Photo Review: Nawakum Press's "The Republic of Dreams"

I don't have the quality of camera this book deserves, nor the words to describe it's beauty but I still couldn't help myself from attempting a photo review of the most stunning work in my library, Nawakum's "Republic of Dreams" by Bruno Schulz with etchings by Thomas Wood, with the stunning book design and binding work I've come to expect from Foolscap Press - in fact, probably their finest!

The best way I can describe this book is like viewing art in a fine gallery, but with this truly incredible and well-suited story spread across the plaques. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, though I'll repeat they truly do not do this incredible work justice, but here are the production details for the interested: https://www.nawakumpress.com/book-collection/the-republic-of-dreams

The outer box: https://imgur.com/h0W3ksg

The absolutely massive opened assembly: https://imgur.com/Io1wAcw

The book inside the case: https://imgur.com/ZNCXr4x

Really interesting cover material, though my only real question about this volume is why the book uses three totally different materials for the front cover, back cover and spine

Detail on the spine of the box; three layers of material, with foil-stamped label and felt-like backing on an indented portion of the cloth box : https://imgur.com/RvcQY78

The title page with the first etching serving as a frontispiece on a different type and size of paper: . https://imgur.com/2alyDb5

Photos really don't do the depth and color of the artwork justice!

A typical page layout with the two colors / languages and multiple octavo sizes: https://imgur.com/UmcUyJd

The largest and most fascinating etching in the book, which also serves as a header for the first 2/3rds of teh books as it's visible over the smaller octavos: https://imgur.com/7JRt3fv

And last for now, unless anyone has specific requests, a comparison with Foolscaps oversized edition of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville to show off how truly massive this whole work is!
https://imgur.com/suysIMa

EDIT: Images are not loading on my side, so added the imgur links as well

Stunning, and thanks for sharing!

>1 NathanOv: I don't see any of the images appear :(

>3 astropi: yes - not sure what’s going on but I added direct links!

>1 NathanOv: “ Each piece of artwork has a loose protective sheet over it”

My copy of this book shipped with a note from the publisher stating that the interleaves covering the etchings are for shipping purposes only and should be removed and discarded after opening. I didn’t inquire why but I would guess that they aren’t acid-free and so should not be left in the book.

>5 ChampagneSVP: well that’s good to know! I’m afraid mine have likely been there since publication, though I bought it secondary so I’ll remove those immediately.

Have you had the pleasure of collecting any other Nawakum titles?

I’m a big fan of this press and have collected quite a few of their titles (refer my LT Library listing) but would like to pick up the ones I’m missing. Problem is,it’s almost impossible to find them!

>7 gmurphy: indeed! I’m an avid Foolscap collector, so was delighted to find a copy of “Republic of Dreams” available, but fear it will take me many years to find their other collaboration, “Book of Sand.”

That said, I’d be happy to find any of their back catalogue - I’ve thrown my name in the hat for the last copy of Loom when it goes on sale, and am saving for their massive Barry Moser book.

I’m hoping I’ll get lucky and find an early secondary copy of Cascadia, though.

>4 NathanOv: the problem is you are including the page url rather than the image file url in your img tag.

You should reference something like this:

https://i.imgur.com/h0W3ksg_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=med...

Rather than this:

https://imgur.com/h0W3ksg

You can get the first form by going to the image page, right clicking the image, and selecting "open image in new tab" (exact menu item may be called something different depending on what browser you use). Then the url of that tab will be the the address of the image file directly.

Let me know if you need more help or if that is enough to figure it out.

>9 abysswalker: good to know! I’ll update later - I’d just used the “share image” like Imgur gave me.

>6 NathanOv: Yes, but only Cascadia. It’s magnificent. I would love Undersea and The Book of Sand and others too but chances are slim that I’ll find them anytime soon. Do you have others?

>11 ChampagneSVP: I was so disappointed to have barely missed Cascadia!

It is my only Nawakum, though I’m the process of buying another and I have most of the Foolscap library

My only Nawakum Press book is Cascadia, are their others as nice?

I have The Chola Widow and Undersea. Both are amazing. You can check out my reviews on The Whole Book Experience if you are interested:

http://www.thewholebookexperience.com/2013/07/14/norfolk-isle-published-by-nawak...

http://www.thewholebookexperience.com/2013/12/01/undersea-by-rachel-l-carson-pub...

Thanks for fixing the links, this looks sublime! I'm disappointed I don't have one... but, alas, there are so many books I wish I had... I do appreciate the lovely pics :)

>14 jveezer: I will forever be jealous of your book collection! WBE actually introduced me to Foolscap, which indirectly led me to Nawakum too. Your reviews are making me want those two even more, though!

>15 astropi: It was quite the pricy publication, but I think it's okay to share that David @ Nawakum mentioned he's yet to bind the handful of copies that were made available in sheets for other publishers, and that at least one of those will go on public sale. I highly recommend going for it if you have the chance!