Books on Books – Green Chair Press Blog

Books about Books: The Janus Press at Sixty

Claire Van Vliet started the Janus Press in 1954 and prints limited editions of (mostly) contemporary poets with original images. One of the first bookmaking classes I took at the book center in San Francisco was with Van Vliet. My book Monet Refuses the Operation uses a structure I learned in that class. My books To a Friend Going Blind and Persimmons use a binding method I found in Van Vliet’s book Woven and Interlocking Book Structures

I picked up a copy of a new picture book about Van Vliet’s books, “The Janus Press at Sixty,” at Codex. It’s the exhibition catalog for the current show at the San Francisco Center for the Book and includes images of the 36 books in the exhibition (six from each of the six decades). What’s great about this book, and unlike the recent trend in collections like 500 Handmade Books, is there are multiple pictures of each book, including spreads that can be read so the viewer gets a real sense of the book. It’s a wonderful visual tribute to the diversity of the press. You can get the catalog at the front desk at San Francisco Center for the Book or by calling (415) 565-0545.

Below are 2 books that were new to me. Click on the image to see an even bigger one.

Janus Press, Sun Sky, Earth, 1964

Janus Press, Lilac Wind, 1983

Books on Books: The Missing Ink

In addition to paying attention to my own handwriting, today I finished reading The Missing Ink: The Lost Art of Handwriting. The author, Philip Hensher, bemoans the decline of handwriting in this witty book of essays about, among other things, the development of handwriting teaching methods in the 19th century, the invention of the Bic pen (or Biro as it’s called in Britain) and the rise of the not-very-scientific science of graphology (how to read a person’s character by his handwriting). Interspersed are anecdotes, lists and people recollecting how they learned to write. He quotes a study that found that children who write legibly do better in school, they are more interested in learning and their compositions are better. He says handwriting “involves us in a relationship with the written word which is sensuous, immediate and individual.” Highly recommended!

Books on Books: On Paper

I recently read Nicholas Basbanes’ On Paper, a book chock-a-block with everything you ever wanted to know about paper and its history and uses. Each chapter covers a different aspect of paper: from the origins in China and how it made its way west, to the making of money, kotex and toilet paper, to origami folding, to how paper advanced architecture and the American Revolution. Endlessly fascinating! My only complaint was that every couple of pages I had to stop and look up something on the web, to see a picture or find out more (there are a few b&w pictures scattered throughout the book, but only a few). I have a long list of things still to look up and spend more time with. But I’ll leave this post off with a wonderful quote, near the beginning of the book, by a Japanese paper maker about his craft: “Never be in a hurry—and never skip regular steps.”

Book of Ages

I recently read Jill Lepore’s Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin. It’s about the little sister of Benjamin Franklin and compares her life to his. Writing a biography of an obscure person is hard, especially when most of her letters to her brother are lost. (Lepore ssays “In writing this book I have had to stare down a truishm: the lives of the obscure make good fiction but bad history.”) So Lepore fills in with lots of stories about life in Boston, where Jane lived, and the period leading up to the Revolutionary War. As Benjamin was one of the best known printers in the colonies, it’s also the story of early printing and publishing in the British North America. And finally it’s partly a story of letter writing and spelling. Jane could read, but her spelling was mostly phonetic. Jane’s life was hard (twelve children, most of them didn’t live past 30, and 2 went insane), but she’s feisty and opinionated and awfully good company.

Books on Books: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

I finally got around to reading Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. It’s a sweet book about, among other things, loving books and typography. One main plot thread is about a font called “Gerritszoon,” designed by Griffo Gerritzoon, and I was puzzled by what typeface it is supposed to be. I thought perhaps the book was printed in Gerritszoon, but the colophon and front matter don’t list a font. We’re told Gerritszoon was included on the Mac, but that name isn’t one of those fonts. It sort of looks like Palatino, which was designed by Hermann Zapf, and the wikipedia page says “Palatino… which takes inspiration from printing types cut by Francesco Griffo c. 1495 in the print shop of Aldus Manutius.” So the clue there is “Griffo,” and it turns out Francesco Griffo designed Bembo and these other fonts. I only have Bembo and Palatino on my computer, and they don’t quite match the face in the book. But Google to the rescue—this guy figured out it’s Poliphilus.

So now you know how I diverted myself the other night! I’ll end with a quote from the book, a comment by the narrator about the coders at Google (the book digitization project at Google is another plot thread) and which also speaks to his evolving view of technology and books:

Books: boring. Code: awesome.
These are the people who are running the internet.

Books on Books: What’s an Artist’s Book?

The other day I got a copy of 500 Handmade Books Volume 2, a follow on to a previous volume picturing 500 books. My complaint about the first book unfortunately holds true for this one—the pictures are beautiful but don’t really give the reader a sense of what is in them.

However, there was a pleasant difference in Volume 2—Julie Chen’s introduction. She says

“..students ask me to explain exactly what an artist’ book is… I usually make an analogy between a book and a pocket calculator… the pocket calculator—once a thing of wonder—has become so commonplace that it’s a stand feature on every home computer and smartphone. But how many people have the knowledge required to fully utilize it, to take advantage of all its functions?…To a well-informed few…the pocket calculator is a power tool that can solve complex problems. That is where the connection to artists’ books comes in. Most people know, or think they know, what a book is. In its most basic format, it’s a common everyday object…But just like the pocket calculator, a book has hidden powers that are utilized only by those with special knowledge. In the hands of an artist, a book’s full potential is realized. It’s transformed into something more than just a container for information. It becomes an experimental medium for creative expression.”