Corvus Works

Having received The Pied Piper of Hamelin today, I thought it might be nice to have a dedicated thread for Christopher Wakeling's press Corvus Works. Below are a couple of photos of the new book. This is the yellow-spine binding (there is also another binding choice with different spine color and cover).

Also received the prospectus for the next book, Claude Garamond. This is to be printed on a mixture of Arches Vélin Blanc and the now-out-of-production Zerkall Ingres papers.

I received my copies of both the yellow and red bindings; wonderful books. Christopher was very kind to include a personal note after our exchange of emails. I met my wife in Bremerhaven, not far from Hamelin. We visited twice and watched a colorful re-enactment. We celebrate our 42nd anniversary on Tuesday.

Christopher is taking reservations for his next two books, along with opening up subscriptions. I recommend writing to him if you have any interest. The forthcoming books are Claude Garamond and G·B·PALATINO: THE THEORIST. The subscriber rate includes a very generous discount, and is the route I intend to take (though I was planning on becoming a subscriber regardless).

>1 Shadekeep: I got the same version and it is lovely. He has been wonderful to interact with as well!

I've been communicating with Christopher and his book Claude Garamond is starting printing. Some of it will be printed on Zerkall Ingres, which is bittersweet. More info here: https://corvusworks.co.uk/work-in-progress

>5 Shadekeep: I assume you have your Garamond by now? If so, what do you think? I think it is an interesting and beautifully printed volume.

>6 ChestnutPress: It's splendid, really shows a continued maturation of technique for Chris. The plates in particular are very nice, as one might expect.

>7 Shadekeep: The plates are a particularly nice touch aren't they!

>7 Shadekeep: Such pristine presswork throughout. It really is a must-have.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnESD9_Loeh/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

New work in progress, here's a link and a pic of the prospectus from Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzHSjkbry7a/



I recently came across Schneidler Mediaeval myself and can be counted among its fans.

Hear ye, hear ye!

I am looking for copies of the following Corvus Works editions:

Sabon: Tschichold & Hochuli
The Lambton Worm
Tschichold / Hostettler

If anybody has them, and is interesting in trading / selling, please let me know. Willing to make a generous offer!

>11 grifgon: Ach! The Lambton Worm was my very first acquisition from Chris. I do hope you find a copy, it's a peach.

>11 grifgon: "The Lambton Worm": I am familiar with that legend, and it would be a fine book to own, methinks.

>10 Shadekeep: Thanks. A prospectus sheet is now available and the reservation book open: 40£ until January 31st, thereafter 48£

>14 corvusworks: Cheers for my batch of prospectuses on Saturday, Chris. Lots of great stuff to look forward to from you. For now, I shall just patiently wait for the special of the Palatino book.

>15 ChestnutPress: Thanks, Mark. Roger has the necessary to go. C

>14 corvusworks: Super, put me down for one! You can send me an invoice, or I can send a request when it lands on your website. Looking forward to it!

>11 grifgon: A small number of Sabon extra copies will shortly be available, maybe four copies.

>16 corvusworks: 🥳🥳🥳

>17 Shadekeep: Thank you 🙏 Drop me an email and I’ll put your name against a copy. Due to ever increasing material costs, I am printing fewer copies of books in 2024. CW

>20 corvusworks: Email sent, thanks much! Fewer copies is understandable, though a shame. Your work really belongs in many collections.

>21 Shadekeep: Very kind of you to say. 🙏

Christopher has some newly bound additional copies of The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Claude Garamond available now. I am particularly happy with Pied Piper, it's one of my favorite CW titles. (And how stupid am I that I just now noticed the printer and the press share initials?)

Christopher has mailed out a digital prospectus to patrons including his plans for upcoming works. I have excerpted some of the nearer future ones below. He is also restarting his subscription option, which offers a 15% discount to those who commit to buying the major releases. It will start with the forthcoming Passing Through. Reach out to him if you have any interest in upcoming titles or in subscribing.

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A large format book commission I’ve been working on since the start of the year is due to be completed in early August, after which I can finally make serious progress with printing the Duncan Glen edition in September. Alfons Bytautas is adding an etching for a frontispiece – he taught Duncan etching techniques when running at Edinburgh Printmakers – and I am working on an additional piece of artwork based on one of Duncan’s cover designs. My apologies for the delays with this project.
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Following on from the Duncan Glen edition, a collaborative project is underway with writer, Barbara Murray, and photographer, Paco Valera. Passing Through will be a fusion of photography and poetry celebrating … ‘those soul-stirring instances that awaken us to nature’s sometimes hidden and often startling beauty’. The work is inspired by Shaw Gill ravine near Barbara’s home in Wensleydale and the abandoned, arid and stark Can Coll Wood in Paco’s native Catalunya. A printed prospectus in Sabon with Albertus accompanied with a mezzotint and black-and-white photographic print will be available in the autumn.
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The third upcoming book will be an exploration of Victor Hugo’s The alphabet is a source. I printed a broadsheet based on these lines almost 20 years ago. It’s something I’ve previously used for student projects, too. I recently acquired Adrian Frutiger’s own fount of 48 pt d Ondine and plan to use it for the titling and initials, together with 14 pt d Nord Italique for the narrative text in English and French along with Optima for the opening prose. The paper will be Arches Vélin Blanc 160 gm for the texts alongside six, colour paper cut artworks exploring letterforms.
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A further four projects on themes ‘typographic’ are under consideration, in no particular order : an English translation of Raymond Gid’s small book Célébration de la lettre. Originally published by Éditions Robert Morel, an English translation was made by P. M. Handover in 1962 for the Composing Room Inc. (Pending permission.).
Two short pieces of Tschicholdian writings, Günter Gerhard Lange’s J.T. – der progressive Traditionalist, an English tanslation ; and, Tschichold’s own Planning a Book. Possibly Walbaum 14 pt for the former and Sabon 14 pt d for the latter. Zerkall mould-made papers for these two.
An Engish translation of Paul Valéry’s short essay Les deux vertus d’un livre (The two virtues of a book), an extract from which I printed in Palatino and Optima for inclusion in Parenthesis ‘44 deluxe’. I might stick with Palatino on Arches Vélin Blanc for this one . . .
These four will be in wrappers rather than cases.