The Caxton Club: A Brief History
This history is a showcase for a range of skills and technical expertise in fine book design, printing, and hand binding. I designed and coordinated this numbered, limited edition, distributed to guests at the annual meeting of The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, hosted in Chicago.
Designed and managed at MDD
Letterpress printing of the first signature by Martha Chiplis at Sherwin Beach Press, Chicago
Offset printing of the second signature at The Stinehour Press, Lunenburg, VT
Binding design and hand binding by Trisha Hammer
This keepsake is a Chicago Book Clinic Award of Excellence winner featuring a letterpress text section and an offset illustration section.
Using a three-hole pamphlet stitch, the two sections are sewn separately into a double pleated flyleaf, which throws out to allow the text to be considered side by side with the illustrations.
The sewing of the first section attaches it, and the flyleaf, to the cover wrapper — a French fold that closes with a hand cut tab.
The design required editorial and curatorial responses to an ambitious scope, and the craftsmanship of each contributor elegantly amplified the concept. It is a testament to a design process capable of launching a concept — and then “getting out of the way,” exercising just enough control to keep the enterprise on schedule.
