Tag Archives: Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows ~ Finished

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by in Kenneth Grahame, Mad Parrot Press, The Wind in the Willows

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I am very pleased to present the completed standard edition of The Wind in the Willows. It has been a long journey from inception, design, editing all the way through to printing and binding here at Deep Wood Press. I do everything “in house” and transforming the piles of paper, board, leather and cloth into books is always magic for me: True alchemy, turning lead to gold.

  • slipcase option

In my previous blog entry I was waiting on materials for the cover image hoping to use calf vellum, but in my tests the skin would not cooperate and I was unhappy with the results. I finally decided to acquire a couple natural fair goat skins and dyed them to the shade I wanted, which all took a little extra time but I am finally pleased with the results.

Once again the specifications: 75 standard edition copies of the book are quarter bound, rounded and backed, in a very dark moss green Natural Goat from Siegel Leather with a cinnamon cotton book cloth. The endpapers are a printed pattern on mocha Hahnemühle Bugra with a cloth inner hinge. The title is gilt in foil on the spine in copper and silver and the debossed panel on the front cover features Rat & Mole in a crossed oar emblem foiled in dull copper on grey-dyed goat. The text is set in 14pt Centaur with Arrighi and printed on custom-made, cotton rag paper from Papeterie Saint-Armand developed especially for this book. Interwoven throughout the book are thirteen multi-color and nine 2 color linocut illustrations by Vladimir Zimakov, with an introduction from Peter Hunt. All this in large format folio size; 148 pages, 10.25 x 14″ (26×35.5 cm). $2000.00

There are also 4 copies of the book left in sheets for purchase by other binders. Please inquire.

Initially the book was not specified to include a slipcase but given the number of people desiring such an enclosure (and I don’t blame you) I have materials on hand to produce slipcases to order in full black cloth for an additional $65. Please make a note on your order if you desire this to be added to your final purchase.

To purchase please go to the Mad Parrot website or follow this link.

Email invoices have gone out to our subscribers for their balance due, if you did not receive one please contact James for details via our Mad Parrot Press website.

Once again, the deluxe edition is sold out and no longer available.

Thank you for your patience. I am as excited to get these off to you as you are no doubt to receive them.

Update: James has set up a short video on YouTube with a slideshow of the book. Many more photos to be viewed than are shown here on the blog.

The Wind in the Willows printing has begun!

26 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by in Letterpress, Mad Parrot Press, The Wind in the Willows, Vladimir Zimakov

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At long last production has begun for our forthcoming edition of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. In mid January all the materials finally arrived and after checking the plate proofs and making the final plan for the process printing began in early February!

After escaping from Manhattan last spring I returned home to the north woods to quarantine and regroup for the coming projects. I had initially hoped to be printing by the middle of last summer with a projected book release for around the holidays. I’m sure it has been an interesting year for all of us during Covid-19 but securing bespoke items to print a very special book proved to be an exercise in patience and perseverance. Fortunately, all good things come to those who wait.

  • Final trimming of the pages
  • Section layout guide, color guide, image guide
  • First color run
  • Three colors done, now the black
  • Process, 2 of 5 colors needed for this image
  • Makeready on the press cylinder
  • All of the color runs for the 12 big images
  • Six of the large illustrations complete

It has taken a full month of printing to complete the twelve 8 x 9½ inch color images that are featured in the book. Vladimir Zimakov created the original images via multi-color linoleum cuts. Each image requires three to six different colors, each is a separate run on the press in tight registration to create the completed image. Since this is the part of the printing where things can go wrong the most this is where we start! In all, some 14 custom colors were mixed and used. There are an additional 9 two color linoleum cuts which will also adorn the book.

At the current rate of printing I hope to be completed by the end of April and then the binding process will commence!

The Wind in the Willows was lovingly set by James Dissette in 14pt Centaur and Arrighi types. It has a page size of 10.5 x 14 inches (26.7 x 35.5cm), 140 pages not including illustrations, front or back matter, printed on a custom made cotton rag paper by Papeterie Saint-Armand. There are 10 sections for the book, each section contains 4 folded folios which is 16 pages. These sections are then sewn together in the final binding to create the book.

Seventy-five copies are available for sale at $2,000, Ten deluxe copies in individual presentation bindings by Chad Pastotnik starting at $2500. Also, five copies in sheets are available for binders at $1500.

There are still some copies available in both editions!

Our special thanks to those who put down their deposit long ago and have been willing to wait it out with us.

We accept checks, direct deposit or Paypal on the madparrotpress.com site. Routing and account information available on request.

Except for deposits, a 6% sales tax will be included upon final payment. Domestic shipping and insurance is $40. Shipping and insurance for international orders will be calculated per country.