Forthcoming in 2025-26
Photos here show prototypes only. An artist book-sculpture honoring the form of the agave plant and addressing the impact of human-induced climate change on Earth’s ecological systems. Excerpts, handwritten, from Alan AtKisson, Rachel Carson, Donna Haraway, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Wangari Maathi, Donella Meadows, Val Plumwood, Terry Tempest Williams, Christa Wolf, others.
18 individually formed beeswax-dipped movable paper “leaves” with structure mounted into a ceramic vase. Housed in a faceted hexagonal-shaped vessel by Daniel E. Kelm, who also engineered the plant structure. Exterior dimensions: 21” H x 21” diameter.
Edition size: 10, with two additional copies NFS. Seven copies remain available prior to general announcement.
Payment terms: 1/2 is pre-paid, with order. Institutions please inquire.
A portion of sales will be donated to 350.org
This series grew from the original 2016 book object Witnessing a Dire Future: Cassandra, Rachel Carson, and our Contemporaries, created for the University of Washington’s “Just One Look” exhibition, which is seen here in the latter images, with maroon-colored base.
"The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials," wrote Rachel Carson in 1962. Witnessing is a cautionary tale, freighted with socio-political and environmental consequences. Yet the metaphor of the agave is hopeful, for it survives in even the most inhospitable conditions. – paraphrased from the 2016 University of Washington's Just One Look exhibition catalog.
Forthcoming 2024 An entirely handmade artist book on the theme of attention, an increasingly endangered skill in the 21st century. In approach, physical creation, and textual content, the work honors slow time, contemplation, and attunement with all that is earthly and sacred. There are three sequential parts of the process : original word painting, large spiral drawing, and hand-written excerpted texts, each undertaken as a personal meditation intended to share with and inspire others. Each version in the series is unique, produced slowly over time.
Authors excerpted tentatively include: David Abram, Sven Birkerts, Lama Surya Das, Tim Ingold, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Mary Oliver, M.C. Richards, Danielle Vogel. Others will be added. Each excerpt will be identified by author, using a simple code.
An excerpt from the beginning of Danielle Vogel’s Between Grammars: “The book rearranges itself in your life. / To have it. A dwelling. That one is at / once within and without.”
The single-sheet folded structure is made of a rich purple Japanese handmade paper that opens flat and folds to eight pages. On one side, a gouache and acrylic painting; on the other, a spiral-shaped graphite drawing, with handwriting in pen and colored pencil. Folds to 12.5 x 8.5inches. Housed in yellow ochre cloth folder with shaped top cover, echoing the altered arch-shape of the paper when open flat. Printed colophon appears within folder. Hand bound by Lisa Hersey in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Issued in a series limited to 15 examples.
Payment terms: 1/2 is pre-paid, with order. Institutions please inquire.
Composer and vocalist Laura Mvula’s glowing refrain in her song “Sing to the Moon” (title track of 2013 debut album) inspired this exploration of sound typography and image.
Designed and printed February 2017 by Robin Price, with much assistance from Anne Thompson. Edition of 160, of which 95 are available for sale, plus ten handwritten variants (V1-V10).
Metal typefaces include 72 pt Felix Titling, 60 ptD Aurora Grotesk Condensed, 36 & 16 pt Manuscript, 12 pt lg Palatino small caps, with wood type 24-line Foster, a linoleum cut (solid circle), brass rule, and a polymer plate of a 2004 rubbing from a temple in Kyoto, initially printed in the deluxe edition of the 2009 RP press book 43. The background layer is a portion of Keiji Shinohara’s 12½ in square woodcut, originally carved for the 1998 RP press book Ravaged with Joy. Printed letterpress on acid free paper. 6½ x 10-11/16 inches.
Designed and printed letterpress in March 2017 by Robin Price, with assistance from Anne Thompson. Edition of 100, of which 85 copies are available for sale.
This print is a small preview of the longstanding and forthcoming press publication Song of Songs, with artist Barbara Benish, to be printed in Hebrew with English translation by Chana and Ariel Bloch. Here, the English “kiss” in LTC Metropolitan glides into the Hebrew נשיקה (neshika) in custom lettering by Liron Lavi Turkenich, an Israeli type & graphic designer. Celebratory grapes drawing in charcoal by Barbara Benish, translated into a mezzotint polymer plate. Four colors onto the shimmery surface of Izumo Mingei, a Japanese mitsumata paper handmade by the grandson (Shinichiro Abe) of the late Mr. Eishiro Abe, the first papermaker to be designated as a National Living Treasure. 10-3/4 x 15-3/4 inches.
