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 All will be unpublished or uncollected.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.