The Background

The New England puritans believed that each person was morally responsible for their own salvation. No church, priest, or interpreter stood between the individual and God. It was therefore incumbent on every soul to know and understand the words of God. The only way that could be accomplished was if the person could read the words of God. To that end children were taught to read. Primers were developed and printed to aid in that teaching. The earliest surviving primers are from the 17^th century. As these were functional books, they were used until they fell apart.

            The primers included many different lessons. One lessons was a collection of rhymes to help the penitent to learn their alphabet. Each rhyme highlighted a letter and provided a moral lesson. Each rhyme was illustrated with a simple woodcut.

The Project

            I am seeking artists to re-interpret the rhymes and illustrate them for a modern sensibility. An artist can select a rhyme and they are free to interpret it in anyway they wish to. The text portion of the rhyme will be letterpress printed by myself. Facing the text will be the illustration. Depending on the nature of the illustration, it can be letterpress printed (linocuts, wood blocks, magnesium plates, polymer plates, etc.), ink jet printed, laser printed, or possibly other methods may be used.

            If you prefer, the art work can be submitted and I will undertake to figure out how to print it. (E.g.: scan it and get a plate made, laser print, etc.) Alternately, if so desired, the artist can print their own copies of the illustration and I will tip them into the book.

The Details

Page size will be (H x W) 8 ½ " x 5 ½ ". Please be sure to leave space for borders.

Two states will be produced:

A) Artist copy. Artist’s copies will be printed on St. Armand Old Master handmade paper. These will be limited to 26 lettered copies. Each artist will receive the copy of their letter. The binding details have yet to be determined, but it will be a hardcover.

B) Commercial Copy. Limited to 50 numbered copies, I am tentatively planning on printing these on Canal paper, probably from St. Armand. This edition will be for sale, to recover some of the costs of producing the books. Final binding has yet to be determined.

If you are interested in participating in this project or just want more details, contact me at: jcbyers at wollamshram dot ca.

News

25 August 2013

As the result of some test prints, I have finally settled on a type face. I am going to use Fell, specifically a digital revival of the type. The text will be produced on the computer and photo polymer plates made of it. From the plates the letterpress printing will be done. Fell is a 16th century type face and the digital version retains the "hand made" feel of the type. The lines of the caracters are not precise. They very much have the feel and look of 16th century printing. The Fell type has been revived by Igino Marini. His work can be seen here.

Next on the adgenda:

1. Continue to recruit artists to the project.
2. Get polymer plates made of the text.
3. Get the paper cut to the correct size,