John S. Fass & the Hammer Creek Press - Hardcover

Burke, Jackson; Ettenberg, Eugene M

9781567920864: John S. Fass & the Hammer Creek Press

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1567920861 ISBN 13: 9781567920864

Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher, 1998

John Fass and his work at the Hammer Creek Press are practically unknown today except to a small group of devoted cognoscenti. Unlike Rogers, Updike, or Dwiggins, Fass was essentially a private printer, working alone at his own pace. What he did was done for his own pleasure. But his work, small in size and issued in minuscule editions, was exquisite and executed with impeccable taste. He was a genius at the arrangement of type, ornaments, and wood engravings. Every piece he produced was a small gem, for Fass had the time, skill, and materials to print everything by hand patiently and perfectly. No wonder the emblem he chose for his press was a turtle.

In this lovely little volume, with its text printed letterpress and its plates in four solid colors, we can discover not only Fass's life and work, but through the efforts of the late, beloved Herman Cohen, a complete checklist of his output. This is our bijou of the year, issued in an edition of a thousand copies and directed at our loyal constituents who know good work when they see it.

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