Books 1994 – 1995

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From A Memoir of Book Design:

This is yet another one-of-a-kind book made possible by the Herculean efforts of the people who worked with Gary Strong in their fight against illiteracy. At this time Gary was leaving his post as the California State Librarian to become the head of the Queens Borough Public Library system in New York. His efforts to fight illiteracy made him the head of a nationwide network. The literary staff at the state library contacted me to say that they wanted to commission a book in which all those he had worked with across the country could write appreciative comments. The logistics of preparing such a book are far more complicated than one would imagine. In an imposition scheme, page two does not immediately follow page one when laid out on a larger sheet of paper by the printer. After thanking the staff for coming to me for my advice before they started the project, I suggested that they send out individually folded sheets of paper with instructions to the recipient to write on one side of a leaf and then send it on to another group, doing this four times consecutively to fill up four sides of the two leaves of a folded sheet of paper. I really did not believe it would work. I thought that somewhere along the way someone would goof and write entirely across the sheet of paper, or write upside down on one side, or even forget to send it on to the next signatory. To my surprise, everyone did the correct thing, and at the precise prearranged time we ended up with a great many folded sheets of paper overflowing with kudos for Gary. It was up to me to arrange them into signatures and to sew them into a laudatory presentation.

I covertly obtained a copy of one of Gary's speeches and typeset it into the computer and then laser printed it on archival Arches paper. I used this along with Masonic sheep in a sort of quarter binding. I say "sort of" because I did not use a straight line where the cover paper meets the leather. It is in the shape of an "ess" (for "S"trong, of course). The endpapers are golden yellow. Every facet of the design of this book is meant to convey the happiness that one can sense when reading the testimonials inside. The book is presented in a bright orange-cloth clamshell box. The entire presentation made a wonderful surprise going away present from the group to Gary and was given to him at a meeting to which I was invited.

©Book Club of California

A | MIDGET BOOK | OF MIGHTY | MENTAL | [red] MAGIC | [black] by | Jules Lenier | Foreword by Thomas M. Blue | The Baffles Press | Fullerton, California | 1994

2 1/2 x 2 7/8 inches, red felt endpaper that extends to front board, [i–ii]: blank, 1–5 foreword text, [7]: title, [8]: copyright, [9]: contents, [10]: blank, 11–13 text, [14]: blank, [15]: 1. | SEEING | WITH | YOUR | FINGERTIPS, [16]: blank, 17–25: text, [26]: blank, [15]: 2. | FEELING | ANOTHER | PERSON’S | THOUGHTS, [28]: blank, 29–38: text, [39–40]: blank, [41]: 3. | FINDING | HIDDEN | OBJECTS | BLINDFOLDED, [42]: blank, 43–51: text, [52]: blank, [53]: ADDENDA, BLINDFOLDED, [54]: blank, [55]: colophon, [56–58] blank, red felt endpaper extends to back board 

Colophon:

This edition of

Jules Lenier's MAGIC

was designed and produced 

by D'Ambrosio

on a Macintosh Centris 610 

and printed letterpress 

from magnesium plates on a Vandercook No. 4.

The paper is

Arches Text Wove.

The edition is limited to 50 copies.

This is

copy

No.

[underlined number in pencil]

[signed vertically on right by Jules Lenier]

Slip-case: 2 1/2 x 3 x 1 3/8 inches, black cloth with red felt inside at top, back and bottom. White paper label printed with: MAGIC.

Note: Frank Lehmann of Lehmann Bindery writes about A Midget Book of Mighty Mental Magic by Jules Lenier, 1994:

“The design of the binding was supposed to look like a circus tent when the book was flat. That is what Tom asked Joe to make. Tom’s introduction was based on the pitchmen spiels from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

“It was published and sold by my good friend Tom Blue and written by another friend, Jules Lenier. Initially the books were offered for sale to the Magic community since both Tom and Jules were very well known there. Tom was an avid Magic book collector and historian. Jules was a very well known performing magician with a specialty in mentalism.

