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Rampant Lion Press


A Printer’s Dozen: Eleven Spreads from Unrealised Books

Cambridge: Rampant Lion Press, 1993. Stk. Z 232 R17 C993.

‘Fine press printers are forever faced with the dilemma of content. They are criticized either for squandering their efforts on minor poetry by their friends, or for endlessly turning out more versions of the small repertoire of classics whose length makes them suitable for setting and printing by hand.’

So writes Sebastian Carter, designer and printer of the eleven spreads of unrealized books in this limited edition Rampant Lion work. Each of the spreads – from Aesop’s Fables to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland – have their own level of complexity, in layout and design. One typographic challenge was Arthur Rimbaud’s Voyelles (Vowels), set in Nord italic and utilizing wood initials. Carter set one page at a time, with the red and blind-embossed letters printed together.

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