14.9.11

Pasted Again



This fall Kat Ran Press will be issuing an interesting little book reproducing samples of paste papers made by 19 bookbinders, collected and presented by binder David Bourbeau.

"In his introduction to [Paste Papers of the Pioneer Valley], the late David P. Bourbeau gives a fascinating history of fine printing and binding in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, with special attention paid to decorated and paste papers. This precedes full-page reproductions of nineteen paste papers with short biographies of their makers—many of whom are the unsung hero-binders of books from fine press publishers such as Gehenna Press, Pennyroyal Press, Cheloniidae Press, Warwick Press, ELM Press, The Lone Oak Press, and Double Elephant Press."


The book (48 pp, 6 x 8.25 inches, $30) reproduces one paper by each binder (including HM's friends Claudia Cohen and Sarah Creighton). It is published in collaboration with Catawba Press, which a quick Google search suggests is the imprint of binder Barbara Blumenthal (a handful of titles were issued in the first half of the 1980s, but it seems to have been in abeyance since). This would make sense since she is making the boxes for the deluxe edition of 20 copies, issued with large, matted samples of each paper reproduced in the book ($950).