Update from the Bindery at Pegana Press

Just a quick update to let you know where I’m at with the binding process. As you may know Pegana Press is a small press run by the two of us, Mike and Rita Tortorello.

Under ordinary circumstances our books take about 8 to 10 weeks to bind from start to finish, and most of that time is spent under weight.

I am experiencing a delay of about 3 to 5 weeks due to the pandemic, but am just about ready to get books under weight in this upcoming week.

I will continue to update you with progress reports as the books are bound.  You may expect your books to be finished by no later than June, if all goes as expected.  We are doing our best to stay safe and we hope you are too.  Thank you for your patience and your understanding at this time.

New For 2020: Pegana Press Podcast

Several years back, we tried doing a Storycast, where we read rare stories.  We tried posting them on our blog and website, but didn’t really have the proper platform to do it.

Over time this idea has been resurrected in two ways.  One is where Mike Tortorello in partnership with Daven Tillinghast creates audio stories with music.  You can find out more about that on Dreamer’s Tales on Patreon .

The second evolution of Storycast comes in the form of a podcast on anchor . fm.  We’ve just put out our first episode.  You can listen on Pegana Press Podcast 

We hope to make this a regular thing and plan to release two episodes a month for now.

We invite you to join us.

Pegana Press Celebrates 10 Years

It was about this time in July 10 years ago that Mike unpacked the restored Vandercook sp15 press which had just shipped from the Midwest to its new home in the Pacific Northwest, and Pegana Press became a part of our lives.

We feel very lucky to have come so far with this endeavor from a part time obsession to a full time business creating the kinds of books inspired from our early days of book collecting.  We want to thank others like us, who have supported our efforts by collecting our letterpress, hand made Pegana Press Books.  Together all of us keep the press alive.

Dark Dreamlands II Preview

This beautiful illustration by Michael Hutter will appear in our next book of stories by H. P. Lovecraft, Dark Dreamlands II.

Hand set and printed letterpress, and hand bound at Pegana Press.  To view information about this book or to pre-order your copy please go to our website at Pegana Press.

Spring at Pegana Press

Printing Another Book

Mike is in with the press.  He’s printing another page from Dark Dreamlands II.  I just saw him looking through a magnifying glass to evaluate ink on the paper.

Keeping Pegana Press Running

It’s not all type-setting, printing, and binding.  We lead an integrated existence at the press.  Over the years, we’ve created a balance that allows us to spend less on living expenses, which enables us to put money into making books, which in turn generates income to pay the bills.

While Fall/Winter is the season I can devote to binding the books that Mike prints during the Spring/Summer season, this is the time of year I devote to growing/raising food on our small homestead.

I just got back from the post office where I mailed a couple of books off.  Our post office used to be housed in the general store in a very small community in East Olympia.  I really love that drive.  The community is mostly small farms and homesteads.  The general store is still there, but the post office has expanded to a new building.

Since I was close to the farm store, I drove out to pick up straw.  I can get two bales into the back of the Prius.  After a wet and cold winter, I need to change out the straw in my small barn where the hens like to lay their eggs.  A happy, healthy flock is a big part of our home economy, and allows us to use more income on making books and less on feeding ourselves.

On my way back home, I pass (I kid you not) the cider mill, which is a working farm.  They make fresh donuts daily, and who could resist home-made pastries?  It seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the end of the tax filing season, so I pulled in.  I drove home with the tempting aroma of fresh sticky buns made with a cider glaze.

When I got home, Mike was still printing so I share here, a photo of the page he is currently working on.

And that’s a little peek into life here at the press...

If you’re interested in hand made letterpress books and you would like to help support Pegana Press check out our website or take a look at our Patreon page.

Dark Dreamlands II

Mike is hard at work on the next book release.  Volume II of Dark Dreamlands.  Another letterpress edition for fans of Lovecraft.

We are also excited to announce that Michael Hutter will be illustrating this edition as well and we hope to have some of his new work to post on the website soon.

To view Dark Dreamlands I, or to pre-order Dark Dreamlands II, please visit our website.

For Lovecraft fans:  Dark Dreamlands I and II illustrated by Michael Hutter, and The Moon-Bog chapbook edition illustrated by Jim Pitts

An Update for February 2019

 

It’s still early in 2019 and we’ve already released Clark Ashton Smith Poseidonis Cycle II, a deluxe letterpress edition with illustrations by Justine Jones and an introduction by Donald Sidney-Fryer.




In February, we released a letterpress chapbook of H.P. Lovecraft’s story, The Moon-Bog with illustration by Jim Pitts.



And Mike just finished a fine letterpress broadside of Edgar A. Poe’s poem The Conqueror Worm with illustration by Harry Clarke.

Which brings us up to date with the doings at Pegana Press.

You can see these and other works on our website at PeganaPress.

The Book of Dreams

Took a trip to the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair over the weekend and had a great time showing off this display prospectus for the new Deluxe Lovecraft edition Dark Dreamlands.  Dealers in the supernatural and fantastic were especially excited about Michael Hutter's illustrations.  We'll be doing a test binding in the coming weeks and will post some images as the book takes shape.  More information and how to advance order this deluxe and very limited edition of Dark Dreamlands by H.P. Lovecraft can be found here on our website.

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

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.