A79. Holt Mill Papers

A79. Rigby Graham. Holt Mill Papers. Santa Cruz, California: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1994.

38 x 29 cm (15” x 11 ½”), 11 pages, 50 copies.

Binding: Hand-stitched Coptic binding. Covers are multicolored paper boards, handmade by John Babcock. Copies 1-10 are housed in a wooden picture frame slipcase. Paper: Blue or green, handmade using cotton rag and other fibers by Peter Thomas with the help of Jonna Gibson. Printing: Letterpress. Illustrations by Rigby Graham printed from photoengravings. Typography: Hand set Centaur. Illustration: Two samples of paper made by Rigby Graham at the Holt Mill sewn in. Reproductions of five illustrations by Rigby Graham. Copies 1-10 each contain an additional paper sample with a string painting by Donna Thomas, signed with her initials in thread. 

“The text is an autobiographical account of Graham’s pioneering work as a handmade paper artist. As I spoke with Rigby Graham, recording the interview later printed as You Can't Make Paper From a Loofa [A67, A68], I perceived a seldom recognized fact: Rigby Graham was clearly the first ‘paper artist.’ He pioneered many of the techniques now used in the field and is best known for his string paintings. What impressed me most during the interview was the depth of his artistic involvement in papermaking so early on, and the sense of humor with which he approached his activities.

Graham showed me proof sheets of a book titled Holt Mill Papers, which he and Tony Savage had begun to print in 1959. It began with the following introduction: ‘The motley collection of sheets which follows is the result of hours of misguided effort and wasted labour. These have been produced despite a lack of equipment that was infuriating, and complete ignorance of the craft that was quite pitiful. Only three quarters of what follows is true, the remainder is bloody lies.’ When Graham told me that he still had about 100 of the sheets he had made in 1958 as samples for that book, I seized the moment and suggested printing a similar book now. Rigby Graham was excited by the idea and generously agreed to dig through his portfolios to find some drawings of the Holt and to write additional text.”