Serafini 2nd Edition - Publisher's Copy

Here are some pictures of the extra-fancy publisher’s copy of the Serafini 2nd edition.  Because this is our first hardcover release, and since I’m pretty proud of the essay inside as well, we wanted to do up a really nice copy to keep in our collection.  So, while the deluxe edition for sale has blue Italian bookcloth and a Canson Montval pastedown, we upgraded the publisher’s copy to green Japanese Asahi cloth and an Arches 88 pastedown with a deckle edge.

But, perhaps the best, and most blog-worthy, upgrade is the interior pastedowns.  We recently invested in an Epson Stylus R2400 inkjet printer, because we want to incorporate the technology behind fine-art prints into our work.  This is the most affordable printer that uses Epson Ultrachrome K3 inks, which are used in pretty much any fine art print or high-end photography print that you see, and you will see elements incorporated into our future deluxe editions that are made possible by this printer.  Because of the cost of the ink (and the time it takes to print), the bulk of our printing will still be on our trusty Lexmark laser printer, but the Epson gives us a lot of new capability – and the deluxe editions of the Larding book will be the first ones to truly show off what this baby can do.

For the Serafini book, however, I wanted to experiment a little with the printer, so I found an iconic image from the Codex (a deer’s head planted in a pot, with tree branches for antlers) and laid it up on a sheet to create a pattern.  I printed out the pattern on Canson Infinity Mi-Teintes paper and pasted it down over the original interior pastedowns, creating a really beautiful effect.

I thought about adding these endpapers to the deluxe editions, but there are a few problems – first, these books are already going to be relatively expensive, and I don’t want to add to the cost by having to recoup expenses on paper and ink (which is not cheap and is used up faster than in a regular inkjet printer, due to the vibrancy of the colors).  Second, I don’t own this artwork, and so I don’t want to “sell” Serafini’s work, even though I’m sure no one would ever find out.

Pictures of this book are available in the "Books, 2010-2011" gallery.