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.

Poseidonis II - A Progress Report from The Bindery

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

Of Ink and Thread

The days grow shorter and colder here while the work of the press and bindery goes on.  I'm well into the printing of a new Lovecraft edition using an antique laid paper that looks great.  The story I'm working on is fairly obscure, being one of Lovecraft's earlier writings.  Rita has been sewing the signatures and tipping on the endpapers from Nepal for The Age of Whelming edition by Clark Ashton Smith, releasing soon.

Poseidonis Update

Clark Ashton Smith: Poseidonis Cycle-The Age of Whelming.  Illustration by Justine Jones.  Pegana Press 2018.

Mike is finished setting and printing Poseidonis Cycle The Age of Whelming.  He is currently setting type for the book titles for the cover.

Justine Jones has provided us with two fantastic illustrations.  Once we get the final versions of the illustrations, they will be sent to be digitally printed in town.

Rita will begin cutting the book boards by hand starting next week, Mike will begin the process of folding and collating the book pages, and the binding process will begin when the illustrations come back from the digital print shop.

To reserve your copy at the special preorder price visit PeganaPress online.

The Work of Autumn

As our days grow shorter, darker, and wetter, we are busy with books and more books.  Rita has been binding copies of Lost Tales 4 by Lord Dunsany, Dark Dreamlands by H.P. Lovecraft, and The Golden Key by George MacDonald.  Her goal is to have all of our books available for the holidays so people (or significant others) can help with present giving.

Rita is also currently cutting boards for The Age of Whelming by Clark Ashton Smith as I near completion of the printing.  Printing should be done in a couple of weeks.  Justine Jones is working on the illustrations for the edition and we will post photos as we get them; we can't wait to see what she comes up with for these evocative stories of the end of Poseidonis.  The special pre-order price will be ending soon for the edition and we are happy to arrange payment plans on any book for anyone interested.

Our backs are sore at the end of the day and the cats sleep while we work...
We hope you are all well and spending time in your libraries.

Cheerio for now

Mike and Rita
Pegana Press

The Men of Baldfolk...More Lost Tales

The Men of Baldfolk and Other Fanciful Tales is another edition of lost tales from the imagination of Lord Dunsany.  The content included in this book offers a range of styles from the humorous and whimsical to the dark and brooding to the thought provoking observations of a master story teller.

Visions of wonder and splendor await you in this volume.  From the archives at Dunsany Castle, these stories were shared by the curator, the majority of which were previously unpublished.  Also included in this volume are two very early essays hunted down by Mike and retrieved from The Saturday Review magazine.

Although the material presented in this book is of the Lost Tales, the book design was a departure from our usual Lost Tales volumes.  This book did not appear in chapbook format, and was letterpress printed on  paper of a green tint.  And we include a color Sime illustration, courtesy of Dunsany Castle, as frontispiece.

The signatures were sewn with green linen thread and the book was quarterbound at Ars Obscura in Seattle using paper and silk on boards.

The binding reminds us of an unpublished story which appears in this book titled The Book of Flowery Tales, which would have been at home in A Dreamer’s Tales.

This book is currently being offered at a special price through the end of July in celebration of our 9 year anniversary with Pegana Press.  You may find it on our website