1duncjl
I was wondering what anyone might have to write about the Red Angel Press and its proprietor Ronald Keller. I've recently acquired a few old prospectuses from the press and they are very intriguing, but there seems to be a paucity of information online: barely a handful of items for sale, some institutions with holdings but no online resources.
The books seem to be a hybrid between private press and livre d'artiste. Some of the description in the prospectuses is hard even to envisage the effect: for instance Sights from a Steeple refers to a large 3-colour woodcut on Sekishu paper that unfolds to surround the text.
The books seem to be a hybrid between private press and livre d'artiste. Some of the description in the prospectuses is hard even to envisage the effect: for instance Sights from a Steeple refers to a large 3-colour woodcut on Sekishu paper that unfolds to surround the text.
2LBShoreBook
I collect Herman Melville and own two by Red Angel Press. I think your hybrid analogy is fair with respect to the two I own. Rock Rodondo is the more adventurous of the two, with a cover that has the texture and dimensions of rock and a foldout page that goes to something like 3 feet with various birds of the island on them. Cetology is a bit more traditional with foldout excerpts on whales. Both standouts in my collection for the uniqueness.
3duncjl
>2 LBShoreBook: Thank you. It's a nice touch that even the prospectus for Rock Rodondo carries a blind-embossed seabird and is a vertical accordion-fold (though not 3 feet) presumably to suggest a sea stack.
4Sport1963
A few recommended titles from Keller's Red Angel Press:
Jonathan Edwards, "The Spider Letter" (2009)
Emily Dickinson / Nathaniel Hawthorne, "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain / The Hollow of the Three Hills" (2002)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Birds of Killingworth" (1974)
James Dickey, "The Owl King" (1977)
For most editions Keller, whose first career was as an ad agency Art Director, served as the primary designer, illustrator, typographer, and printer. His books do not often come up for sale or auction.
Jonathan Edwards, "The Spider Letter" (2009)
Emily Dickinson / Nathaniel Hawthorne, "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain / The Hollow of the Three Hills" (2002)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Birds of Killingworth" (1974)
James Dickey, "The Owl King" (1977)
For most editions Keller, whose first career was as an ad agency Art Director, served as the primary designer, illustrator, typographer, and printer. His books do not often come up for sale or auction.
5NathanOv
>1 duncjl: His books are the rare private press artists books that put presswork and bookcraft first, always featuring readable, interesting and robust texts, while still experimenting with how art can be presented within a book.
Sights From a Steeple in particular is a delight. It is one of several of his books where the art can be folded out to remain visible through the full reading experience.
With that one, you essentially end up with a traditional fine press codex to read, but the panaramoric woodcut folds out in an arc to surround it on three of the four sides of the book, as if you're on the steeple looking out while you read Hawthorne's description of the view. l I'll try to snap a picture later.
Sights From a Steeple in particular is a delight. It is one of several of his books where the art can be folded out to remain visible through the full reading experience.
With that one, you essentially end up with a traditional fine press codex to read, but the panaramoric woodcut folds out in an arc to surround it on three of the four sides of the book, as if you're on the steeple looking out while you read Hawthorne's description of the view. l I'll try to snap a picture later.
6duncjl
>4 Sport1963: It's interesting to learn about the ad agency background. It sort of explains how, in addition to the display of traditional craftsmanship, there was the impulse for each title to have its own USP within the design.
