June 2022

Yep.

The Artist’s edition is ready to leave! All Rich’s work is done and will start being sent out next week, it took an awful lot longer than anyone expected to make these artisan books, I have mine! Words cannot express my feelings, it is such breath-taking book, Phil Abel at Hand & Eye, Rich Tong at Ludlow Bookbinders, Gary Gianni and Neil Gaiman; guys! Take a bow.

Words of Fire by Neil Gaiman, our next release will be a slim book of poetry selected by Neil of some of his poems which are personal and, mainly, unpublished in a book. Rich Tong is working on finishing the dummies and Phil Abel has already hot metal letterpress printed the books and the handmade sheets that will make up an extraordinary portfolio of individual poems as either broadside prints or folded jewels. The very limited-edition silkscreen print, (edition of 40) signed and numbered by maestro Bill Sienkiewicz printed in five colours by Jealous Studios is a killer kiss to the portfolio! Look out for more pics of what the different editions of the book will look like in the coming week. We are so pleased with the intimate quality of the project.

WORDS…

Repost from a happy customer Instagram: @max.bogholm “The Case of Death and Honey” (2011) by Neil Gaiman.
“The Adventure of the Creeping Man” (1923) by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Illustrations by Gary Gianni.
Published by Arete Editions.
Printed at Hand and Eye.

Keep them coming! What a superior production, prolific with illustrations, so many details. The story is living on the pages of the book. Very playful at the same time, it was such a pleasure to read. Apparently, one never grows tired of Sherlock Holmes! And isn’t finding a cure to death the most appropriate mystery for the most acclaimed detective in our history to solve?🕵️‍♂️

Latest from Rich about some Arete and Lyra projects!

Rich Tong is finding that his and Gary Gianni’s designs are proving to be one of the most complex, complicated and time-consuming designs he has ever done for a book! The solander box, with its bradel bound covers, the multi levels of each of the components is proving to test every step he makes. He just needs to piece them all together! The box itself has about 30 (I’ll find out exactly how many tomorrow) foil block layers, let alone the complexity of the book which has had Rich saying that just binding the original artwork into the covers was some of the most hair-raising elements he has ever done. All combine to make a spectacular unique object.

Here you can see Rich’s layouts and plans and the progression of blocking that he needs to do, and you can see the wells, ready to be combined within the books casing.

Hopefully you will understand why this is all taking longer than anticipated!