Springtide Press ~ Washington
(Jessica Spring)

Horse Power
By Jessica Spring
Tacoma, Washington: Springtide Press, 2009. Edition of 51.

Springtide Press: "Horse Power traces the history of this majestic animal through domestication and popular culture and is letterpress printed with photopolymer plates, vintage horse blocks, and wood type. Words and phrases in the English language are explored as well, revealing their horsey origins."

Jessica Spring: " There is something utterly compelling about a horse, a creature whose history is so intertwined with the human. Our ancestors relied on this beast of burden for transportation, warfare, and sustenance. Sacrificed in the Rig Veda, glorified in the Koran, and captured in cave paintings, horses have left an indelible hoof print on our collective consciousness.

"Despite our rich history together, horses have become primarily a source of entertainment. Molded in plastic to collect, bred and raised for racing careers, or relegated to pulling carriages in the midst of city traffic, their power was supplanted by that of the engine.

"Look back on our struggle for freedom, trace our present day strength to its source, and you'll find that man's pathway to glory is strewn with the bones of a horse. -Author unknown"

Horse Power was available in three versions:

Thoroughbred Edition: (Sold)
One-of-a-Kind. 20-inch Model Horse split in two, which acted as a binding to an accordion book printed on handmade horsehair paper. This one-of-a-kind has been sold.

Draft Edition:
Edition of 15. 5.5 x 6.125 x 1.25"; 11 unnumbered pages. Accordion. Letterpress printed on handmade horsehair paper using photopolymer plates, vintage horse blocks, and wood type. Enclosed in clamshell box with a horseshoe attached to lid. One-of-a-kind vintage photograph tip-in on interior lid.
$425

Pony Edition:
Edition of 35. 5.5 x 6.125 x 1.25"; 11 unnumbered pages. Accordion. Letterpress printed on Stonehenge using photopolymer plates, vintage horse blocks, and wood type. Slipped into a Fabriano Roma brown wrapper with leather tie.
$90

Four Elements
By Jessica Spring
Tacoma, Washington: Springtide Press, 2005. Edition of 100.

Pinwheel kit: 8.5 x 8.5" instruction sheet; 7.6 x 7.6" pinwheel sheet; assembling kit including display stand. Letterpress printed with handset type in six colors.

Jessica Spring: "A pinwheel spins text that explores the four elements and the ongoing battle between love and strife. The front features a quote from Greek philosopher Empedocles: Now hear the fourfold roots of everything: Enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus and Nestis, moistening mortal springs… with tears."

"Pinned to a pencil stamped Be in readiness for favorable winds, Four Elements is ... in six colors. Packaged as a step-by-step kit, the pinwheel travels safely and inspires great pinwheel-making memories during assembly."
$40

Lewises & Clarks
By Jessica Spring
2004. Edition of 40.

13.75 x 4.75" gatefold construction with 16 pages each side. The covers are bound in cutch-dyed chamois, and the text is letterpress printed with photopolymer plates on coffee-dyed Fabriano Mediovalis.

Jessica Spring, a new arrival in the Northwest during the bicentennial celebration of Lewis and Clark's exploration, offered this gathering of Lewises & Clarks as a (perhaps) tongue-in-cheek counter-punch to the onslaught of Lewis & Clark material that was appearing.

Spring: "Lewises and Clarks profiles extraordinary pioneers that also deserve recognition in the midst of the anniversary year of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Many of those featured are women and African Americans."
$300

A Proverbial Book
By Jessica Spring
2002. Edition of 40.

The text is letterpress printed with photopolymer plates on Fabriano Mediovalis. Based on a medieval structure, the book is sewn on cords and covered in Brazil wood-dyed chamois. Each cover features a vintage cigarette card from a series of proverbs.

A selection of proverbs are amusingly paired with hand-colored illustrations from a 1930s vocabulary primer.
$150

Click image to enlarge

Collectors' Tales
Curator and Chief Collector - Jessica Spring
Art historian - Annie Morse
Illustrator - Susan Estelle Kwas
2001. Edition of 15.

Cards are handmade, duplexed sheets of cotton and abaca. Printed letterpress on a Vandercook #4, using photopolymer plates and the photographs printed as duotones. Includes an essay written by Annie Morse on the nature of collecting. Illustrations by Susan Estelle Kwas.

"Collectors' Tales" examines the obsession to collect, identify, and display objects of desire. Each box of the edition is handmade and features a deck of cards profiling the collectors. The box contains an object provided by one of the fifteen collectors. Each box thus becomes unique since each one focuses on a different collector and collection.
•Elvis Collector Tale available. $500