pre order price helps us to finish the book while giving you a great discount on the published price.

This is our most ambitious edition to date and I'm really pleased with how it's turning out.I am now printing on the final signature section of the book in a pale blue french laid paper.  More images will be posted as they become available.

Archetypes

Here is our page of type locked up in the bed of the press using wooden furniture and quoins to exert pressure.  We'll see some printing next time.

As I was setting the type for a page of The Golden Key an image was presented that struck me as being one that runs through much of fantasy literature .

...Anon an exquisite shadow group of gambolling children would be followed by the loveliest female form, and that again by the grand stride of a Titanic shape, each disappearing in the surrounding press of shadowy foliage...

This recurring vision of a giant figure striding through various scenes yet being obscured, only revealing small, fragmented glimpses could have come from Cabell, Dunsany, Lovecraft and so many more.  Certainly an image that stretches back to the beginning of Man's imagination.  Sometimes sinister, yet always intriguing.