What does Pi have to do with book arts or letterpress or type, you might ask? The first book I printed letterpress was a small artist’s book with Wislawa Szymborska‘s whimsical poem “Pi,” which juxtaposes the finite, impermanent world with the familiar never-ending sequence 3.1415926535… In my book, the first 200 or so digits of Pi dance across the pages, starting on the cover and skating off the back.
So today, a toast to numbers and letterpress! You can read Szymborska’s poem, which begins “The admirable number pi: three point one four one.“, here. There’s an official (!) web site for Pi day with all sorts of fun facts and quotes and pointers to YouTube videos. And here’s a link to my book. I’ll finish off with this haiku from the PI Day web site:
Three point one
Four
et cetera