Collecting themes (Trees)

Most of the fine press books I tend to collect are works (largely novels) that I enjoy, and want to read in the nicest edition available. However, I also have a fondness for trees which has weaved its way into my book collecting.

In fact, some of my most beautiful (and favourite) editions fall within this area, in particular:

-Sylvae (Midnight Paper Sales) - The most expensive book in my collection, but it is perfection in book form to my eye.

-The Man Who Planted Trees (Limited Editions Club) - Beautiful binding, exquisite printing, impressive size, and a great short story.



This collecting niche has also given me an excuse to sample works by otherwise untouched presses, including:

-Talking Through Trees (Old Stile Press) - The setting of this book (Cambridge) is especially appropriate as it was home for 4 years.

-The Tree/Nature of Nature (Yolla Bolly Press)

-Famous Trees (Dropmore Press) - One of my favourite endpapers!



So I thought I would start this thread for two reasons:

1. To see if anyone had any good tree-related fine press suggestions

2. To see what niches other people collect

Fun stuff! Some tree and tree-adjacent titles from my fine press collection I would recommend:

Wherefore Wildlife Ecology? (Gaspereau Press) - An essay by Aldo Leopold, a leading forester and conservationist.

The Trees are Down (Gruffyground Press) - Printed by Sebastian Carter from Rampant Lions Press.

Christmas Trees (Lone Oak Press) - Commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the first Robert Frost Christmas card.

Yardley Oak (Tudor Black Press) - Poem by William Cowper.

Just outside the fine press walls I would also recommend The Night Life of Trees by Tara Books, a gorgeous volume that is their perennial bestseller.

As for what I like to collect, I gravitate mostly towards folklore, medieval/archaic writing, and books on ornaments and fleurons. I also have a soft spot for nautical tales and anything that includes a lighthouse.

There is the Historic Trees of California published by the Book Club of California.

>1 EdmundRodriguez: What a fine thread to start. The Jean Giono is a favourite on my shelves! I here add links to a handful of tree-based fine press:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnjO_yuLNj8/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSoNDP-MJle/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7F3pgNhgc-/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByGEh_uBcX3/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIlfBaDhLQr/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

There is also Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests, printed letterpress by the Yolla Bolly Press for The Book Club of California

I'd highly recommend "Through the Woods" by H. E. Bates in it's 1936 first edition. Bates writes wonderfully about the woodland of his native England and Miller-Parker's wood engravings are simply sublime. Although a trade edition, it is letterpress, sewn, and printed on a fairly decent and heavy paper

Excuse the slightly tatty state of the copy in my review; I since upgraded to a nicer one but didn't have time to make new photographs: https://wp.me/pc0a8G-vg

--

Another possibility could be Diary of an Apple Tree by Miriam Macgregor from The Whittington Press: https://ubiquitousbooks.wordpress.com/2022/05/21/diary-of-an-apple-tree/

I too am fond of trees and woodland and would love to get hold of a copy of Sylvae one day.

>6 ubiquitousuk: Through the Woods is a great book!

If you can track down a copy, Foolscap's Direction of the Road would fit. But I imagine you'd be fighting off a number of people here to buy it.

Thanks all! Going to enjoy researching all these ideas!

One other series of works I'd like to recommend are the letterpress/linocut pamphlets from Sarah Nicholls. This one is a good starting point:

https://www.brainwashingfromphonetowers.com/works/elm-street/

I'll just leave this stunner here...

https://pieintheskypress.com/Giant-a-deity-with-leaves

>11 ChestnutPress: I do hope to add a Pie In The Sky book to the collection one day, though they are livres d'artistes by my lights. (Nothing wrong with those, either!)

Here's another from the press with a powerful tree theme that I've been checking out:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/210061505/where-stucco-meets-chaparral-limited

>12 Shadekeep: I also need to add one to my collection at some point!

>13 ChestnutPress: I don't. *grin*

>14 Glacierman: 😄 Attaboy!

I’d recommend Trees from the Tern Press. One of their best books and hard to find (although Wykeham has an ordinary copy listed for sale on ABE).

