A150. 55
A150. Peter Thomas. 55. Santa Cruz, California: Peter & Donna Thomas, 2012.
63.5 x 38 mm (2 ½” x 1 ½”), 4-page accordion, 55 copies.
Binding: Simple accordion; four boards are connected accordion-style and bound in green paper, handmade by Peter Thomas, to form the covers. Title on cover. White paper printed with “55” and a quotation by John Muir is attached to middle panels of binding behind illustrations. Accordion printed with illustrations is bound in at both ends. Housed in a fringed leather pouch. Paper: White, handmade by Peter Thomas. Printing: Letterpress. Typography: Hand set Neuland and vintage wood type. Illustration: Four vintage printer’s cuts. Notes: Made for Donna on her 55th birthday. Cover paper decorated with pulp sprayed through stencils.
“The idea for book began with four of the printers’ cuts borrowed from Karla Elling (see note in A141). The images had a consistent style, and seemed to speak about Donna’s favorite thing in the world - going to the mountains – in a universal way, as the illustrations showed people traveling to the mountains on horse and foot, as well as by car. I decided to pair the illustrations with a quote by John Muir (Donna’s favorite author) ‘Going to the mountains is going home.’ I used a binding structure I was currently playing with, one that paired an accordion text with an accordion binding, so I could hide the text behind the accordion. That way the reader has time to form their own opinions about the images before they are influenced by the text I chose.”