Peter and Donna Thomas ~ California (formerly Good Book Press)

Everything That Was Static
by Amadeo Souza Cardoso
2001. One-of-a-Kind.
2.1 x 2.8" eight page paper bound booklet in leather book box. Full leather bound portfolio box with gold title and ribbon straps.

Cardoso was a Portuguese artist in the early 20th century whose work Donna Thomas saw at a show in the Corcoran Gallery. The booklet contains quote by Cardoso. The portfolio has four paintings on thick paper boards which copy in miniature Cardoso's work.
$395

Impressionism: Eight Paintings and Twenty-six Words
by Donna Thomas
2002. One-of-a-kind.
1.3 x 2.25" double fold accordion in clamshell box. Leather onlay flower on front cover.

This book features miniature copies of well known paintings by eight different painters. The quote is by Andre Petate, a Paris journalist of the time.
$395

Accordion to Zither: A Musical ABC
by Donna Thomas
2002. Edition of 100.
1.8 x2.7", 26 page accordion structure. Illustrations by Donna Thomas.

A lovely colorful musical instrumental journey.
$75

Keep Unmarred that Majesty
by Theodore Roosevelt
2003. One-of-a-Kind
2.88 x 2" with 10 pages. Full green leather binding with onlay of flower in four colors of leather. Clamshell box. Handmade paper by Peter Thomas.

An accordion book with 10 pages of wildflowers painted on site by Donna Thomas at Henry Coe Park.
$385

Ab ovo: From the Egg
2003. One-of-a-Kind
2.25 x 1.75". Shaped in an oval like an egg with egg shaped accordion pages. Bound in full leather with leather onlay cover decorations. Slipcase made with a clear mylar front (for viewing book/egg) and paste papers.

An Easter-egg book with nine quotes about the egg. "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg...."
$350

A Signal Flag Alphabet with Kipling Quote
2003. One-of-a-Kind
2.88 x 1.63". Accordion miniature bound in full red leather. Leather onlays of flags on the front and back. With paper-covered slipcase. Title label on side.

Accordion fold book with twenty six marine signal flags. Begins with Kipling quote "There be triple ways to take, of the eagle or the snake, or the way of a man with a maid; but the sweetest way to me is a ship's upon
the sea on the heel of the Northeast Trade."
$475

The Papermaking Rhyme
by Peter Thomas
1988. Edition of 150
2.94 x 1.88", 36 pages

This book changes the Peter Piper rhyme to "Peter Papermaker (who) made a piece of purple paper..." Includes five paper samples. $80

Landscape of the John Muir Trail
by Donna Thomas
2002. Edition of 150
24 accordion pages, 2.63 x 2.13". Bound in painted handmade paper with a paper slipcase.

In 2002 Donna once again hiked the 218 mile John Muir Trail. She hiked 29 days and painted a landscape picture a day. Her paintings have been reproduced as beautiful color copies on Peter’s handmade paper (made from cotton rag and the shirt Donna wore on the trail).
$75

Wildflowers of the John Muir Trail
by Donna Thomas
2002. Edition of 150
2.63 x 2.13" with 24 accordion pages. Bound in painted handmade paper with a paper slipcase. These illustrations have been color copied on Peter’s handmade paper (made from cotton rag and the shirt Donna wore on the trail).

As well as landscapes, Donna painted the flowers she found along the trail. Each realistic rendition is accompanied by common and scientific names, and the location where it was painted.
$75

TIME I$
by Ben Franklin, Mark Twain and Peter Thomas
2003. Edition of 100
2.5 x 2", 5 pages. Letterpress printed, on Peter's handmade paper, using old wood and metal types and images of clocks which Donna carved out of linoleum. The cover and end pages both required at least ten press runs to print all the different clocks and the various settings of "time is time." The binding, made with wood and Peter's handmade paper, is another variation in their series of "Stick Structure" books. The printed pages are folded and glued over wooden dowels which have been painted gold. These "pages" can turn: they are set in holes drilled into a wooden framework which has also been painted gold. This differs from previous "flap books" as it has the text mounted inside the back cover. A space has been created behind the text to hold a one dollar bill, which can be removed. The one dollar bills were ordered direct from the US Treasury and are sequentially numbered, thus the number on the bill matches the book's edition number. There are two special copies each with a one hundred dollar bill inside (which picture Ben
Franklin) and a unique leather binding by Donna Thomas: $475