Offered as inspiration for those who work to change our surreal political situation, using some good old-fashioned Power of the Press.
Designed and printed letterpress in spring 2017 by Robin Price, with assistance from Anne Thompson. Edition of 115, of which 75 copies are available for sale.
Printed letterpress with a potpourri of wood type and 72 pt News Gothic, in dark gray and deep red on acid free paper. 11 x 17 inches.
Price for veterans* & vet organizations (any country): $125
A print published in conjunction with Love in the Time of War by Yusef Komunyakaa, with the poem "When our hands caress bullets & grenades" and artwork by Robin Price.
Like the pages in the book, the poem is printed letterpress with silver ink onto handpainted silk, folded on one edge and stitched along the opposite edge. The print offers a larger canvas size, and richer, more elaborate coloration than the book pages. The silk is dyed and painted with walnut ink and watercolor, and features a subtle grid pattern. Shaped inserts of colored paper are sewn into the interior and subtly appear through the surface. Signed and numbered by the poet and artist on the front side, with a colophon printed on the back.
The optional display stand includes a magnetic stainless steel plate, four small round magnets, and a two-part wooden stand.
16 x 11 inches; variable edition of 70; 2013
*This price option not yet set up for this page; please contact the press for ordering via PayPal.
Text excerpts from 86 books significant to me—mostly other artist’s books—were gathered using formulas based on the number 43, which was my age at the genesis of the project. Paper maps from locations along the 43rd parallels are bound in an accordion that structurally supports the main text, which is printed on graph paper and also hinged together as an accordion. A Legend Card and supplemental Annotated Bibliography are included. 43 was directly inspired by the fifty-volume Zweite Enzyklöpadie von Tlön, by Ines v. Ketelhodt and Peter Malutzki, and Arplines by Harry Reese. A river, borrowed from the Ninja Press book The Real World of Manuel Córdova, flows through the text sheets.
The unusual double-layer accordion, housed in a printed cloth-covered clamshell box, is co-designed and co-produced with Daniel E. Kelm at the Wide Awake Garage. The typefaces are hand-set ATF Garamond and Kabel. Six colors printed letterpress. All additional printing within the structure is letterpress, except for the laser-printed text sheets of the 32 pp bibliography.
11.75 x 8 x 1.5 inches, opens to 20 ft wide; 32 pages with supplemental 32 pp booklet;
Standard edition, 86 copies [2007-08]; Deluxe edition, 12 copies [2009]
With the book 43, According to Robin Price, with Annotated Bibliography, the press offers a deluxe edition for the first time. The adventure provided an opportunity to expand upon some of the concepts within the standard edition and to have a close collaboration with Daniel E. Kelm, the illustrious Chief Mechanic & Alchemist of the Wide Awake Garage. Themes of systems, pathways, and order are paralleled with chaos and the unknown; meaning is conveyed through movement, visuals, and objects, in contrast to the text-laden book. See more information below.
2009
7.5 x 5 inches; 34 pages; edition of 125 [2005]
“Every death is violent” begins this short story by Amy Bloom, who, as noted by Ursula K. Le Guin, “can handle unspeakable pain with the quiet authority of a Chekhov, but has an even rarer gift: she describes happiness so that we can share in it.” Artwork by sculptor and mixed media artist jordan tierney. Diverse image-making techniques include original rubbings & spray paint, photocopy onto acetate, and inserts of paper material inside a few of the text sheets that are semi-translucent and folded at the foredge. (Other text sheets are not translucent.) Japanese side-stitch binding with a wrap-around pyrographic cover, made of leather-like synthetic materials. Design and letterpress printing by Robin Price. Signed by Bloom, Tierney, and Price.
Published in connection with a 2010 exhibition at Wesleyan University Davison Art Center, this large-format publication features an in-depth essay by independent scholar and curator Betty Bright, an interview with Robin Price by Suzy Taraba, and a complete list by Rutherford W. Witthus of Price's works from 1984 into early 2010. Indexed. Catalog design by Mark Zurolo and Lesley Tucker, printed on acid-free paper at Finlay Printing. 12 x 9 in.; 144 pp.; 140 color ill.; 49 monochrome ill.; paper covers in thirty random variations generated on press using chance operations. Chance will determine which of the thirty cover variations you receive.
