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

Wings
(quotation from Robinson Jeffers)
2004. One-of-a-Kind.

2.25 x 3"; 16 pages. In non-adhesive binding structure. Postal stamps glued to the pages and slipped in the pockets of the end pages.

Peter Thomas' stamp collection is used to illustrate a quote by Robinson Jeffers, poet of the California coast:

"Lend me the stone strength of the past and I will lend you the wings of the future, for I have them."

Accordingly, on every stamp are wings.
$185

Ab ovo: From the Egg
By Donna Thomas
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...."
$275

My Dad's Desk
By Peter and Donna Thomas
2003. One-of-a-Kind.

2.7 x 2.2"; 7 pages. Miniature accordion fold with leather inlaid boards. Each page has a pocket with a found object.

Peter Thomas: "A few old pencils from Donna's dad's desk inspired the creation of this book. There is no written text; watercolor illustrations, painted on yellow handmade paper, and the small objects in the pockets tell the story."
$250

Miniature Leaf Books
By Peter and Donna Thomas
2005. Edition of 126.

2.975 x 2.25" with 30 pages. In an edition of 120 regular copies, six special copies, one vellum copy.

According to this text, there are at present four known miniature leaf books – this volume being one of the four.

Includes a definition and history of leaf books. Tipped in are leaves from three miniature books: an American “thumb” Bible published in 1831; a Bryce "Ellen Terry" book, The Shakespeares [sic] Glossary (Glasgow, 1904), and the American Tract Society's Dew Drops, circa 1847). Descriptions of each leaf sample and the book it came from.

Letterpress printed on (according to the printer) a cranky old Pearl treadle press using Joe Halton's linotype for the text and handset Neuland for the titles. Text paper by Peter Thomas from bleached denim rag; the endpages have flecks of paper from Keble's Reports (1686). Case-bound using Peter Thomas’s handmade paper toned brown with a wash of raw umber. The title on the cover, the paper the title is mounted on, and the sample on the title page are all from "Keble's Reports." Text written in 1997, set in type in 1998, but not printed until 2005. Although Peter Thomas wrote the text, the research is based largely on information provided by John Class.
$75

Eighth Grade
By Suzanne Thomas
1998. Edition of 75.

1.625 x 2.375". Letterpress printed. Handmade paper by Peter Thomas. Illustrated with eight pencil drawings by Suzanne Thomas.

Suzanne (yes, the daughter) wrote, illustrated, letterpress printed (with handset type), and bound (like a school composition book) this short essay on school and homework.
$55

Spring Wildflowers ABC
By Peter and Donna Thomas
2006. Edition of 150.

2.875 x 2.1875". Images color printed on accordion-folded handmade paper. The book is case bound in a full paper binding painted and decorated with stenciled images of plants. Paper all handmade by Peter.

Twenty-six watercolors of wildflowers native to the California coast range painted on site by Donna Thomas.
$75

Half Dome:
A Climbing History
By Donna Thomas
2000. Edition of 130.

3 x 2.25", 32 pages. Two black and five 3 color block print illustrations by Donna. Hand set, letterpress printed on paper handmade by Peter Thomas. Coptic bound with redwood boards.

A story about Yosemite’s Half Dome, its discovery and first ascents, is told in a footnoted text.
$100

Song of Creation
By John Muir
Illustrated by Donna Thomas.
Handmade papers by Peter Thomas.
1999. Edition of 500.

2.75 x 2.125”; 10 pages. Color-copied illustration. Ten-page double pop-up accordion structure bound in covered boards.

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.
$75

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

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

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

Love is Everlasting:
Traditional Hawaiian Proverb
By Peter and Donna Thomas
2003. Edition of 100.

1.25 x 1.3", 10 accordion pages. Color copied onto paper handmade by Peter Thomas. Accordion bound between covers wrapped with Hawaiian tapa cloth (a traditional cloth-like material made by pounding the inner bark of the
mulberry tree). Paper band with title slips over book.

Originally a one-of-a-kind book that Donna Thomas had hand painted and hand lettered. The proverb is in Hawaiian and English: "Love is worn like a wreath through the summers and the winters, love is everlasting."
$50

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.

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

Click image to enlarge

Peter and Donna Thomas Miniature Books Out of Print Titles:
• A Brief History of the Ukulele
• Alphabet People
• Cannery Row
• Four Views of Kealakekua Bay
• The Papermaking Rhyme
• Paradise
• Pencil