The design of the binding was supposed to look like a circus tent when the book was flat, that is what Tom asked Joe to make. Tom’s introduction was based on the pitchmen spiels from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

Tom was my best friend for 40 years and I was present while he and Jules were working on this book. The above is my recollection of what happened from Tom’s viewpoint.” 

From A Memoir of Book Design:

This is a miniature book issued by Lorson's Books in Fullerton, California; I designed, printed, and bound the entire edition. Continuing with my penchant for molded structural shapes that encourage the bibliophile to feel and see something other than a flat cover, this miniature book at first glance in its slipcase appears to be the standard right-angular shape with a rounded spine. When it is removed from its slipcase, it becomes something other than it appears: a bat's wing. 

In this book, the famous magician Jules Lenier reveals the secrets behind three magical tricks. I believe this is the first time that I did not use lead type to print a book. I set it entirely on the computer and had magnesium plates made from laser printouts. The plates are made type-high for the printing press by mounting them on wood bases. Printing from commercially produced printing plates sounds like an easy thing to do. It is not always so. The magnesium plate is one solid piece, but when it is adhered to the wood base, the manufacturers may use a number of different blocks under the very same plate. Printing with a letterpress is a very exacting craft. Everything in the bed of the press must be exactly the same height or the printing will not be uniform, and the abutting blocks are often not quite uniform. Many adjustments (called make-ready) need to be made. The adjustment may require only one thin piece of paper slipped under an area of the wood base, or various thicknesses may be required in different places, but the entire unit must be brought to an even level 

The covers were shaped much as were those for Muses (1994), only this time the structural struts are on the fore edge instead of the top and bottom of the cover. Two different kinds of black cloth were used, one kind for the spine area and another for stretching over the struts. The reason is that each piece of cloth has a particular job to do and the weave of the cloth is important. In the spine area the cloth has to maintain the bend in the joint so the grain of the weave must be vertical. On the balance of the cover in the shaped area the cloth has to be able to stretch after being glued around a particular shape. In this case a horizontal grain made shaping the covers easier. This required two different kinds of black cloth. If the book is held up so that a light hits it at an angle you will notice the two separate pieces. Red endpapers complete the presentation and mirror the red interior of the slipcase.

©Book Club of California

[on spiral paper extending from front board to blue endpaper] RAY BRADBURY’S || THE STARS | Gold Stein Press | Santa Ana, California | 1993, 

2 x 2 1/2 inches, [verso of endpaper]: copyright, [i–ii]: blank, [iii]: title, [iv]: blank, 1–12: text with colored paper between 7 and 8 and 9 and 10, [13]: blank, [14]: colophon, blue endpaper extends to back board with [signature ’93] on bottom of back board.

Colophon:

Design and production for 

the Gold Stein Press 

by D’Ambrosio. 

Hand set 8 pt. Arrighi 

type printed on Arches 

text wove paper using a

Vandercook No. 4 proof press

This is copy No. [number in pencil]

Of ninety–five.

[signature of Ray Bradbury vertically on right in pencil]

Binding: Blue cloth book within box with stars. Blue paper spine with THE STARS  Ray Bradbury.

From A Memoir of Book Design:

This is another miniature book by Ray Bradbury. Once again, he left me to my own devices and never once intruded on the design. The very first time that he saw the design and execution of his story was when I brought the loose colophon pages to him for his signature (it is easier to write by hand within the pages of a miniature book if the pages are loose and can lie perfectly flat). Afterward, I would bind the book. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a book block has been sewn into a clam-shell, or side-hinged, box. Admittedly, this is a miniature book and stress is not a factor, but appearance is.

The box, covered in dark blue cloth, has white dots on it of variable thicknesses. They represent a north-looking view of the night sky in December [The choice of the month in which to reproduce the stars for this book is propitious, because at a later time I will work with Ray Bradbury again-this time on a work that centers around Christ's birth at Christmas.] (I obtained a book of constellations to ensure accuracy). The dots, or stars, are carried over into the lighter blue endpapers on the inside of the box. The constellations include the Pleiades cluster (seven daughters of Atlas) in the Taurus constellation (Ray seems fond of referring to this particular cluster in his writings). A stencil was made and white tempera paint was pushed through the openings so the stars appear in the same position on each cover. I first used the concept of continuing the design from the front of a cover to the inside (endpapers) in Of Bookmen & Printers (1989).

