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.

The Craft of the Art

I've begun printing on the pale green paper for the Golden Key (see above); the papers are complementing each other very well.  We're again using the Hahnemuhle Ingres laid paper in different shades.

I thought I would share some of the steps involved in making a letterpress edition.  The bottom photo is the drawer of Goudy Franciscan type with the composing stick in front.  The lines of type are set a letter at a time upside down. The words get separated by various thicknesses of metal to create the spacing between words until the type is snug within the margins of the stick.  Once you have enough lines it gets transferred onto the bed of the press to be printed.  Each page takes about 5  hours  to set.

I've begun reviewing material for the next book and hope to begin work on an audiobook of the Lost Tales series next week.   We hope everyone is well and finding time to read.  I'm reading Wodehouse to relax during rare breaks from printing.  That's all for now, signing off til next time.

Lost Tales Volume 3 Shipping Update

Hello everyone,

Rita has completed the first batch of chapbooks and they will begin shipping in a couple of days. The first hardbacks are drying under weight and will begin shipping next week.  I will send out email notifications to each of you letting you know your copy is on its way.  The books are done in small batches at a time, numbered and shipped based on your order date.

We have posted new pictures of the finished book on the website page; I think Rita has done a splendid job (as always); we really like the "feel" and look of the book.

That's all for now

cheerio

mike