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

A78. Peter and Donna Thomas. A Story of Life. Santa Cruz: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1994. 49 x 35 mm. (1.9375 x 1.375 in.), 32 pages, 200 copies.

Binding: Copies 1-10 are full bound in blue leather over boards. Flower onlay on cover in colored leather. Title in gold on spine. Endsheets blue. Copies 11-200 are quarter bound in blue leather and blue paper over boards. Title in gold on spine. Endsheets blue. Paper: Copies 1-10 vellum. Copies 11-200 white, handmade by Peter. Printing: Letterpress. Typography: Hand-set Bernhard Modern Roman. Illustration: Six linoleum cuts by Donna; printed in blue. Illustrations in copies 1-10 are hand-colored by Donna. Notes: Miniature Book Society Distinguished Book of the Year, 1994.

We wanted to reprint the text of our earlier full size book, A Tale of Life, as a miniature book. The text, written by Peter, is a fairy tale/fable about finding ones place in the world and in life. To make this completely diffe ent, we changed the gender of the protagonist, substituting the word 'woman' for 'man' throughout the text. The miniature linoleum cuts were printed from the original blocks. They are not photomechanical reductions. At the time, we were deeply influenced by the work of the English Arts and Crafts printers, and because they often made vellum copies, we did the same.