Creating the friction necessary to keep the box closed (until one wants to open it) is complicated. If some form of friction is not present, when the box is picked straight up it will automatically fall open from the weight of the book within it. (I first tried a similar form on the clam-shell box that houses the previous work, D'Ambrosio's David.) A flange, or tab, on top and bottom of the back cover fits snugly (when closed) into respective niches within the inside of the front cover box. A half-round depression on the side of the box exterior hints at where one should place one's finger to more easily open the box. A ribbon could have been attached so that the case could be opened by pulling on it. I have on occasion used a ribbon pull, but I have seen many ribbons eventually pull out of their placements so I chose a design more fitting to the human anatomy: pressure from the pad of a finger.

Engineering innovative features into a book structure is time consuming, and not altogether honed at the beginning of the production of an edition. In fact, because the process is repetitive, fabrication techniques continue to improve as the edition progresses. This may seem unfair to the buyers of my work, but the essence of my work is precisely to push the book into new realms of communication. And that can only be done by taking risks. When a collector buys my work, the collector, in essence, is promoting and financing my ultimate goals. The collector becomes a part of the experiment, and vicariously, the risk-taking. I have always sold my work with the guarantee that I will repair it without cost provided the work is repairable. If it has been in a fire, there is probably nothing I can do about repairing it. I give this guarantee precisely for the purpose of the innovations I include which have not been tried over a period of time and are thus unproven in their stability. My repairs incorporate what I have since learned.

Upon opening the box, the title structure of a spreading space nebula inside the lid pops up to greet the reader. This could not have been achieved without the book block being sewn into a box. The title is printed on the back, blank side, of French marbled paper. Then two printed sections are cut out and partly pasted together. With an X-acto knife, the patterns are cut out and elongated. The difficult part is to glue only the center of each side into its respective area. But it can be done.

The interior design uses many cutaway and screen printed pages to heighten the

poetry. It begins with cloud-like forms allowing the forthcoming poetry to peek around the tops of the cumuli, then slowly adds a multitude of abstract shapes in many colors, beginning with soft pastels and growing into blatantly raw hues. As the colors become more intense, cutouts and pop-up swirls appear, but they are separate from the poetry so as not to intrude upon the author's communication. Some graphics do appear with the author's poetry, but they exhibit a pastel softness so as not to be inundating. The author is the supreme being. 

While working with Ray Bradbury's words, I marveled at how precise they are, and thought that he must have labored long and hard changing and replacing, moving poetic lines around, just to get them that way. I brought this up to him when I brought the colophons over to his home for him to sign, and he answered, "I wrote this one in about an hour.” So much for genius.

©Book Club of California

[in mustard] al aaraaf | [black] by | Edgar Allan Poe | [signature of D’Ambrosio in pencil] | Livre d'Art by D’Ambrosio

5 1/2 x 9 inches on right that tapers to 5 1/2 inches, blue endpaper, [i]: A star was discovered, [ii]: blank, [iii]: [debossed image] title , [iv]: blank, [v–vii]: forward, [viii]: blank, [ix]: al aaraaf PART I, [x]: blank, [1–5]: images, 6–9; text with multicolored art and purple feathers at edges of 6 & 7, 9–16: debossed, 10–19: text with images on 13, 17, and 19, [20]: blank, [21]: al aaraaf PART II, [22]: blank, [23–45]: [blue] text with images on 37–43; [46]: blank, [47]: [black] colophon, [48]: blank, blue endpaper.

Colophon:

This edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Al Aaraaf 

was letterpress printed on Lana Royal Classic paper 

from computer generated plates using the Black Chancery font.

The notes to Al Aaraaf are included 

separately and can be found 

inside the back cover.

This is 

copy

[underlined number in pencil]

of 50 copies.

1995

Pocket inside back board containing a 3 1/2 x 5 inch pamphlet that reproduces Edgar Allan Poe’s notes on Al Aaraaf. 14 pages, i, ii, 1–12.

