PETER & DONNA THOMAS
260 Fifteenth Avenue Santa Cruz CA 95062 (831) 475-1455

The Mystical Quality of Handiwork. Victor Hammer. (2007) 2 3/4 high by 1 7/8 wide (2 1/2 with cranks) by 5/8 deep. One scrolling page. 21 copies. $90.
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The text is an excerpt from an essay by Victor Hammer. In 2003 I was invited to give a lecture and workshop titled "Printing miniature books" at the King Library in Lexinton, Kentucky, as part of their Fall Book Arts Seminar Series. I chose to use this text for the workshop. The type was set at the King Library Press using Hammer's own font of American Uncial type. I brought along my own handmade paper and the text was printed on it, using Hammer's wooden handpress. When the class was over I found there were 21 extra sheets. I decided to use them to make my own edition of the text and thus this edition was limited to 21 copies. The binding is a scrolling structure similar to the one we used in our 1994 "A 1000 Mile Walk to the Gulf", but with several technical improvements: the scroll is held in a beautifully figured wooden housing that has hand formed brass cranking mechanisms, the title page and colophon are mounted on panels inside the front and back cover, and a piece of Hammer's American Uncial type is affixed to the title page of each book. Each copy is full bound in black Moroccan leather and the title, mounted on wood, is affixed to the front cover. 2 3/4 high by 1 7/8 wide (2 1/2 with cranks) by 5/8 deep. 21 copies