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Chad Pastotnik, Deep Wood Press

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Chad Pastotnik, Deep Wood Press

Category Archives: CODEX

Wind in the Willows deluxe edition work, CODEX VIII, and Manhattan VI

05 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by Deep Wood Press in CODEX, Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair, Presentation bindings, The Wind in the Willows

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fine press books, Letterpress

Since the completion of the standard edition of The Wind in the Willows I’ve been busy in the bindery working on the 10 deluxe copies of the book. There are an additional 9 books queued up for presentation bindings to fill orders placed in the past few months for my past books including The Intruder, In the Penal Colony, and The Mad Angler Poems so those will make reappearances here in the future in their new clothing as well. I seem to be more a binder than a printer these days….

I am usually loathe to share images of unfinished work and only a couple of these are even close to completion so apologies for the less than stellar images taken with my phone on the bench with plenty of glare. Quite a bit of leather onlay and underlay work, tooling, bits of foil and great fun refining binding structures. I stocked a fair amount of new leathers for this endeavor in both goat and calf as well as a few fair skins that I’ve dyed to suit my needs. These will all be in solander boxes when completed and accompanied by a suite of the 12 full size illustrations from the book.

Cambridge style binding with title inlay. Still working on Toad.
Full goat, leather onlays, tooling and title in copper foil. More leather bits coming.
Half binding in calf with sculpted leather onlays. Another tree to come on the right.
Full goat over a split board binding with inlay of title with goat onlays. Much more tooling to come.
Full goat over leather cords. More tooling to come.
Quarter binding in goat with lots of leather bits and lots more to come.
Waiting for leather. The lower two books are split board bindings, raised cords on the top two and sewn headbands on all of them..
Click on any image to enter a slideshow.

CODEX

This Friday I’m off to CODEX in Berkeley, CA for yet another gathering of fine press makers and book artists from around the globe. I’m excited to see everyone again and have volunteered to help Peter and Susan with all the gory details of show set-up, shopping and general flunky. That’s what friends do!

Visit me at Table 56 to see the new work and catch up.

New York

Upon returning from California I’ve a few days to repack for the Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair on Saturday, April 23rd from 10am – 5pm. The last “in-person” fair I did was Manhattan 2 years ago just as Covid was hitting the USA. I managed to escape back to Michigan unscathed (though quite a few friends were not so lucky) where I have been practicing social distancing and isolation for 30 years now here at DWP.


Winter was lacking in many ways here on the Michigan 45th parallel, bitter cold prevailed but not the kind of snowfall we have historically enjoyed, so cross country skijoring with the dog was a limited activity which is one of the things that keeps me sane during our long winters. Life was interrupted by a power outage during the holidays, I was out for 5 days but the worst part was when power was restored it dumped high voltage through all the buildings and AirBnB rental taking out the furnace controller, refrigerator, ceiling fans, gfci outlets, audio gear and all kinds of other little things that sometimes take weeks to discover. Needless to say, this took priority for a while along with all the fun of dealing with insurance, ordering and installing replacement items.

There is still snow outside as I type this though spring is around the corner. There are geese and ducks on the river verbally making themselves known to potential mates. Coyotes, fox and bobcats are on the prowl and the otters and beavers are enjoying their icy slides. On a sunny day last week I say my first turtle that had emerged from the winter muck to sun himself on a log. A few early hatches that the trout have ignored and when I return from New York trout season opener will have already happened here in Michigan on the 24th. Don’t worry, I’ll keep focusing in the bindery. Mostly. You know I’m looking forward to printing The Machine Stops this fall and the drawings we’re getting from Marc Castelli will blow your minds.

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Fine Bindings for CODEX and other news!

29 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by Deep Wood Press in Breon Mitchell - Franz Kafka, CODEX, In the Penal Colony, Kenneth Grahame, Letterpress, Mad Parrot Press, Presentation bindings, The Wind in the Willows, Vladimir Zimakov

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Codex Book Fair and Symposium, Franz Kafka, Kenneth Grahame

It’s been a busy few weeks getting ready and I’ll be heading to Berkeley starting this Friday to once again attend Codex – CODEX VII Nordica – what is now the biggest fine press fair in the world. Come see me at table #159 about 2/3 of the way to the back on a corner along the left side of the aisle, you can’t miss me. For this big show I’ve prepared a couple presentation bindings of my latest book, a new translation of Franz Kafka’s In the Penal Colony as well as some of my earlier book editions. One of them may be spoken for already and I’m down to my last few copies of this book.

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And another one in a similar motif – I’ve been using a printed sheet for the endpapers that evokes a topographic map as the Penal Colony takes place on an island so decided to continue that on these covers. Both have Hewit spines and dark blue Harmatan goat on the covers that has been extensively blind tooled, both have various onlays of other leather bits are complete in a drop spine box with spine label. Actually, I’m still working on these a bit, fiddly bits….

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The Wind in the Willows — Kenneth Grahame

I will also have with me a prototype page layout for The Wind in the Willows to accompany the first illustration we’ve (Mad Parrot Press) commissioned from Vladimir Zimakov. Conveniently, Vladimir has a table right next to me so we can answer questions and take in the love that surrounds this wondrous book. I’ve gotten more inquiries about this book already than any other ever except maybe the long gone Heart of Darkness and it’s great to share the excitement with people. Here is Pan as found by Rat and Mole during their search for Otter’s poor lost boy Portly from the chapter “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”. In the book it’ll match the text block size and be a generous three color plate of 8 x 9.25 inches – we hope to have at least ten more of these from Vladimir for the book!

final print comb 5

Apologies for the less than ideal photos. There hasn’t been much sunlight here in Northern Michigan these last couple weeks. Plenty of five degree days plunging to -20 at night and an abundance of snow approaching three feet now. It’ll be good to go to California, I’ll take 60 degrees and rain about now no problem even if I have to dig myself into my house and studio when I return.

