It is usual, I think, for the latest whatever-it-is to be thought of as the most beautiful and in every way the most outstanding of all . . . whether we are talking of babies or books made by hand!

Each of the books I have been involved in has had its moment in the sun BUT I have to say that the latest, Ralph Kiggell’s The Third Thing, just brought back by Frances from the binders, is really something rather special. Rejoicing at its completion is, for me, partly a reflection of the extraordinary amount of time I spent printing and over-printing yet again each of these pages. As the weeks went by with a daily printing, I became ever more relieved (on behalf of anyone who might think to purchase a copy) that we have never costed a single minute of the time I spend on any of the many activities involved in producing them into the price of our books. Crazy I know . . . but I just love doing it.

There are many people who were entranced by Ralph’s earlier masterpiece Leading the Cranes Home (now completely sold out) who have been looking forward for some time to this new venture. The subject matter and choice of texts in this book are quite different from the former but the format and arrangement of the two books are exactly the same. Here again each spread is given up to the printing of a poem or piece of prose (this time on the subject of Water in all its different manifestations) together with one of Ralph’s stunning multi-coloured woodcuts in the Japanese manner.

I have posted a few of these spreads here earlier but now a full description of the book and a (generous!) slideshow can be found on our website.

Also described is the Special Edition and glimpses given of the prints Ralph has made specially for this purpose and quite separate from the book. There are only ten of these Specials and I have to say that more than half the copies have already been spoken for after an email to interested parties sent yesterday. If you would like to get your hands on one of the remaining copies I would urge considerable speed!