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Production Narrative
by J. Drucker
Printing the covers took an enormous amount of time since there were five runs. The cover sheet was too long to set up all the type on the Vandercook (the bed is shorter than the printing area). So the sheets had to be printed from two different directions. The back cover only required two runs, since no large type with heavy coverage was part of its design. Five hundred copies is a lot of cranking on the Vandercook, and those runs were the equivalent of 8-10 hour walks.
Critical Analysis
by J. Drucker
Critical Discussion
The content of this book is the same as in the original, so discussion of the two would be more or less the same. But the heavy, object quality of the second edition, with its thick boards and well-defined edges, has a different presence than the shiny, slim, slippery original with its reflective surface. The first seems more beautiful, the second more authoritative, as if in recognition of the significance of a facscimile edition.
The Word Made Flesh
Agents
Johanna Drucker
type: initiating
role:
author
publisher
printer
nationality:
born: United States
active: United States
citizenship: United States
dates:
birth: 1952-05-30
note: The first edition was entirely created by Johanna Drucker and published by Druckwerk [A. Schutte]
Granary Press
type: initiating
role:
publisher
location: 568 Broadway, Suite 403 New York, NY 10012
note: Granary Press published a second edition of The Word Made flesh; it is a facsimile of copy 50 of the original edition with different covers. [A. Schutte]
Granary Press
type: initiating
role:
publisher
location: 568 Broadway, Suite 403 New York, NY 10012
note: Granary Press published a second edition of The Word Made flesh; it is a facsimile of copy 50 of the original edition. [A. Schutte]
Brad Freeman
type: other
role:
photographer
nationality:
born: American
active: American
citizenship: American
note: The page shots were taken and hand developed by Brad Freeman [J. Drucker]
Jil Jevne
type: other
role:
binder
Johanna Drucker
type: other
role:
printer Covers only, printed letterpress.
designer
artist
dates:
production: 1996/09/15
note: The covers were printed in the basement at the house on Yale Avenue in New Haven. [J. Drucker]
Publication Information
edition type: editioned
publisher: Granary Books
place: New York, NY
dates:
publication: 1996-00-00
note: This is a facsimile reprint of copy #50 of the original letterpress edition of this work. [A. Schutte]
Measurements
horizontal: 12.4 inches closed
vertical: 10.7 inches closed
depth: .4 inches closed
Production Information
production means:
offset (local)
binding: adhesive (local) with boards and paper wrappers.
substrate:
bookBlock: paper Mohawk or Warren's
endsheets: paper Mohawk or Warren's
media:
ink (local) black and red ink
other materials: none
Appearance
format: codex (AAT)
cover: The cover was hand printed by Johanna Drucker at Druckwerk in New Haven from polymer letterpress plates produced at SoHo Letterpress in New York. It is printed on light brown, pulpy paper with red and black ink. Meshed with the title, which appears in varying sizes of type, is a field of red letters. the cover has been folded over thick sheets of similarly colored cardboard. The back features quotes about the work from Ellen Lupton and Marjorie Perloff. The inside flaps of the cover are small. The inside front flap features a description of the book, while the inside back cover features a bio of Johanna Drucker and information about Granary Press.
color: yes black and red only
Content
pagination: unpaginated 58 pages
numbered?: unnumbered
signed?: unsigned
Colophon
This is a facsimile reprint of copy #50 of the original letterpress edition. The quality of the wooden letters and metal type used in the original has been preserved in this version. It was shot on a Companica process camera and hand developed by Brad Freeman. The book was offset printed on a Heidelberg GTO in the summer of 1996 at SoHo Services in New York. The covers were hand printed by Johanna Drucker at Druckwerk in New Haven from polymer letterpress plates produced at SoHo Letterpress in New York. Finally, it was bound by Jil Jevne in McGregor, Minnesota. Published by Steve Clay, Granary Press Books, New York, in an edition of 500 copies. The Druckwerk edition was produced in winter 1988-1989 at the Bow and Arrow Press in the basement of Adams House at Harvard University with the kind assistance and support of Jim Barondess and Gino Lee. In the printing it required three runs: one for the large black wooden letters which spell out the title throughout the book, one for the smaller black letters, and one for the red field. It was printed letterpress in hand-set type and the justification of the small black letters was the major challenge. That edition consists of 50 copies, bound with rivets in metallic cover papers.
Exhibition Information
exhibition history:
reception history:
Related Documents
manuscript type: correspondence
location: artist's archive
note: With Granary.
manuscript type: mockups
location: artist's archive
note: For the cover and announcement, and quite a few miscellaneous layout sketches etc..
manuscript type: other
location: artist's archive
note: Announcement card.
General Comments
The facsimile sold well, and went out of print, but made no money. The original edition netted some return on the investment, but then, it was all labor, little capital. The usual artist's book formula. Print a small edition letterpress, and the profits (hardly huge, but something), can support an offset project. Of course, Granary paid for the facsimile, not me, but I think Brad Freeman got more for printing and photography on the project than anyone else made from the book (and rightly so, since that was simply work for hire). [J. Drucker]