The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince Letterpress

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-little-prince-letterpress-edition#/

Just ordered mine, and judging by the looks of it, it sets out to look absolutely gorgeous.

One of my favourite books. You really can just escape into it from this cold adult world from time to time...

Looks really great.
Have they published other books?

Yes, they've published it in Polish before.

I also got in touch with the studio and asked if the letterpress editions (English) would still get be made, regardless whether they hit the funding goal or not, and the reply was yes!

Interesting. The hands-on edition would be fun. I've always wanted to go to Estonia! But more practically, this is a book I've always wanted to read and would love to have in a letterpress edition...

>5 supercell: Sorry, yes, I mean Estonian. My sincere apologies.

>1 RATBAG.: Thanks for pointing this out. It looks quite promising. I backed the project.

TYPA posted a recent update on this project detailing some of the design process - interesting to see how they chose to work around various limitations they ran into: http://www.typa.ee/portfolio/designing-the-little-prince

I've been informed by TYPA that the book is finished and they'll be packing them for distribution this week. Very much looking forward to receiving my copy!

They want to produce a fine edition, and then they use a 100% wooden pulp paper.

"Holmen BOOK is available in a wide range of grammages, shades and bulk. We offer, for example, a really white shade of wood-containing book paper. This is a much requested and cost-effective alternative to wood-free products. "

Cost-effective = cheap.

>9 Levin40: I have also been informed that my book was ready. Coincidentally I was on a road trip through the baltics a the time and Tartu where they are based was on our itinerary. So asked if I could pick up my book in person, which was no problem. They are based in a one storey building just outside the city center. TYPA is a private museum which offers tours, workshops and classes for local art students in addition to having artists in residence who use their equipment. They gave us a hour long tour through the museum. The first part started with paper making (we could also make some sheets of paper by hand) and what can be done with different folding techniques. The second part was concerned with printing and the various machinery the have. There we could also print our own post cards with Gutenberg style press. Here are some pictures of their museum:

The book itself is about 16x21,5 cm and also quite light. The printing is done quite well. The ink for the text is quite uniform and there is no bite into the paper and I can barely feel it. The paper is light cream coloured and quite light. I wouldn't call it cheap as >10 cupidum: put it. My quarrel with the paper is rather that I couldn't find out if it's acid free or not. Considering the price and that this only their second book (after the Little Prince in Estonian) I think the quality is good. I also asked if they will limit the print run. I was told that they printed 400 copies and that they have not decided if it will be an open run or not.

Here are some pictures of my copy:

>11 c_schelle:
Very nice, and Estonians are nice people too.
I hope they continue with their English book printing.

>11 c_schelle: Very nice. Than you for sharing.

>12 c_schelle: Thanks for the pictures and info. I've wanted to visit the Baltics for a long time, and once we're able to travel again, I'll definitely make sure we get this museum added to our itinerary.

>15 jeremyjm: I can really recommend the region. We had 17 days there and it was wonderful and way to short to experience everything the countries have to offer.

FYI, Kelmscott Bookshop has one of the 150 handbound copies for sale...

No connection with the seller other than my Maryland roots and the fact I always tried to stop by their shop when it was in Baltimore. Might not be as convenient now that they are in Savage but wish them the best...

>12 c_schelle: Didn’t they say the limitation was 300? I’m a bit confused by that part.

>18 _WishIReadMore: - I think there are 300 total, of which 150 are the handbound 'collectors' edition and the remaining 150 are referred to as the 'letterpress edition'. TYPA has an Etsy page, with pictures of both editions - https://www.etsy.com/shop/TYPAstationery

>18 _WishIReadMore: They told me there, that the estonian edition was limited, but the english version would be numbered, but they had not decided whether they would do another print run. So it could very well become a open edition or they could keep it a limited edition. At the time of my visit all the letterpress printing blocks were still assembled.

>19 jeremyjm: Thanks. The book is also much less expensive there.

>20 c_schelle: A bit odd to advertise it as 300 and not mention they could print more if they decide to.

>21 _WishIReadMore: It could very well be that they decided not to do that. It's been a while since I've been there.

>22 c_schelle: Lovely photos. Do they have slipcases for the books? I am contemplating purchasing the hand bound edition

>15 jeremyjm: Feel free to contact me for a tour of Vilnius, Lithuania ;)

>23 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: They don't offer slipcases. But you could enquire if they make a custom one for you.

>24 Lukas1990: Had I known that last year. I could have used a local guide.