Shipping note: if you select media mail “yes” then at checkout click “no shipping”
Classical and flamenco guitarist Pepe Romero reflects on his work in an intensely personal, poetic manner. His themes, articulated in both English and Spanish, transcend the boundaries of artistic medium and celebrate the entirety of the creative process. Compiled from oral and written sources, and edited by Robin Price. The title page features an original palladium print by James W. Pitts. Printed letterpress by Price in ATF Bodoni Book and Stradivarius in black, gold, and grey onto Frankfurt white and Fabriano Italia black. Constructed with a classical six-string guitar in mind, Daniel E. Kelm co-designed the long-stitch variation with black museum board covers, printed in gold, with a window that partially reveals the title page print. Wrapped in frosted mylar.
“The book is beautiful in conception and execution, for Price is a master printer and a master designer.”—Connell B. Gallagher, Parenthesis 5. Signed by Romero and Pitts.
A record of William Everson’s 1975 reading at the University of California, Davis. The main text is a presentation of the reading—poems and extemporaneous ruminations—integrated with six dramatic, large-scale woodcuts created for this publication by Keiji Shinohara. Introduction by Sidney Berger. Also included is a CD recording of the 1975 reading and a booklet of collected remembrances. “The beauty and substance of Ravaged immerses us in the language, imagery and sound that captures William Everson’s commitment to a life directed by such an exquisite discipline of excavation and revelation.”—Betty Bright, Parenthesis 7. Designed and printed letterpress by Price in Dante type on custom handmade paper; exposed long-stitch binding co-designed with Daniel E. Kelm; colored vellum spine; printed flax paper-covered boards; linen-covered slipcase. Signed by Shinohara and Price.
A collaborative artist's book by M. Jordan Tierney and Robin Price, inspired by gameboards and the kind of wallet-like pouches formerly used to hold significant documents. With a narrow palette of language and form we were seeking to make an object that feels like a handy something kept in the glove compartment of one's car, at the ready for quick consultation. Atop original gouache paintings by Tierney, a yellow meandering pathway covers one side of the fold-out. Seven circular nodes along the way include excerpts from The Oxford History of Board Games, printed in Standard Gothic type. Opposing texts printed in Perpetua on the bright orange verso are from a Dictionary of Energy. The fold-out rests within a printed and painted Murillo brown paper enclosure, with a tab and slit. Printed letterpress in seven colors. Signed by Tierney and Price. Few copies remain.
12.5 x 4.75 inches, opens to 23 inches wide; five double-sided panels unfold from case;
edition of 30 plus 4 artist's proofs; 2010
13 x 18 inches; edition of 150 [1997]
Quotation by Pepe Romero, excerpted from The Journey of the Guitar. Handset in Bodoni type and printed letterpress in silver and gold onto Somerset velvet black paper. Watercolor hand-painted flourish in aqua. Signed by Romero and Price.
By Yusef Komunyakaa, 2002
18 x 10 inches; second edition, 50 copies [2002]
Published in conjunction with Wesleyan University Press to celebrate Yusef Komunyakaa's reading at Wesleyan University, 13 February 2002. Letterpress in pink & dark grey from handset Palatino and Manuscript on St. Armand handmade brown cotton paper. A small, abstract collage of colored papers appears below the title; each one unique.
13 x 13 inches; edition of 78 [2007]
A memorial broadside with text by LeWitt: "For each work of art that becomes physical there are many variations that do not." Co-designed with John Beeson, then a student intern at the press. Handset Optima and Palatino on Fabriano Murillo grey.
Recording on CD and booklet with transcript of the 1975 poetry reading by William Everson at UC Davis. Also included in Ravaged with Joy.
2024 A quiet meditation on the momentary experience of time and its illusory nature, marking temporary offers a minimalist contemplation of states of change, impermanence, and attention. This publication is the first press book in over a decade.
By Robin Price in collaboration with Jolene Leuchten, 2021 press intern, marking temporary emerged from spontaneous exploratory practices together, often in long periods of silence, and is informed by Buddhism, kundalini yoga, and navigating through times of ecological collapse.
marking temporary invites the viewer's attention across vast open spaces, with sparse text and large fields of organically-textured color gradations.
A tall and thin hybrid accordion book, marking temporary is housed in a celadon cloth-covered box made by Lisa Hersey, and printed letterpress in eleven colors, including five gradation fields. The primary ink color for the text, in 10 pt Fortune extra bold type, matches the pale book cloth. Johannot paper is hinged to grey museum board covers. Handwriting in silver pen onto cloth appears at box opening, and suggests a portal.
16 x 6 inches; 13 pp; edition of 50 with five APs; 2024
Among three copies in the edition reserved for unique alteration by commission, numbers 47 & 49 currently remain. $2500 each.
Pictured here: prototype made from rejected edition sheets