Rusticus

Rusticus: an adjective meaning ‘rural, simple, rough or clownish.’

Rusticus is projected to be a series of letterpress-printed, newspaper-format publications that combine journalism and typographic experiment in order to explore topics related to the book arts, typography, literature, rural life and general civics. Printed in a folio format, Rusticus will employ a range of typographic tools (Linotype, Ludlow and handset wood and metal type), incorporating elements of classical newspaper design with a riotous wood type aesthetic in order to create a dynamic graphic framework for the presentation of short essays and interviews. This series revisits my roots in newspaper design and print journalism, providing me with a larger typographic canvas than the octavo book format where so much of my career has transpired. Issues in the Rusticus series are projected to appear more-or-less annually. I will be offering each issue for sale as it is ready (as opposed to by subscription). Send me an email by clicking the ‘inquire’ button and reserve a copy with no obligation.

A Rural Letterpress Printers’ Chronicle

Rusticus No. 1

Limited edition newspaper-format journal
Projected release in December 2026‍ ‍

As I write this (July 2026), the editorial work on the first issue of Rusticus is nearing completion. My aim is to send articles to the copy editor by the end of July. Linotype composition will begin in September. The main body of the publication will be set in Linotype Baskerville with a number of other typefaces in supporting roles. This articles I’ve put together for Rusticus No. 1 include:

  • An account of the books and broadsides produced by Edward Porter’s The Saturday Press in Pennsylvania between 1966 and 1971. Edward is a wood engraver and printmaker. After studying at Yale School of Art in the early 1960s, he was an instructor at a number of American art schools before landing at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

  • Is the iron handpress the right tool for you? Does this it suit the kind of things you want to do? I asked Amelia Fontanel to help readers to ponder these questions.Amelia is Associate Curator in the Cary Collection at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, where she cares for and prints on the famed Kelmscott-Goudy Albion press.

  • Cameron Anstee’s essay ‘Some Silences: Notes on Small Press’, which was originally released as a short-run chapbook by his Ottawa-based micro press (Apt. 9 Press) in 2024. This is a thoughtful account of the DIY small press culture and community.

  • An interview with fine press printer and publisher Mark Sarigianis of The Prototype Press in rural Maryland. Mark talks about his beginnings in the San Fransisco Bay letterpress scene, the cross-continental shifting of his shop to Maryland, his fine press books, his recent experimentation cutting matrices for casting an original typeface, and (of course) gardening, hunting and fishing.

  • An interview with Emily Lutz, councillor and former deputy mayor of the Municipality of Kings County, Nova Scotia—where I live. I ask Emily about the challenges facing rural communities and what it’s like to be a young woman working for change from within government.

  • This issue will also include an introductory essay by your esteemed Editor, bits of ‘News & Notes’ (which will expand or contract depending on space), and hopefully a poem or two. And there’s a distinct possibility that I’ll be able to include a sheet of colour images related to the articles.

The goal is to be shipping out this issue in December 2026, but there are a lot of slugs to be cast on a grumpy old Linotype and many sheets to be hand cranked through my Vandercook press between now and then. We’ll see how it goes.

Specifications: Rusticus No. 1 is projected to be 16 folio pages roughly 27  × 43 cm in size printed letterpress in many colours on Hahnemühle Burga mouldmade paper. There are tentative plans to include a digitally-printed colour centre spread.

16 folio pages + colour sheet
Limited edition of no more than 200 numbered copies

CND $100 + shipping & taxes­

Copies will be shipped at 27 ×43 cm in a kraft ‘stay-flat’ mailer. Shipping costs will vary depending on your location, but here are some rough shipping estimates as of July 2026: Toronto ($22) Vancouver ($25); Boston ($21); London ($28); Stockholm ($28); Tokyo ($32). Prices may change by the time Rusticus is actually shipping out. Who knows what tariffs or fuel surcharges await us in the future!

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