Title | BLOW |
Subtitle | Winds from Christina Rossetti and The Beaufort Scale |
Artist / Creator | Margery S. Hellmann |
Press Name | The Windowpane Press |
Artist's Nationality | United States |
Place of Publication | Seattle, Washington |
Publication Date | 2012-2015 |
Book Binder | Bonnie Thompson Norman |
Process / Technique | Letterpress printed from handset type on a 1926 Chandler & Price platen press, some hand coloring |
Structure / Binding | Hedi Kyle's flag book structure |
Paper Stock | Canson Mi-Tientes and Strathmore Translucent Flags |
Number of Pages | 20 panels |
Dimensions (WxHxD) | 5.188 x 8.562 x .5 inches. Extends out to 24.25 inches |
Edition Size | Edition of 30 |
Christina Rossetti's poem Winds is interleaved with a description of The Beaufort Scale in an interplay of pages and panels. The type is set to suggest a windblown effect and is embellished with typographic ornaments and leaves some of which have been hand colored. The type was meticulously set by hand by Margery Hellmann over a period of one year. Towards the end of the project Margery became ill and was unable to complete the work. The book was printed in three colors and bound by hand by her close friend, Bonnie Thompson Norman. The book reflects Margery's thoughtful and creative marriage of disparate texts which results in an enhanced appreciation of both poetry and science. This is the last work produced under the imprint of The Holburne Press.
Who Has Seen the Wind?
BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
Artist Bio
In the world of book arts, Margery Hellmann was a renaissance woman well versed in many of its aspects: papermaking, traditional Japanese wood block printing and marbling, paper and book conservation, book binding, artist's books and letterpress printing. She combined her attention to detail and her meticulous craftsmanship with an imaginative approach to a variety of literary texts such as Anne Bradstreet, Robert Frost and, in this case, Christina Rossetti.