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Our poor snowmen are now “at one” with their world….

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Heading to Codex soon

13 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by Deep Wood Press in CODEX, David James Duncan, Letterpress, One River, The Machine Stops

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Books, Codex Book Fair and Symposium, David James Duncan, Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss, frustration, travel

A new year is upon us and so much has been going on here at DWP. Currently I am preparing for CODEX which is upcoming soon in Berkeley, CA – a global gathering of the book arts that happens every two years. Life has been busy in the studio since my return from Oak Knoll, mostly binding the last of the edition of Kafka’s In the Penal Colony of which I have saved a couple of copies to take to California. Some of you may have noticed that it never even made it to my very neglected website, it’ll get there but most all of my copies have been sold.

Right now I’ve just finished a broadside project titled “One River” with David James Duncan which is part of EXTRACTION, Art on the Edge of the Abyss – Words on the Edge: A Portfolio of Fine Printed Broadsides. Twenty six fine presses from around the world were paired with twenty six authors including Margaret Atwood, Terry Tempest Williams, Gary Snyder, Barry Lopez, Jane Hirshfield, Arthur Sze, Jan Zwicky, Kay Ryan, Eliza Griswold, Wendell Berry, Edwin Dobb, Natalie Diaz, Robert Bringhurst, William Kittredge and more. I got lucky with David – we’re both lovers of trout angry at the world of man.

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The big composing stick was called into service, that’s 18pt Garamond set into the two main paragraphs in a 92 pica measure and 14pt for the bottom comment. Illustrated with one of my wood engravings (on resingrave as seen in the full type case pic) in an edition of 100 on Somerset Book white. Details of the project here.

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Progress is also being made on my other Kafka project now long in the tooth – The Hunter Gracchus. I was hoping to have it done for Codex but alas, it isn’t going to happen. There will be a return to a flurry of activity with it upon my return home though and will likely be complete in May of this year.

On the good news front we’ve gotten the go ahead to resume work on E.M. Forster’s The Machine Stops! Never an end to the madness but Mad Parrot Press is up to the task. We’re a bit overwhelmed with The Wind in the Willows at the moment but we’re on it!

Finally, and sadly, I want to put this out there: In the past 2 years I have sold 3 books to Columbia University in New York in two separate transactions. On both occasions the books were “lost” somewhere between the mail room and special collections. Apparently, I have no recourse, USPS delivery confirmation is not enough and there is only so much looking or communication that is ever going to happen. I am without payment for close to $3000 collectively and $2000 just recently which is a lot of money for a single father paying a mortgage, supporting a studio and 2 kids – this IS my day job. A lot of money around the holidays and makes it considerably harder to travel across the country to Codex. Do not ship anything without a signature required on delivery is the hard lesson I’ve learned and I’m passing it along. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me….

Totally open to some legal advice here. What do you think?

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Deluxe copy of The Path
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Glenn’s intaglio plate
"The Intruder" cover
The Intruder
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Deluxe copy of Heart of Darkness
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A printed sheet next to the type form
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Spread from Heart of Darkness
Spread from Heart of Darkness
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The Mad Angler’s Manifesto
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opening spread for the Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop
Opening spread for the Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, intaglio engravings by Chad Pastotnik.
Page spread from The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.
Page spread from The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.
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Deluxe copy of The Intruder
Bower by Terrance Hayes
Bower by Terrance Hayes
Tree (1991)
Presentation binding for The Chesapeake Voyages of Captain John Smith
Presentation binding for The Chesapeake Voyages of Captain John Smith
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the linoleum blocks for "The Path" center spread
the linoleum blocks for “The Path” center spread
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Kafka page spread detail
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prototype for deluxe edition of "The Intruder"
Deluxe edition prototype
Title Page
Title Page
Chained books at Chetham's Library in Manchester, England where I was a keynote speaker at a letterpress conference.
Chained books at Chetham’s Library in Manchester, England where I was a speaker at a letterpress conference.
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Trout spread
Trout page spread
Custom bound journal, commissioned work
Custom bound journal, commissioned bindery work
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The 6th etching for the book, "Entitled"
The 6th etching for the book, “Entitled”
Cover for the book There Be Monsters
There Be Monsters.
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spine label detail
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Along with Youth by Ernest Hemingway broadside
Along with Youth
Opening spread for There be Monsters
Opening spread for There be Monsters
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Cover of The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.
Center Spread
Center Spread
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deluxe binding of The Intruder
deluxe binding of The Intruder
"The Intruder" cover
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The Path
The Path
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Deluxe copy of The Path
Deluxe copy of The Changeling's Exile
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detail of “The Intruder” cover
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Title page from Heart of Darkness
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1,000 Artist’s Books
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Glenn’s remark
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Don Etherington binding of The Intruder
Don Etherington binding of The Intruder
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Opening spread for Minisens
Opening spread for Minisens
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Deluxe copy of Heart of Darkness
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The Trout in Winter
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Some books produced at Deep Wood Press
Some books produced at Deep Wood Press. The John Barth book “Browsing” was printed here at DWP for The Literary House Press (Washington College, MD) by James Dissette, my sometimes partner in crime in printing for Chester River Press.
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Killing the Bear
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CD packaging
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the process
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Title page from Killing the Bear by Judith Minty
Title page from Killing the Bear by Judith Minty
Killing the Bear by Judith Minty, deluxe edition binding & slipcase
Killing the Bear by Judith Minty, deluxe edition binding & slipcase
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Page spread from The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.
Page spread from The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.
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Don Etherington binding of The Intruder
Don Etherington binding of The Intruder
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Ripping Oblivion
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