A85. Meditations at the Edge

A85. Meditations at the Edge

Thomas, Peter and Donna
Author: Field, Dorothy

A. 28.5 x 11.5 cm (11 ¼” x 4 ½”), 20 pages, 86 copies.

Binding: Text block sewn into boards covered in red cloth. Bhutanese paper sample with gold leaf detail on raised panel on cover. Paper: Text printed on off-white, handmade by Peter Thomas from hemp. Illustrations printed on off-white, handmade by Dorothy Field from kozo. Printing: Letterpress. Body text and illustrations printed from polymer plates. Typography: Body text is digitally set Centaur. Title page is handset Centaur; printed in red and black. Illustration: Reproductions of four pencil sketches done by Dorothy Field. Notes: The red cloth of the cover is intended to signify good luck. The kozo for the illustrations was made from the last of the kozo fiber Dorothy Field received from Kim Yeong Yun, her papermaking mentor. Designed in PageMaker.

B. 32 x 41 x 10cm (12 ½” x 16” x 3 7/8”), 36 pages, 14 copies.

Binding: Pages attached to wooden dowels set in a bocote and lacewood frame. Paper: Text printed on off-white, handmade by Peter Thomas from hemp. Illustrations printed on off-white, handmade by Dorothy Field. Printing: Letterpress. Body text and illustrations printed from polymer plates. Typography: Body text is digitally set Centaur. Title page is handset Centaur printed in red and black. Illustration: Reproductions of four pencil sketches done by Dorothy Field. Notes: Illustrations are stitched into paper frames that match the text paper. Designed in PageMaker.

“Originally this book was planned as a photocopied pamphlet, but so much thought went into the preparing of the text with Dorothy that we decided if we were going to do something, we better do it right, so decided to print it letterpress and make a fine press book out of it. The project languished as we pondered the size and shape of the book and the layout of the text. All correspondence was done by US post and two visits by Dorothy to Santa Cruz. Dorothy’s photographs of prayer flags in the Himalayas led me to work with the concept of the book as a prayer flag. The structure for the special copies was developed first and then the printing designed to accommodate that structure. The text discusses the uses of paper to connect the physical with the spiritual world in the east versus in the west. The binding for the regular copies was developed to reflect that contrast of east and west.

During this period of time we had become intrigued by the idea of making a book that had all the elements of a traditional book but in unexpected locations. Could we put the text on the cover? Could the decorative cover somehow be on the inside? These ideas led to sketches and models. One result was the binding for the special copies of Meditations at the Edge. The book discusses how paper has been used to connect the spiritual and the physical worlds in the East, and meditates on how this contrasts with practices in the West. We wanted a binding that merged eastern and western traditions, and we began to think of the pages as prayer flags. Memories of an art work by Helmut Becker, a paper artist from Canada, (handmade paper draped over sticks), led us to imagine a book in which the pages were actual flags. We glued each printed page to a wooden dowel, and mounted them in a beautiful wooden framework as a binding.”

Santa Cruz, California: Peter & Donna Thomas

1996

English