I got to spend a day in the book heaven of CODEX in Oakland after a six year layoff due to the pandemic. It was good to be back and inspiring to see the fair get bigger and bigger. It took all of four hours or more to walk past every exhibitors table even though I mainly only stop at presses that produce fine press literature and not ones that create book art objects. If there’s nothing to read, I rarely stop. Even so, I was so rushed that I took no photos and had little time to thumb through the books; choosing rather to engage in conversations with the printers and others staffing the tables.
The books I was hoping to see were the Prototype Press Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the Arion Press Winnie-the-Pooh, and the new Thomas Paine from Foolscap Press. Suffice it to say that all three of these would have come home with me if I had a book benefactor!
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was as delightful in person as it was in my imagination. Mark Sarigianis and I spent some time reminiscing about reading the story and especially watching the cartoon adaptation as kids and adults. Particularly striking in the edition is the use of gold foil for some of the title and initial lettering. I have a problematic relationship with Kipling but my love of the movies and cartoons I saw as a kid and then later read in his Jungle Books lives on.
As I have been suspecting since hearing that Sandow Birk was going to illustrate the Arion Press Winnie-the-Pooh, the illustrations are modern day interpretations similar to the work he did on Dante’s Divine Comedy. I happen to love those illustrations even though I know they are controversial to some and not many other’s cup of tea. So I would love to have or to review this edition mainly because of Birk, as this is one book I liked as a kid that I do not have a copy of as an adult. Maybe because I remember the animated adaptations of the books better.
The Foolscap table is always delightful at CODEX. While I have yet to acquire a title from them, it is not from lack of desire. Their edition of Ursula Le Guin’s Direction of the Road is one of my private press holy grails. I hope to acquire a copy of their Makine edition at some point as well, both because that is an amazing novel and because of my love for the artwork of Vladimir Zimakov. But I already knew all that. What was an especial delight was to see their new book of the writing of Thomas Paine. The book is quite simply lovely and will probably be acquired by many a person who will not read it or who will disagree with Paine even if they do buy it. In other words, it looks collectible to some based solely on its beauty and craft. As you know, I’m more interested in the writing, and would love to have my Paine dressed up in such a way, even as I think the author would laugh a bit self-consciously were he to see it. Thomas Ingmire did the wonderful calligraphy in the book and I find it a very elegant touch to the writer’s inspiring and inflammatory words. Thomas Paine in his Own Words is timely and necessary reading, and I suspect uniquely pleasurable in the Foolscap edition.
The highlight of my new discoveries was First Bite Press, the imprint of Stephanie K. Dolin. The press publishes original writing in the modern romance and erotica genres married (ahem!) to the standards of the golden age of bookmaking. Often the texts are reimaginings of familiar stories. In the case of The Canon of Aphrodisia, the stories built upon include Frankenstein’ Monster, Peter Pan, Tom Sawyer, and Pygmalion. The illustrations were beautiful and risque and the quality of the overall production was beautiful and imaginative. I’ll be keeping an eye on this press in the future!
Other delights while wandering around were a new book by Terry Tempest Williams with woodblocks by Gaylord Shanilec, published by the Red Butte Press at my alma mater, the University of Utah. I also really liked their books by Wallace Stegner and Wole Soyinka.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything from Abigail Rorer’s Lone Oak Press that I didn’t like. Her engravings are simply amazing. The new publication from the press, Extinct: The Western Black Rhinoceros, is definitely worth taking a look at.
At the Midnight Paper Sales table, I had a delightful conversation with Gaylord Shanilec about a friend of mine that I discovered worked for him in the press during the ’00s. I’ve acquired the books that she worked on and had her sign them when I saw her next. They both seem to have such wonderful memories of working together; I think I made Gaylord’s day talking about her.
While I was talking with Jamie Murphy at the Salvage Press table, I tried to talk him into publishing Cré na Cille, arguably the most important prose work in modern Irish. It’s not really in the press’ wheelhouse but I would love to see a fine press edition some day, especially from an Irish press. I think an illustrator could have a field day with it. And bi-lingual would be even dreamier for this lover of language, especially one of my languages of origin. If you don’t have a Salvage Press edition in your library, do yourself a favor and have a look at his beautiful books.
I also did a little campaigning for one of my other fine press holy grails, Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening. I think I may have sparked an interest in an illustrator that would make the edition irresistible if we can bring it to fruition. I have feelers out to several writers to write a new introduction, as well.
And, encouragingly, a couple of tables were giving away Ceasefire ephemera which I happily grabbed as I continue to agitate for an end to that plausible genocide.