Cover: Mirrored plexiglass with arabic writing having a canopy and base.

From A Memoir of Book Design:

Based on the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's discovery of what later would be termed a supernova-Al Aaraaf (a star that arose upon the night sky in a brilliant flash, stayed for a short while, and then disappeared), Edgar Allan Poe created this metaphysical communication of fleeting beauty. In it he juggles time and space between reality and fantasy. I had no recourse but to do the same. However, I did start with a basic premise, which is that when one passes a mirror, one can see one's image and the surrounding scene. Once past the mirror, one disappears from the view but the reflection of the surrounding scene continues: a visual presentation of the term "evanescence."

During the period of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), all heavenly bodies were given Arabic names. The structure of the book, therefore, had to evoke that background, along with the spirit of a beautiful thing arising and then passing forever from view. Hence, I created a mirrored polyhedron with unintelligible but real script that evokes Arabic writing (but not Arabic) banding its throat. Why not use real Arabic writing? I even sought an Arabic/English dictionary to be perfectly correct in my rendering. But I didn't use it; my intent as a designer was to evoke the Arabic language through the use of intelligible English characters, and thus lure the English reader into the text.

After all, the text was written and printed in English, not Arabic. The interior book block was conceived and completed based on the plan for the structure which included a polyhedron rising from a base. It is simple logic that the fore edge of the book would have to be splayed on its fore edge in order to have a peak to the polyhedron. The use of mirrored Plexiglas instead of real glass came from my experience with Birds in Paradise (1984). I had to replace a number of panes of glass broken by shipping companies. However, everything seems to have a negative as well as positive attribute: Plexiglas scratches easily. And why not create a sharp peak to the polyhedron? Why is it flat on top? Because the spine of the book is flat and resides just below the top of the structure. Also, a peaked structure would evoke something very Egyptian, and that was not my intention-nor Poe's. A designer may lure a reader by ambiguity, but should never promise something that is not there in the first place. The risk is a loss of the reader's trust.

The scripted letterforms banding the polyhedron reemerge as abstract lineal art forms within the opening pages of the book. They are printed from paper plates which were cut by hand with an X-acto knife. And, yes, it is difficult to cut a thin line in paperboard and have it remain in position. It has a tendency to peel itself away from its base. It is also easy enough to glue it back into place. Even the un inked intaglios were formed from paper plates-but in reverse. Instead of a relief design, the image was cut down into the board as a true engraving. Then dampened paper was forced into the design using a bone folder. Care is necessary when forcing the paper into the design so as not to tear the paper. lis fibers are already fragile from absorbing moisture.

I do want to record here that the face of the centaur on page thirteen is that of an eerie fellow who occupied the one-room office opposite mine in the building where I first had my studio in Phoenix. His window was papered so no one could see in. He lived in the office alone and rarely went outside into the world, except at night, I think. Paradoxically, deeply religious and deeply self-centered, he was to me the enigma l tried to capture in the creature's image. He later shaved his beard, but remained in his hermitage until they tore the building down to make room for yet another shopping mall.

As I stated, the book block was specifically designed for the structure and because of that it could be only five signatures thick. The text took up every page. When I got to the back of the book block, there was no room for Poe's own superior numbered notes, so I created a separate booklet for them and placed it into a pocket inside the back cover. If I had placed the notes at the bottom of each respective page, they would have intruded on the book's design. Many designers would bank all of the notes in the back of the book, but it is difficult to flip from a particular reference on a page to its explanation somewhere else-which means a lot of explanations wind up at the bottom of a page regardless of the design scheme. With the notes in a separate small booklet, however, they can be brought directly to the page, and then put away, with no artistic interference—so long as the booklet of notes stays with the work and is not misplaced. As you will have noted from reading this book, the side-bar space is a convenient and unobtrusive place for notes 

