Julie Chen.
World without End. Berkeley: Flying Fish Press, 1999.

Julie Chen has been publishing limited edition artists' books under the Flying Fish Press imprint since 1988. She uses letterpress printing, for its beauty and flexibility, using photo polymer plates designed on a Macintosh computer. Her books have a strong sculptural component, using three-dimensional space to create their own environment and atmosphere. Chen has described her goal as designing books that engage the viewer in a comprehensive experience of discovery that goes beyond reading. The viewer must become involved not only with the text, but also with the physical presence of the book itself.

This long accordion folded book of sea chanties is enclosed in a carved wooded sea chest. Pat Baldwin established the Press in 1984.
Gift of Marnie Flook.

Margaret Kaufman.
Deep in the Territory. Newark, VT: Janus Press, 1999.

Binding structure and design by Claire Van Vliet executed by Audrey Holden. Deep in the Territory contains ten poems by Margaret Kaufman inspired by Plainswomen and their quilts. The paper collages were cut out and intertwined in a quilt-like format.

Catherine Kanner has designed the book with a Polynesian feel, and has created twenty-one original linoleum block illustrations for the project. The text was the last of Stevenson's work, written in Samoa shortly before he died unexpectedly. These were the daily prayers written for his family and for the Samoan people who shared the Stevenson home.

The artist invited a number of people to draw the main lines on their hands and fax her the drawings for a reading. Since the hands are printed on translucent paper, the shadow hands that show through from other pages give a sense of motion to the images.

The Thomases are one of the few private presses where the proprietors write the text, create the art for the illustrations, make the paper, handset the type, print on a letterpress, and bind the book. This book was inspired by the writings of the naturalist John Muir.

Gift of Marnie Flook.