A131. Glen Dawson

A131. Peter and Donna Thomas. Glen Dawson. Santa Cruz, California: Peter & Donna Thomas, 2008.

41 x 75 mm (1 5/8” x 2 15/16”), 14-page accordion, 60 copies.

Binding: Simple accordion; covers are blue sheepskin skiver leather over boards. Title stamped in gold on cover. Held by a paper sleeve made of green and purple paste paper; paste paper made by Claire Maziarczyk. Title on label on sleeve. Paper: White, handmade by Peter Thomas. Printing: Letterpress. Typography: Hand set. Text is Centaur. Numerals are News Gothic; printed with a green and yellow rainbow roll. Notes: Five special copies were planned but not produced. Seven copies in the edition were made for friends of Glen Dawson.

“The text is a colorful and typographic timeline of the life of Glen Dawson. Dawson was a pioneer mountaineer, claiming one first ascent of Mt. Whitney in the 1930s. He was also a preeminent bookseller, partners with his brother Muir in Los Angeles’ Dawson’s Bookshop. Perhaps most pertinent, he was a founding member of the miniature book society and publisher of over 100 miniature books. Glen was our mentor, as important to our business as Everson was to our aesthetic. This book was made in his honor. By the time we made this book we were at the point in our artistic development where we wanted to make every book a work of art. Glen asked, ‘Why don’t you make it a fine little traditional book like the ones you made when we first met?’ He was an astute businessman, still giving us advice at 100. If we had taken his advice we probably would have sold all the copies by now.”