"Clare's map of boyhood was full of trees, from the elm trees that rocked over his cottage to the hollow oaks and old willows in which he hid from pelting rains and prying eyes. They were his cradle, his robbers' cave, his pulpit, his study and his refuge.”

They also made the Battle of the Trees by Cad Gaddau and the Dream of the Rood which is more allegorical but still technically about a tree!

If leaves count, this is a beautiful book.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/warwick_carter/49360982443/in/photolist-2icRWnr-G6...

>13 ChestnutPress: Incidentally, I favorited that Pie In The Sky book on Etsy and was sent a 10% off coupon for it. Worth a try with her other titles if you are interested, it's a not inconsiderable savings.

>18 Shadekeep: That's pretty darn good! Cheers for the tip!!

How about trees of the sea? ;-)

One of my favorite books is Selected Shore Plants of Southern California by Charles Leland Richardson. The book has 16 multi-color linoleum block illustrations by Vance Gerry. Printed letterpress on Stonehenge paper. Hand bound in quarter cloth and paste-paper over boards, round back by Bela Blau. "This is by far the most ambitious book done by the press. 16 multi-colored linoleum cuts as well as Richardson's thoughtful text took about 5 years from inception to finish". from 25 Years of the Weather Bird Press. One of 100 copies.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/146135939_shore-plants-of-southern-californ...

Some really beautiful works here, and many of them are nothing like anything in my collection today! Adding some excellent diversity to my watch lists.

Already picked up a copy of Through the Woods, which I'm looking forward to reading.

>21 EdmundRodriguez: "In The Heart of The Woods" from artist Trician Ewell on Etsy may be of interest to you. It's a collection of tree-themed poetry and quotations from various sources alongside copper etchings of trees and forests.

Also, I'm a little late to the conversation, but I can't recommend Giant: A Deity With Leaves enough. It is one of those rare books that can and perhaps should only exist in fine press, and does what some of my favorite fine press editions such as Nawukum's Cascadia, Lord John's In The Red Zone and Red Angel's Rock Rodondo do, using a wide variety of media to encapsulate a specific time, place and theme.

In this case, the creator pairs three art forms (photography, drawing and floral collage) with three writing forms (poetry, story-telling and informative prose) to explore the story of a single tree from a wide variety of perspectives.

It's not strictly fine press in the sense normally used in this group, but I recently bought a copy of The Secret Life of Trees from The Folio Society. It's a nice production, profusely illustrated and with nice printed endpapers featuring tree rings.

I'm glad to report that I have managed to pick up a few of the suggested books, a few photos below in case anyone is interested. All represent new presses to feature in my collection.

Trees - John Clare (Tern Press) 1989
Linen fabric binding
35 x 24 cm
113 pp
T. H. Saunders paper
Illustrated with 21 coloured lino prints by Nicholas Parry

Cover

Illustration example


Trees - Michael Hamburger (Embers Handpress) 1988
Vellum bound with parchment dust-jacket
23 cm
28 pp
Saunders pure rag paper
Title-page vignette, 9 full-page and 4 smaller wood-engravings

Cover

Illustration example


I also found a charming little Australian book on the subject of trees ("an account of the native trees on the hills around Robertson, N.S.W."):

Green Crowns - Mary Quick (Juniper Press) 1955
Bound in stiff plain card boards (with dustwrapper)
21 x 13cm
36 pp
paper made by A. P. P. M. Ltd
18 wood Engravings

Cover

Illustration example

>1 EdmundRodriguez: You may be interested in Nawakum Press's forthcoming edition, "A BONSAI-SHAPED MIND," that was just detailed on the website homepage:

https://www.nawakumpress.com/

It's set to combine essays on bonsai with what I believe is an original short story detailing the 500 year life of a bonsai tree, illustrated by Richard Wagener.

>25 NathanOv: very interesting, thank you!

