1vstheroux
Greetings all:
I'm new to collecting and am curious about Ultramarine Press, specifically editions bound by Denis Gouey. Would anyone be able to share some history regarding the above?
Thanks!
I'm new to collecting and am curious about Ultramarine Press, specifically editions bound by Denis Gouey. Would anyone be able to share some history regarding the above?
Thanks!
2MobyRichard
>1 vstheroux:
I used to own one of their Gene Wolfe leather editions. It was alright. No real extras. No illustrations that I recall.
I used to own one of their Gene Wolfe leather editions. It was alright. No real extras. No illustrations that I recall.
3abysswalker
>1 vstheroux: I don't have any experience with these, but I did a bit of digging and it looks like at least some of them might be rebound trade editions, since I couldn't find any printer info and many secondary market listings include trade publishers in the attribution along with Ultramarine Press. I don't mean to suggest anything improper here, and it looks like some/all of the jobs may have been contracted out by the original publisher to have a "deluxe" limited edition, but it would still be interesting to know (and would indicate a different kind of product than something like a Centipede Press release).
The Wikipedia page for the novel Women and Men also specifies:
There's "A Checklist of Ultramarine Press" (by Christopher P. Stephens, 1991) that might contain additional info. I was able to see about 50% of this booklet using the Google Books preview (though unfortunately not an introduction, if there is one). The "plus one for the author" language in the booklet seems consistent with my hypothesis above.
Here's info from this booklet about one release:
The Wikipedia page for the novel Women and Men also specifies:
Ultramarine Press published a limited, numbered, signed edition, consisting of the Knopf edition (including its copyright and title page) rebound in leather.
There's "A Checklist of Ultramarine Press" (by Christopher P. Stephens, 1991) that might contain additional info. I was able to see about 50% of this booklet using the Google Books preview (though unfortunately not an introduction, if there is one). The "plus one for the author" language in the booklet seems consistent with my hypothesis above.
Here's info from this booklet about one release:
15a. RICE, Anne. Queen Of The Damned. 124 signed and numbered copies (plus two to the author, three to the artist, and two to Alfred A. Knopf). bound in red Morocco with a paper hand-splattered by Denis Gouey. printed in black. there is an original lithographed frontispiece by Ron Walotsky added to this edition. the limitation page was printed by Morgan Press. a vampire novel. published at $150.00
15b. 26 signed and lettered copies (plus one for the author and one for the artist) bound in full leather. also bound in red Morocco. also includes the original lithographed frontispiece. the binding was designed by Ron Walotsky and printed in black. published at $325.00
NB: Denis Gouey inadvertantly bound some extra copies that were given as follows: one extra to the author and one to her editor at Alfred A. Knopf. No out of series copies of Ultramarine limiteds were ever sold.
4vstheroux
>3 abysswalker: Wow. Great research, thx for that.
5abysswalker
>4 vstheroux: another note, Mr. Gouey appears to be the owner of bookbinding.com, and perhaps retiring given this note posted to the site:
And there's an email listed. I don't know whether a message out of the blue from a collector would charm or annoy, but if you have a specific question, you could always reach out.
The Studio is in the process of selling the bookbinding equipment, interested parties should contact ...
And there's an email listed. I don't know whether a message out of the blue from a collector would charm or annoy, but if you have a specific question, you could always reach out.
6bibliopegist
Hello,
I am the guy you are referring to in this topic, I only joined this group to clarify my relationship with Ultramarine Press, owned by Chris Stephens who owned a shop in Hastings on Hudson NY, called Riverrun Books.
I was the binder for most of Ultramarine books. You are correct, the books are in fact from the first editions of the trade copies, in accord with the publisher. I’m not sure what deal Chris made with the publishers, but I believe the enticement of a nicely bound copy of the author’s book presented to him as a present, at minimal cost to the publisher, was appealing, as well as the luxurious idea of a finely bound limited edition offered to the authors, again at no cost to the publishers. All the authors had to do, is sign stacks of limitations pages stating the limitation, usually ten copies of the full leather and various limitations for the half leather. Anecdotally, Gerald Ford asked to be paid for signing, the parties settled on $1 per autograph.
The signed limitation page was then added to the book block, sometimes with an added illustration for frontispiece, and bound accordingly.