This book is about time and money. On one side of the page is what Ben Franklin has to say, what Mark Twain has to say is on the other side. Peter's text is on the cover, end pages and the one dollar bill.
$100

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No Form of Love: A quote by Eleanor Roosevelt
2004. Edition of 47
2.13 x 1.63" with 21 inch scrolling page. Letterpress printed on Peter's handmade paper, using old wood and various metal typefaces, with a rainbow roll of ink that goes from red to purple. No two copies are exactly the same. The back of the scroll was printed with hearts that were carved in a linoleum block by Donna for Peter on Valentine's Day. The scroll is wrapped around a capped brass shaft. This scroll unit is slipped inside a hole that was drilled into a small paduk wood block. This block was in turn glued as a textblock into the covers of the book. The outside cover is made from Peter's handmade paper. It has a title label glued on the front cover. This label which depicts violets and the script initials "E.R.", as E.R. signed her letters, was printed from a linoleum block carved by Donna: ER states that in her day it was the custom to give violets as a token of affection to ones' lovers.

The book was made as an expression of love: love of material possessions, book structures, words of wisdom, complex ideas and freedom of choice. The text was taken from one of Eleanor Roosevelt's personal notebooks. It was written as a comment on a book she was reading at the time, as a statement that one should be free to choose whom one loves.
$90

Pencil
2002. Edition of 45
2 x 2.75" miniature. The cover is a color photocopy on handmade paper made directly from pencils and pencil shavings. The text is letterpress printed on raised painted panels and a graphite colored wooden structure holding a used elementary school pencil is placed along the spine.
$75

A Brief History of the Ukulele
Second edition. By Donna & Peter Thomas. A quirky and colorful book. The text, rewritten for this edition, chronicles the history of this unique Hawaiian instrument from 1879 when its predecessor, the braguinha, first arrived through the 1990s and the current revival. Handwritten and accompanied by paintings of twenty-four ukuleles presented in chronological order all by Donna Thomas. Reproduced from the original watercolor book on a four-color web press. Accordion printed on two sides. The back is a scene of ukulele players and hula dancers. Covers made of koa and mahogany leftover from ukuleles made by Santa Cruz craftsman Tony Graziano. Koa covered books are a bit more expensive. (Koa grows only on the island of Hawaii, and these pieces all have brilliant flaming grain patterns.) Housed in black leatherette paper slipcase to recall traditional chipboard uke cases. Edition of 300. (1.5 x 3 opens to 38 inches.) $35
Koa Covers $45


Four Views of Kealakekua Bay
By Donna and Peter Thomas. An innovative scroll book which presents four views of the spot where Captain James Cook and his crew first discovered the charms of Hawaii. Writings from Cook, Mark Twain, and a song by Jonny Noble. Donna cut the illustrations into linoleum while visiting Kealakekua Bay. The twenty-inch scrolling page was printed on Peter's handmade paper. Illustrations printed in a rainbow of colors. The scroll is mounted on a dowel through blocks of Koa wood, a tree native to that part of Hawaii. Bound in handmade paper. A small linoleum cut of a palm tree is on the front cover. Edition of 75. (Approximately 2.75 x 1.75 inches.)
$75

Song of Creation
By John Muir. Illustrated by Donna Thomas. Handmade papers by Peter Thomas. Love of nature is reflected in every facet of the book, from Donna's panoramic watercolor view of Yosemite Valley—by her reckoning the most majestic bit of nature on earth—to the plant fibers in the green, handmade cover paper and, of course, Muir's timeless text. Color-copied illustration. Ten-page double pop-up accordion structure bound in covered boards. Edition of 500. (2.75 x 2.125 inches; 10 pp.)
$75

Cannery Row. By Peter & Donna Thomas
A true artists book comes in a can where the text is letterpress printed and hand bound and reproduces in full the opening paragraph of Steinbeck's classic Cannery Row. Illustrations with eight watercolor paintings by Donna Thomas. This book, in a tin, must be opened to see. Suggestion: buy two copies! Edition of 100.
$95

Peter and Donna Thomas Miniature Books Out of Print Titles:
• Paradise
• In-Just-Spring
• Wise Orion

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