>25 NathanOv: As a huge Wagener fan and an amateur gardener living in Japan, I am hyperventilating over this one. The sure to be formidable costs will have to found one way or another…

This is a tangential candidate at best for inclusion here, but the boards of Jim Rimmer's Shadow River (Pie Tree Press & Type Foundry, 1996, '97 & '99) were covered in sheets printed with (inked) cedar fronds, each sheet different. I guess a frond only has one inking & impression in it. A couple of copies shown below. Plus his press was named for an apple tree in the backyard. I'm working on a checklist of books issued by Jim's Pie Tree. Considering it's a short list there are a surprising number of bibliographic conundrums (conundra?).

>28 H-M: Those are exquisite!

>28 H-M: I have a Rimmer item, a folded broadside.

>28 H-M: Thank you for sharing! I’ve been trying to track down Pie Trees Press books as well, though without any success. Particularly Tom Sawyer, however it is difficult to even find information regarding the book much less the book itself.

>31 Esoterics: Pie Tree material is tough to find and pricey when you do.

Came across this today; apologies if it's already been mentioned:

When There Were Trees (Brighton Press, 1999)

https://www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/138506/nancy-willard/when-there-were-trees

>1 EdmundRodriguez: Just to, belatedly, add more details to the fine suggestion by >3 ultrarightist:

Historic Trees of California, a keepsake in 13 Parts (The Book Club of California, Keepsake for 2003) by Deke Sonnichsen. Designed at Anchor & Acorn Press, composed at the Hillside Press, and printed letterpress by Patrick Reagh, Printers. Woodcuts by Rik Olson

Contents
pt. 1. The Sir Joseph Hooker Oak, Chico / Robert J. Chandler
pt. 2. The dawn redwood, metasequoia glyptostroboides / Jeremy C. Cole
pt. 3. Tharp's log / Richard Dillon
pt. 4. The hunter and the big trees / Ferol Egan
pt. 5. Bennett Juniper / Sherrin Grout
pt. 6. Oak of the Golden Dream / Gary F. Kurutz
pt. 7. The Jepson Laurel (a.k.a. the death's-head tree) / Mitchell P. Postel Pinyon pine / John W. Robinson
pt. 9. The immortal trees / Margaret Sanborn
pt. 10. Tunnel trees / Shirley Sargent
pt. 11. El Palo Alto / Earl Schmidt
pt. 12. The Ancient Bristlecone Pine / Deke Sonnichsen
pt. 13. The Joshua tree, yucca brevifolia / J. Curtiss Taylor.

Found this rather lovely broadside at Rulon-Miller that might qualify for inclusion - In harmony with wood

>35 Shadekeep: Here’s another beautiful tree-themed broadsheet that’s worth tracking down, printed by Emily at St Brigid Press:

https://www.stbrigidpress.net/prints/drop-everything

>36 ChestnutPress: Oh, I love that, thank you.

Well, if it's a tree-themed broadside ye be looking for, I have five copies on hand of one titled The Weathered Pine, a poem by my late wife and printed for me by Griffin Gonzales. DM me if interested.

>37 ambyrglow: My pleasure! It’s a beautiful piece, isn’t it

Two works that I would add to anyone that enjoys trees/nature and fine press are:

Leaves of Grass -- quite a few beautiful editions of this work. There's the (in)famous LEC edition with the iconic photographs of Edward Weston. There's also the Arion Press edition which sold out instantly because they managed to get a free unpaid advertisement courtesy of PBS :)

My First Summer in the Sierra -- an amazing account by one of America's great naturalist, John Muir! This fine press edition is exquisitely illustrated by master wood engraver Michael McCurdy. In my mind, this is the finest work to come from the wonderful people at Yolla Bolly.

>40 astropi: There's an AP Leaves of Grass on ebay right now that is still overpriced (IMO) but the price keeps coming down as a buy-it-now price that I think will get in the ballpark of reasonable pretty soon. I've seen a few listed at $15K-ish that I think is opportunistic (to put it generously).

>36 ChestnutPress: Emily's work is always worth a mention. And by a Virginian poet as well!

