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A title from The Old School Press Stockholm Reflections Modern and ancient
responses to the vibrant Stockholm waterfront, with digital images by Leslie
Gerry | ||
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About the book Years ago, I bought a copy of The Britain of Brian Cook, a survey of the work of the artist who, in particular, designed the covers for the Batsford series of books on the British landscape. Cook worked with flat colours from a distinctive palette. I even considered collecting The British Heritage Series but, sensibly probably, decided against the idea. However, when The Whittington Press published its book Portmeirion I had to have a copy for the wonderful illustrations by Leslie Gerry. Leslie works in a similar way, now of course using digital tools, and he has created a dozen large-scale and very striking illustrations of Stockholm, in particular its evocative waterfront. Many years ago (many, many years ago) Angela and I lived in Stockholm, right in the Old Town (Gamla Stan), so the island on which it stands, the waterfronts around it and on neighbouring islands, and the bustle of boats and ships were all five minutes' walk from our front door and we have fond memories of it all, both in the bright long summer days and the short winter days when the ice-breakers cleared the way for the Finland ferries and I could walk to work across Lake Mälaren. So when we met Leslie and heard about his project it became a must for The Old School Press. One of Leslie Gerry's images from the book
About the edition Leslie's eleven images occupy a landscape sheet 370mm tall by 560mm wide (that's about 14.5 inches by 22 inches) and they are compiled as a concertina-fold book, with a further illustration on the title page and two more on the front and back covers of the book. His illustrations are very much his personal response to the beauty of the place, to the colour and vibrancy imparted by the boats, the buildings, the sky and the water. His pleasure on first coming across the area echoes that of those who found their way to Stockholm in the eighteenth century and so to accompany the images we have printed extracts from travel books from as early as 1720. Putting letterpress text together with giclée digital images has become quite a habit here at The Old School Press; for us the two techniques are unrivalled for quality and I have no doubt that Caxton would have preferred using giclée to woodcuts if he could have! So once again, expect clean letterpress from freshly-cast type combined with brilliantly rendered colour in a novel binding. The text occupies an eight-page section printed by letterpress on a pale-blue hand-made paper from the Velké Losiny mill in the Czech Republic. The choice of typeface is also new departure for The Old School Press: Eric Gill’s Joanna in the 14pt size, with headings in variations of Gill Sans. The book's binding is quarter-cloth with the further illustrations by Leslie on the boards and it is presented in a solander box bound in a dark blue-grey cloth. Use the button below to watch a short video that takes you through the book. The edition is just 95 copies, priced at £295 each. | ||
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What others have said about the book |
'The nicest book at the fair [Oxford Fine Press Book Fair 2013]' ... 'much appreciated' ... 'truly magnificent' ... 'a sensational book' ... 'every bit as beautiful as I expected it to be, perhaps even more' |
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