It took three weeks to get the three sections of the structure of Al Aaraaf to work properly. At one point I almost gave up and threw out the entire project. There are two projecting tabs at either end of the base. They hold the canopy section in place, which holds the book in place, which gives the three-piece structure its unity. When each tab is pulled out, the action releases the unity of the structure and it can be taken apart to access the book. My difficulty was with the tabs because they were made from paperboard and not very sturdy. The answer lay in two large metal paper clips, reformed, on either side of each leg of the canopy structure. The metal of the clips was the strength that was needed and are directly what the paperboard tabs fit into. The chocks at the base of the polyhedron appear to hold the upper sections in place but are in reality non-functioning. A groove in the base serves that purpose. The chocks were originally designed to be a part of a hinged assembly when I thought the top would swing open with the book attached to it. But when I couldn't get this setup to function properly, I went to a three-unit assembly and kept the chocks because the detail visually adds a sense of strength to the entire base area. 

A kind and generous woman, upon learning that she might not live long, decided to place her very important objects with those who might care for them. She presented me with a volume of Poe's works, and I was astonished to find the uncommon Al Aaraaf in it. Consequently, I transformed it into an art object. It should be displayed and not allowed to languish in the darkness of a bookcase (as has the story itself). It is presented with no outer case, making it difficult to store and to trans-port. It is hoped that the difficulty encourages display. However, I have since seen it used within a bookcase-as a bookend.

©Book Club of California

[eagle] | [over red and blue flag] four from | ONLY | IN AMERICA | by | Harry Golden | [off flag] | D’Ambrosio | Phoenix, Arizona 1995

2 7/8 x 2 1/4 inches, blue endpaper that extends to front board, [i–ii]: blank, [iii]: title, [iv]: blank, [v]: These gems…, [vi]: blank, [vii]: contents, [viii]: blank, [ix]: [eagle] GETTING PAID FOR HER “FAVORS”, [x]: blank, 1–9: text, [10]: blank, [11]: [eagle] The Italian Americans, [12]: blank, 13–15: text, [16]: blank, [17]: [eagle] Buying a suit on the East Side, [18]: blank, 19–48: text, [49]: [flags], [50]: blank, [51]: [eagle] We hate our own, [52]: blank, 53–57: text, [58]: blank, [59]: colophon, [60–62]: blank, blue endpaper that extends to back board.

Colophon:

COLOPHON [eagle]

This edition was designed and produced 

by D'Ambrosio using computer typesetting, 

and a combination of laser and letterpress 

printing on archival paper; hand bound.

The edition is 50 copies.

[underlined number in pencil]

[signature of D’Ambrosio in pencil]

Slip-case: 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches in red, white and blue with opening in back.

From A Memoir of Book Design:

Reprinted here in a miniature book are three short stories of a Jewish immigrant writer's American experiences. The author is Harry Golden, and the original book contains many short stories, humorous as well as delightfully charming, which had previously appeared in printed form as a book with the same title. The original publisher was in Ohio, and my efforts to contact them proved futile; my inquiry was returned unopened. They were no longer in business, so I went ahead with the publication of fifty copies without consent. I saved the returned letter in case some day it might be necessary to prove that I had made an honest attempt to ask for reprint permission.

This is yet another book that | typeset on the computer. Each separate story is set in a different appropriate typeface. A band of alternating stars (six-point and five point) cross at the top and bottom of the double pages: The Star of David and the star of the American flag. They provide cohesion to fuse the separate stories together through a related image. There are some colored paper-plate decorations, but only at the beginning of each story; they do not intrude into the text. 

The book's exterior presentation borrows from the bands of alternating stars within. The outside clam-shell box is covered in red, white, and blue (acid-washed denim) cloth carrying a sense of the American flag. The center of the five pointed star on the spine of the box is an open area through which one can see white cloth on the spine of the book. When the box is opened and the book is removed, the white cloth on the book is revealed as a six-pointed Star of David. Dark blue goat and acid-washed denim make up the balance of the covers.

The ambiguity of the binding is meant to entice the reader into a realm of delightful ethnological equivocation. I, too, emanate from an immigrant parent (my father was born in Italy), so | can easily relate to the minor faults of trying to look and be an American while still maintaining a separate heritage.

©Book Club of California