Now shipping books!
¶ Finally! This week I filled some of the first orders for new books from the Press of the Varying Hare. It took a while to get the various components of a system in place, but at long last I’m working my way down the list of orders that has been accumulating for the chapbook of my Handmade essay and the little Goudy book. I’m knocking out the simple orders first, which are the Canadian orders. There remain some complexities to sort out related to moving books across the border into the United States without incurring too many additional fees. But know that if you requested a copy of one or both of these new books, you should be hearing from me soon.
I’m also moving forward with my slate of 2026 publishing projects. The first of the eight poems for Fourteen for the Hare (i.e., the first press sheet) have been typeset and proofed and ready to edition. Unlike my projects typeset using the Linotype, this book will be composed, printed and redistributed in eight-page increments over time. Today I put the type for the first form (the first side of the first sheet) on the Vandercook 219 press and started to work out the lockup. Hopefully I’ll print this sheet next week and then get started on the next. I’d like to have this book printed and ready to bind by black fly season, for release in mid-summer.
I’ve also been putting a lot of time into machine maintenance. My Linotypes Model 31, which broke down from a fractured cast iron ejection lever last spring, is operational again, albeit somewhat imperfectly. Fine tuning remains to be done; after sitting idle for nearly a year it needs a lot of love and attention. I’ve also started work on the newer Model 5 that was damaged by the shipper during its move from Ottawa, but it’s a ways off from running. I also have my Ludlow Typograph caster torn apart and parts off to my machinist. And I continue to tinker with the Heidelberg ‘windmill’ platen press, cleaning it up and familiarizing myself with its operations before I finally throw a real job at it. There’s lots yet to do to get all this gear working right. To be a letterpress printer shares at least one thing with farming—a big part of the job is keeping the old gear running.
Speaking of running, sugaring season is just around the corner. The maple sap will soon be running. March will be busy!
Four tied-up pages on the press from Fourteen for the Hare
The first form locked up for Fourteen for the Hare
Proof page, printed on cheap stock, for Fourteen for the Hare