Nostromo

An interview with Phil Abel of Hand & Eye Letterpress:

https://www.collectiblebookvault.com/post/art-of-the-book-vol-3

Loads of interesting stuff in there about how he got started and his working/printing philosophy (including the 'bite' vs 'kiss' debate in letterpress printing). One item of interest to LEC collectors was Phil's answer to a question about other letterpress books which he particularly likes:

Recently I read the Limited Editions Club edition of Nostromo by Joseph Conrad and it’s a book I would have loved to have printed. Everything about it is wonderful - the type, the layout, the illustrations, the smooth, ivory paper, the even, deep black ink… The illustrations are overprinted in two or three colours, all perfectly registered. It’s a wonderful piece of work.

The excerpt above prompted me to take a second look at this book which is on my TBR list but I'm not sure I have opened it since I acquired it last year. Certainly a nice book.

That's a very nice early-60s LEC book. It brought together two great talents from San Francisco: designer Adrian Wilson and printer Taylor & Taylor. I don't usually care for that many pages of double-columned text, it's set and printed so well that it's actually quite easy to enjoy. Good pick

>2 DenimDan: I agree! I'm not usually a fan of very smooth paper either, but it works quite well here. The illustrations are really good and there are 65 of them. Interesting that Phil specifically remarked on the perfect registration of the colour printing: something I would take for granted, but obviously noteworthy to people more familiar with the art of printing. A nice book and hardly more expensive to acquire than a present day fine press chapbook!

I know what you mean about two column printing. It wouldn't be my first choice but it can be applied well and it's used in several LECs that I really like including the 1949 Brothers Karamazov. Funny that it should come up now; yesterday, Conversation Tree Press released an update describing how they arrived at the decision to use two columns in their upcoming edition of Treasure Island, printed by Nomad Letterpress and illustrated by Marc Castelli. I found it an interesting read:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ctpress/treasure-island-rl-stevenson/posts/...

I'm not usually a fan of double columns either, and if my memory is correct, I remember Macy damning (with faint praise) Mardersteig's decision to print the Cellini Autobiography in double columns.

I have lately revised my opinion and think double column printing can be acceptable if the designer uses it for a good reason--as the designer of the proposed Treasure Island obviously has done. (My only quibble is the placement of the chapter headings; I would have preferred to let the end of one chapter continue to the end of its column and flow to the next, then insert the chapter heading in a break of the next column; my judgement is purely based on reading ease and not purely graphic considerations as chapter heading are generally a way in which the typographer gets a chance to show off.)

I wonder if the reading speed of double column printing isn't connected with years and years of reading newspapers.

On those occasions that I have guests over who inquire about what attracts me to fine press books, Nostromo is among the handful of volumes I typically select for them to examine. They always understand after they handle it.

I like Nostromo a lot too. The spine feels a bit rough but I can appreciate choosing a lesser used material. Lima de Freitas' illustrations in this one and the LEC Ferdinand and Isabella are great too.