Introduction, Spring 2006 Catalogue
by Andrew Steeves

Gaspereau Press is an unusual literary publishing house located in the small Nova Scotia shire town of Kentville. Unlike most publishers, Gaspereau Press actually edits, designs, prints and binds all of its books on its own premises. In fact, the dedicated staff at Gaspereau Press undertakes every aspect of making these books short of making the inks and papers. This hands-on approach allows the press to maintain a great deal of control over the quality of its books and results in a continuity between content and form too often absent in commercially published books. These innovations – which are in fact simply a return to older manufacturing models – have resulted in the production of some exceptional books and in Gaspereau Press earning a number of prestigious awards, most recently the Canadian Booksellers Association’s Libris Award for ‘Best Small Press’ in 2005.

This catalogue features five new books scheduled for release by Gaspereau Press in the spring of 2006. For each new title, we have provided introductory remarks intended to suggest the nature and content of the book, as well as a sampling of text from the book itself. We have also included the usual bibliographic particulars with the convenience of booksellers in mind. The balance of the catalogue features our active backlist, with an index of titles in print at the end.

While a publisher’s catalogue is by nature an ephemeral and intended to flog books, we prefer to produce catalogues that also reflect the quality and tone of our titles and the greater interests and objectives of our publishing program. To that end, text and typography have always played key roles in our catalogues, surpassing the usual penchant for bulleted lists and trumped-up dummies of book covers. Catalogues have also been places to test drive new types, or try new combinations of types.

This catalogue marks an event of historical significance. January 2006 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of the English printer and type designer John Baskerville. Baskerville is something of a patron saint around here. For us, he represents the curious, innovative amateur who turned the printing trade on its head. Baskerville came to printing in mid-life after a successful career as a writing master and a japaner. The types he designed were neoclassical in form, with a rationalist axis and extreme variation in the strokes – forms unsuited to the rough papers and often sloppy presswork of the day. In order to ensure their proper reproduction, Baskerville improved his printing presses, inks and paper – his method of ironing the printed sheets between heated metal plates is the basis of the modern-day method of ‘calendaring’ paper. Typographically, Baskerville was also a maverick. He abandoned the ornaments and decorative flourishes popular at the time and let his letters stand alone. His first book was a stunning quarto Virgil – too stunning for his critics, who claimed that his pages would blind the reader with their brilliant white paper and rich black letters. He gained greater acceptance on the continent and had a lasting influence on American printing through his friend and supporter, Ben Franklin.

This catalogue uses two quite distinct interpretations of Baskerville’s design. The main text is set in ITC’s New Baskerville, which has been slightly groomed for use by Gaspereau Press. The display type is Mrs Eaves, designed by Zuzana Licko at Emigre. A whimsical revision of Baskerville’s design, it is named for Sarah Eaves, Baskerville’s housekeeper, lover and, finally – after the death of her ne’er-do-well first husband – his devoted wife.