Some of the posts on this thread are mistaken:
“ Denis Gouey inadvertantly bound some extra copies”
That never happened. There were no extra copies for the simple reason that Ultramarine Press was living on a shoestring, with very slow cash flow, having trouble paying bills, specially to the bookbinder. This lead to contracts not been fulfilled and limitations only good on paper. The fact is practically none of the titles I worked on with ultramarine were fulfilled to the stated limitations. For example, and after 30 years it still hurts, the mentioned Women and Men, I made 90 half leather covers. I also made the decorative paste paper for the boards. I doubt if I used a dozen. I’m not sure about the full leather. I’m not sure there are any.
That’s an extreme example of a title that was not completed to the limitations. But it’s not the only one. After the MacElroy fiasco I became smarter and only fashioned covers and complete bindings that Ultramarine could pay for when delivered. So I would get orders like, three Anne Rice full leather and ten 1/2 leather, or 2 full leather Koons and five 1/2 leather. On the Koons, for Lightening, I designed two lightening strikes as forming some sort of SS symbol. Well, because of the lapse of time between batches of orders, some bindings were done reversing the design. My bad but they were still sent to customers I assume.
So, in conclusion, none of the limitations for Ultramarine are true, but they sure are not in excess for the reasons I enunciated earlier. I was not very good at record keeping and not inclined to dig in my old stuff and I’m not sure that whatever I find would be the definitive answer to how many copies were bound for Ultramarine. Incidentally, this publisher was not alone having trouble with limitations. I did several titles for the Limited Editions Club and had the same problems with Sid Shiff who owned the company then.
I hope this clarifies your views on this press.
Thank you for your time.
Denis Gouey
I am the guy you are referring to in this topic, I only joined this group to clarify my relationship with Ultramarine Press, owned by Chris Stephens who owned a shop in Hastings on Hudson NY, called Riverrun Books.
I was the binder for most of Ultramarine books. You are correct, the books are in fact from the first editions of the trade copies, in accord with the publisher. I’m not sure what deal Chris made with the publishers, but I believe the enticement of a nicely bound copy of the author’s book presented to him as a present, at minimal cost to the publisher, was appealing, as well as the luxurious idea of a finely bound limited edition offered to the authors, again at no cost to the publishers. All the authors had to do, is sign stacks of limitations pages stating the limitation, usually ten copies of the full leather and various limitations for the half leather. Anecdotally, Gerald Ford asked to be paid for signing, the parties settled on $1 per autograph.
The signed limitation page was then added to the book block, sometimes with an added illustration for frontispiece, and bound accordingly.
Some of the posts on this thread are mistaken:
“ Denis Gouey inadvertantly bound some extra copies”
That never happened. There were no extra copies for the simple reason that Ultramarine Press was living on a shoestring, with very slow cash flow, having trouble paying bills, specially to the bookbinder. This lead to contracts not been fulfilled and limitations only good on paper. The fact is practically none of the titles I worked on with ultramarine were fulfilled to the stated limitations. For example, and after 30 years it still hurts, the mentioned Women and Men, I made 90 half leather covers. I also made the decorative paste paper for the boards. I doubt if I used a dozen. I’m not sure about the full leather. I’m not sure there are any.
That’s an extreme example of a title that was not completed to the limitations. But it’s not the only one. After the MacElroy fiasco I became smarter and only fashioned covers and complete bindings that Ultramarine could pay for when delivered. So I would get orders like, three Anne Rice full leather and ten 1/2 leather, or 2 full leather Koons and five 1/2 leather. On the Koons, for Lightening, I designed two lightening strikes as forming some sort of SS symbol. Well, because of the lapse of time between batches of orders, some bindings were done reversing the design. My bad but they were still sent to customers I assume.
So, in conclusion, none of the limitations for Ultramarine are true, but they sure are not in excess for the reasons I enunciated earlier. I was not very good at record keeping and not inclined to dig in my old stuff and I’m not sure that whatever I find would be the definitive answer to how many copies were bound for Ultramarine. Incidentally, this publisher was not alone having trouble with limitations. I did several titles for the Limited Editions Club and had the same problems with Sid Shiff who owned the company then.
I hope this clarifies your views on this press.
Thank you for your time.
Denis Gouey
7bibliopegist
Here are some Ultramarine Press
https://www.stephensbookshop.com/searchResults.php?action=browse&category_id...
https://www.stephensbookshop.com/searchResults.php?action=browse&category_id...
8abysswalker
>6 bibliopegist: thanks for clarifying!
9bibliopegist
>8 abysswalker: my pleasure, don’t hesitate to ask if there are questions.
Good luck with your collection
Denis
Good luck with your collection
Denis
