Solmentes Press ~ Iowa
(David Esslemont)

Collaboration with Gaylord Schanilec
Wood Engraving by David Esslemont

My Fellow Citizens
By David Esslemont
Decorah, Iowa: Solmentes Press, 2009.

8.5 x 5.5"; 32 pages. Edition of 100. Fourteen illustrations: a series of pen-drawn compositions or calligrams. Digitally printed with archival pigment inks on 180 gm BFK Rives Velin Cuve. Hand-sewn in Velin Cuve covers.

A calligraphic analysis of President Obama's inaugural address delivered 20 January 2009. With a foreword by Esslemont.

Solmentes Press: "Inspired by the frequency and choice of words in President Obama's eloquent inaugural address, David Esslemont created a series of pen-drawn compositions or calligrams.

"The drawing used for the cover is based on the whole speech, while each illustration is based on the text on the facing page. For example: if we analyze the word frequency of the whole speech ignoring common verbs, pronouns, prepositions and indefinite articles etc, we find the following words occur most often: nation (11), new (11), America (10). These are represented in the calligram by large red words. Words occurring four [to] eight times, e.g. people, spirit, today and God, are drawn in small blue letters, and black ink is used for all 171 words that occurred two or three times, e.g. peace, power, hope and prosperous. Words occurring only once were not used.

"For the illustrations [in the internal pages], all the words used in the text on the facing pages are represented: red is use for frequency ≥ 4, blue for ≥ 2 and black for words appearing once."
$100

To Autumn
By John Keats
Decorah, Iowa: Solmentes Press, 2008. Edition of 40.

17 x 11"; 18 leaves. Printed digitally using Epson Ultrachrome K3 pigment inks. Printed on mouldmade 225 gsm Somerset Enhanced 100% cotton, archival grade paper. Printed on one side of the sheet. Pages joined together with Tyvek and sewn with coloured thread. Binding constructed to allow the book to open and lie flat. Paper-covered boards.

Available in four editions:
Edition A, 5 copies - decorated full-leather binding, with an extra set of the thirty-six prints. Housed in a paper chemise within in a cloth-covered drop-back box.
Edition B, 10 copies - full leather binding in a cloth covered drop back box.
Edition C, 40 copies - paper covered boards
Edition D, 200 copies - paper wraps.

Prospectus: "John Keats, 1795 - 1821, was an English romantic poet. The first line, 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,' is now synonymous with autumn and one of the most quoted lines of verse in the English language. He wrote 'To Autumn' in September 1819 and mentions it in a letter to his friend John Reynolds:

"' ... How beautiful the season is now. How fine the air - a temperate sharpness about it. Really, without joking, chaste weather - dian skies. I never liked stubble-fields so much as now - aye, better than the chilly green of the spring. Somehow, a stubble-field looks warm, in the same way that some pictures look warm. This struck me so much in my Sunday’s walk that I composed upon it ...'

"To Autumn is an artists' book - designed, illustrated, printed, and handbound entirely by Esslemont. Each line of the poem is illustrated with a full-page image that incorporates a lyrical composition of the words in free-flowing, pen-drawn lettering. The illustrations were created in pairs as facing pages and are inspired by the vibrant fall colors of a maple tree in Minneapolis. And there's more: when seen altogether, the images form a stunning montage nine feet high."

Version C: $1,850