Superior Letterpress ~ Wisconsin
(Mike Coughlin)

SMike Coughlin: "Some warned me my technology was out of date. I was told I needed to modernize my printing plant and get with it, after all this was the 21st Century. I decided quality will never go out of style and that people are always going to want beautiful things made by craftsmen and women who take pride in what they make. So, I said, I'll keep my old presses and typesetting equipment and papermaking machines and concentrate on making beautiful things with paper and ink. So I did. "

A Snow Storm
By John Burroughs
Cornucopia, Wisconsin: Mike Coughlin, 2007.

5.75 x 9"; 16 pages. Set in 14 point Granjon on a Model 31 Linotype. Letterpress printed. Casebound in cloth boards with stamped illustration on front board.

Mike Coughlin: "This essay by John Burroughs first appeared in 1875 in a book titled A Year In the Fields. It is such a delightfully told story of a massive snow storm that virtually brought Burroughs' world to a stand still. The visual images he creates, the feeling he gives of the magnitude of this storm, the delight he takes in the mystery and wonder that accompanied the wintry blast are chocolate for the soul. For years I planned to turn this essay into a small book and in December, 2007 this became reality."
$25

Living Up Here
By Mike Coughlin
Cornucopia, Wisconsin: Mike Coughlin, 2003.

4.25 x 7.25"; 44 pages. Typeset on a Model 31 Linotype in 8 and 12 point Garamond. Title hand set in 24 point Rondo Bold. Case bound with marbled paper boards.

ASelected entries from Coughlin's journal from late 2001 through 2003.

Mike Coughlin, introduction: "I began these ramblings in the spring of 2001. Later that year, planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a farm field in Pennsylvania, and life in the United States changed. Things became more complicated. I determined to stay focused life around here, looking for some continuity and some sanity in this world. Initially, these scribblings were meant for my own eyes, but then in a moment of egomania, I decided to put them into type and print them into a small book.

"We must remain focused on the people dear to our lives and take pleasure in the gifts we all have. Life is far too short and our desires can consume us, if we let them. We're blessed with living by the big lake where the forests filter our air, where cars are few and the night sky brilliant."

"November, 2001: Winter descended upon us last Monday. The long Thanksgiving holiday had hardly come to a close and the balmy weather we had been lulled into complacency with all through November ended abruptly.

"The skies opened and heavy, wet snow stilled the land. ... some 40-50 mile-per-hour winds out of the northeast accompanied this storm and reports from someone at Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore put waves upwards of 18 feet at that location. ... It was a fearsome evening Monday. The snows kept coming and piling on top of the stuff below. The roads clogged up and plows were called back to their garages to resume their labors on the morrow."
$19.95

Tom
A gentle teacher and friend & A fairy tale
By Mike Coughlin
Cornucopia, Wisconsin: Mike Coughlin, 2003. Edition of 80.

6.25 x 9.5"; 24 pages. Typeset on a model 31 Linotype in 14 point Granjon. Page headings set in 24 point Coronet on a Ludlow. Printed from photopolymer plates on a platen press using Biblio paper. Casebound in red bookcloth. Paper title on front board.

Mike Coughlin: "My uncle Tom brought an uncommon presence to those who were fortunate to know him. This tribute to Tom includes a fairy tale I wrote on his advice that fathers should write such stories for their children. Tom was a remarkable man who grew up during the difficult depression years, was drafted into the Army during World War II and slugged his way through Italy in a campaign that eventually saw him trapped at Anzio in a three-month stalemated battle with German forces. Despite these life events, or perhaps because of them, Tom maintained a love for life and a distinct connection with children and underprivileged individuals. The original fairy tale I wrote while working in Lithuania. My memories of Tom inspired the story and serve as the basis for this story."
$50