NONPAREIL by Ivan Snyder

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NONPAREIL was printed mostly for fun--and to demonstrate that Amateur Journalism, while a serious hobby, can also be fun and whimsical. In the 1980s, a small fervor for miniatures swept through the American Amateur Press Association. I caught the fever, but have only printed four miniatures. True to its name, NONPAREIL (pron. Non-par-ell) is set in mostly six point type. Body type is six point Century Schoolbook (with some italic and bold), with the exception of three words, which are in four point Century. Eighteen point Onyx and six point Bernhard Gothic Light are on the cover; the Colophon just inside the front cover is six point Bernhard Gothic Light. The next page is headed by twelve point Hollywood. The rest of the headlines are eight point Century Schoolbook Bold and an unidentified eight point bold Gothic. Approximately 200 copies were printed for circulation in the bundle of the American Amateur Press Association, and for the Redwood Chappel, an organization of letterpress printers.

Artist Bio

I think my brain was hard-wired with an interest in printing when I was born. I remember trying to figure out, in my early grade school years, how those words were put onto the paper. My first real involvement in printing was in high school, operating a Multilith 1250 offset press, and I loved it. But my interest in offset technology was replaced by a fascination for letterpress during college, because I got a part time job off campus in an all-letterpress print shop. From that time on, I had dreams of acquiring my own printing outfit-the kind I saw in Kelsey advertisements in Mechanics Illustrated and Popular Mechanics. It was not until the late 1970s that I wrote for a Kelsey catalogue, and spent many hours poring over it. I finally ordered a 5x8 Kelsey press and related paraphernalia in 1978. I had great fun with that outfit, but needless to say, it did not satisfy my appetite. Now I have almost too much type and equipment; that is, if one can have too much. | |In 1982 I learned about Amateur Journalism, the hobby of producing small hobby journals and exchanging them with others of like interests. My new little printing press and few fonts of type were a perfect match for that hobby, and I have become more and more deeply involved with amateur journalism as a member of the American Amateur Press Association. I have put out hobby journals under three titles: ODDS & ENDS; a miniature called NONPAREIL; and a more deluxe journal, AMATEUR OBSERVER.