Another curio, this time from Coracle Press in Ireland. Search the listings for Four Trees. More of a livre d'artiste, as most Vamp & Tramp listings are, but this one is more traditionally a book than many of the site's other offerings.

http://www.vampandtramp.com/finepress/c/coracle-press.html

>1 EdmundRodriguez: I've had a chance to look through the book "TREES" by poet/printer Gunnar Kaldewey (Kaldewey Press, 1988). It's a very large format, so you''ll need a lot of space to appreciate it. 61 copies, 21 in a deluxe binding. I am familiar with the standard version, which is a stunning presentation.

>44 Sport1963: wow, it's 2 feet tall and folded up to fit in its box. Need a big table to lay it all out open. Very impressive edition.

Looks like a broadside titled TREE is coming from Sue McLaren of Verso Press: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw2Lmudsx_R/

A couple of images are embedded along with the letterpress type in the photo.

Litany by Elizabeth Eddy (Coffee House Press) is a poem chapbook. According to Oak Knoll, "A simple poem in which each line begins, "I am" and it has peaceful illustrations of trees." Rulon-Miller notes that it has 4 illustrations. It's part of the current Oak Knoll sale, so I may pick up that copy, as a botanophile myself.

https://www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/124236/elizabeth-eddy/litany

https://www.rulon.com/pages/books/55880/elizabeth-eddy/litany

As I mentioned earlier this year on the acquisitions thread, I was fortunate enough to find a copy of Running Rings (Grapho Editions) on the secondary market. This is another beautiful departure from my usual sphere of collecting. I have included a few images below in case of interest to anyone.

I love the Suminagashi on the cover, a great way to capture the beauty of tree rings without needing a tree:


Here are a few of the (tree) illustrations (which aren't already shown on the Grapho website) - I really love the twisty bark one:

>48 EdmundRodriguez: That’s a very fortunate find as copies on the second hand market are a great rarity!

>48 EdmundRodriguez: It's a really beautiful book. Thanks for sharing your pictures of it.

>48 EdmundRodriguez: incredible! I consider it one of my biggest fine press “misses” as I really should have been aware of it well before it sold out, yet instead have been searching for quite some time.

>20 dpbbooks:

I'll admit to having been tempted outside of my collecting niche to include this Weather Bird Press edition on trees' smaller (coastal) cousins. Thank you for the recommendation!

I love the straightforward, scientific format, with illustrations and descriptions/discussions (much like Sylvae). I find the illustrations to be beautiful, whilst seemingly very "simple" to look at, they succinctly show the plants key features with a healthy dose of artistic merit thrown in (to my eye at least). I was also surprised by the thickness of the paper, almost feels like card!

I've included a few photos of the book below for anyone interested.

>52 EdmundRodriguez: Beautiful!

>52 EdmundRodriguez: What a gorgeous book! Thanks for the photos. I really dig the scientific information, too. I don't know that any fine press book has pulled it off as well as "Sylvae." If you're headed down the path of plants infiltrating your collection, might I suggest "Weeds and Wildflowers" (Two-Horse Press i.e., Rampant Lions, 1965). I think you might enjoy it.

>54 DenimDan:

I think you are almost certainly right that I'd enjoy Weeds and Wildflowers, but if I let my collecting theme expand too far I'm going to go bankrupt! So I've put it on my "I'm being very restrained and not buying it (until I have a moment of weakness or wealth)" list.

Sylvae is the pinnacle of my collection, flawlessly ticks all of my boxes.

>55 EdmundRodriguez: just to help with your act of self-discipline, here's my review of Weeds and Wild Flowers (nb. there's a space in Wild Flowers--essential when searching for a copy to buy!): https://youtu.be/vI1TK0By0dM

I just received a short but excellent tree-related work from Littoral Press which I highly recommend.

"Liquidambar" is a series of five poems noting the winter’s last leaf and the spring’s first leaf of the poet’s backyard tree, over the course of five years.

Most notably, the lettered state is printed on striking paper made with the leaves from a liquidambar tree, though I'd recommend either state for the poetry and press work alone.

https://www.littoralpress.com/shop/p/liquid-ambar