I can hardly believe it, but the lengthy slog of printing The Diary of a Dead Officer is almost at an end and the binding process can begin. John Abell is at the moment cutting blocks for the papers that will cover the book and the printing of these should be my final task.
Frances has been folding sheets as they are completed and recently has begun to insert sheets into others to form sections. This is one of the most exciting moments in the whole process as I begin to see images and passages of text in their true relation to one another – rather than to what was next to them on the press.
The above is the ’emblem’ that appears, very effectively, on the book’s halftitle . . . pointing atmospherically towards the rest of the book.
This photograph was taken of John during a recent visit to Catchmays Court . . . during which I was able to show him my printings of his linocuts which (as you may remember from an earlier post) he will never have seen printed before!
Rather than photographing complete pages, I have today directed my camera at various details of blocks and have taken advantage of some ‘stage-lighting’ provided by the winter sunshine. You will therefore not get a full idea of what the book will look like but the power of these images will, I am sure, make an appropriate initial impact.
