Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Aforementioned Project For Intelligent Cookies

Two weeks ago, I received word of a project involving the compilation of 2D works. My contribution to this project has just finished drying.


The word compendium comes from the Latin word compendere, meaning "to weigh together". I can't wait to see the finished publication! I am glad to have "weighed" something for this endeavor.


A revisit to metal type was a welcome change of pace. Slower, that is. The text took about 4 hours to set. This lengthy commitment was 50% due to a complete monstrosity of a type drawer (see photo comment), and 50% to my clumsiness. Metal type demands a different sort of finesse than does wood type, and I needlessly spilled the composing stick an unholy number of times. Regardless, this was a necessary exercise, and I am glad to have embarked upon it. Type/paper specs follow the photos...


Side Note: The state of the jobcase for Century Schoolbook 12 pt Italic is unforgivable. I would say that the last person to set this type was also an awful distributor. However, it appears that the type was not distributed at all, but rather, all manners of letters and marks of various sizes were dumped into various compartments. Remedying this will be this week's crusade of sorts.


I keep forgetting to wear gloves while I do this, and also eating dinner while I set. This is bad news. So I have already begun taking offers for assistance for when I am old and demented from the lead ingestion.


An Age Of Mechanical Reproduction


The Finished Print. Taken from the original email.

This project was printed in an edition of 40 on Handmade Mulberry paper. Each print measures 8" x 10" and is set in a combination of Century Schoolbook 12 pt Italic and Shaded Caslon 12 pt. The center embossing features an assortment of punctuation marks from wood type alphabets.

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