Description
“People who love ideas must have a love of words, and that means, given a chance, they take a vivid interest in the clothes which words wear.”
— Beatrice Warde
This is an “unofficial” member of the Dead Feminists broadsides series, a small letterpress keepsake printed from both hand-set metal type and hand-drawn original typography and illustrations. This piece was originally printed as a keepsake for the magazine Parenthesis; we had a few remaining prints from the edition that we could make available to the public.
The illustration is a play on the “anatomy” of letterforms. Each letter of the alphabet has parts that correspond to human body parts: like the “eye” of a lowercase E, the “arm” of a V, the “ear” of a lowercase G—even the “crotch” of an X or a K. So rather than let our typography go naked, we gave it a fancy wardrobe. The piece is printed in ice blue, navy and deep brown on buttery cream-colored paper.
This print is a perfect gift for the letterpress printer or graphic designer in your life, or anyone who loves words and the beauty of letters.
The piece was printed by hand (this is not a reproduction!), with each letter dressed in its Sunday best, on an antique Vandercook Universal One press. This piece is unnumbered and unsigned, but still created in a limited edition.
Paper size: 7 x 9 inches
Edition size: 200 prints
Beatrice Warde (1900 – 1969) was an American typographer, writer and historian. She spent her early career working as assistant librarian for the American Type Founders Company, researching the history of printing and typefaces. She is most well known for her famous broadside “This is a Printing Office” and for her essay on typography, “The Crystal Goblet.” In “The Crystal Goblet,” Warde calls for simplicity and clarity in printing, in order to display the written word without obstruction. In later years, Warde spent her time speaking at printing schools, encouraging young printers to treat design as a form of fine craftsmanship.
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This original artwork is copyright Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring 2012. Copyright is not transferable with the sale of this print. The buyer is not entitled to reproduction rights.
WA state residents are subject to sales tax.
This print is packaged in a clear poly sleeve and will ship flat in a protective mailer, via USPS Priority Mail.
