The Book of Jonah

New York: Russell Maret, 2012. First edition of this striking fine press edition of the Old Testament book of Jonah, one of eighty copies signed by printer Russell Maret. Searching for a text suited to the archaic letterforms of his Nicolas typeface, Maret seized on the Biblical tale of the prophet trapped in the whale’s belly: “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.” Maret hand-set each line of the King James translation, “inked in migrating shades of blue ink, conceived as a visual descent into and eventual reprieve from darkness over the course of the text.” The patterned boards, viewed from the spine, suggest the wake of the whale. In 2013, the Library of Congress acquired Maret’s archive of type and book design. A fine copy of a beautiful book, bound by Nancy Loeber. Oblong folio, measuring 10 x 11 inches: [20]. Dark grey cloth spine, blue patterned paper boards, printed paper spine label, grey endpapers. Text hand-set in custom-forged Nicolas type, printed in varying shades of blue on Twinrocker handmade paper. Signed and numbered (67/80) by Russell Maret at colophon. (Inventory #: 1003942)