Maret, Russell, book artist; Sarah Moody, printing
New York: Russell Maret, 2021. Number 23 of roughly 90 copies, signed by the book artist. Printed on a variety of vintage hand- and mould-made papers and handset in Cádiz Ornaments, Baker, and Hungry Dutch types, making this the second book Maret has printed entirely from metal typefaces that he designed.
Maret writes in detail of the making of this book on his web page. From his fascinating description: "In 2013 I designed a couple of typographic ornaments while thinking of the pavement designs around the city hall in Cádiz, Spain. The ornaments were not intended to be reproductions of any specific pavement designs, they were simply prompted by the memory of a lovely day walking around Cádiz. Once the metal ornaments were in my hands, I realized that they could be assembled into many more combinations than I had originally imagined. I began to think about a small specimen book. Many of the Cádiz patterns I was designing reminded me of textile designs and, unlike my book Ornamental Digressions, I initially wanted the Cádiz book to starkly emphasize the ornaments’ patterning structure, rather than to concentrate on potential color applications. As part of my bookmaking process I always need to break through a certain amount of thick-headedness before I can get to where I want to be. In the case of this book the breakthrough happened while showing the prints to Annie. After looking through my endless permutations, Annie suggested that I might not need to show every combination, that in fact it might be a more engaging book if there was a bit of surprise, a little variety. This may sound obvious now but, once in it, it can be very hard to see over the walls of a design rut. Finally, the stagnation broke when I realized that I was concentrating on how the pages looked rather than what I wanted the book to be. And what I wanted was a book that felt like a salesman’s swatch book, something assembled from different shapes and sizes, that showed potential without being restrictive, that was not too neatly put together, that had a bit of randomness to it. I began looking through my flat files and found all kinds of vintage papers, none of which I had enough to print an entire edition. They would be perfect for this book. [He changed his ] five-signature dummy into a single signature of a mere 41 press runs. (After printing the book, I realized that some of the sheets had an unacceptable level of show-through. Rather than discard these sheets, I added an “Appendix,” a second signature in which the sheets could be seen, but at a remove from the rest of the book. To make this happen required a final, 42nd pressrun. Not exactly a small specimen book….)"
This beautiful book was designed by Russell Maret and printed by him and Sarah Moody during the Covid-19 pandemic. All of the patterns are made from two pieces that were engraved and cast by Ed Rayher at Swamp Press. In fine condition. Measures 9.25 x 6.375 inches. Housed in an acrylic slipcase. ARTISTSB/112321 I. More