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by Eric Swanick
Photograpy by Raeff Miles

A beautiful gift to the university
Private presses are often noted for their exquisite workmanship, as well as for the limited editions they produce — all eagerly sought after by collectors. They frequently lead the way in book design and book making. Now special collections at SFU's Bennett Library has added to its holdings with several new collections, gifts of long-time university friend Jim Rainer.

The works include the writing of George Fetherling, limited edition books by printmaker and bookwright Gerard Brender à Brandis, a collection of other finely printed books, and a complete collection of the English private press, the Incline Press.

An original, signed print illustrates An Ode on a Favourite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes, by Thomas Gray.

Rainer began his Incline Press collection when he visited England in the early 1990s. There he met Graham Moss, a high school history teacher with a small business in paper preservation. Rainer was then chair of the Vancouver-based Alcuin Society, a group interested in the book arts. As a friendship developed via an active correspondence, Moss's growing paper preservation and book repair business led to his printing book labels and then to the founding of his own private press, the Incline Press. The name came from the Incline Road in the English town of Oldham where the storage shed containing his press was located.

Incline Press formally began book publishing in 1993 with A Book of Nursery Rhymes illustrated by well-known artist Enid Marx. Rainer purchased this first book and the next publication and the next, soon establishing a standing order so he received all publications issued by Incline Press. The Marx volume was soon followed by a reprint of the 1790 classic, The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith, illustrated by Peter S. Carter. Several shorter classics followed with works by Robert Burns, Matthew Arnold, and George Borrow, along with a variety of publications of increasing complexity and format.

This generous gift required a special book plate. Incline Press designed, printed, and donated one for each volume. Special collections has established a standing order for all future Incline Press publications.

Moss had been joined by former Bryn Mawr manuscript librarian Kathleen Whalen. The duo's enthusiasm for books and all aspects of their making has come to include larger, research-oriented works on books and the history of the book. Theirs is a private press defined by Moss as ".publish[ing] what pleases us, rather than what pays us." To the Moss-Whalen combo each book offers its own challenges in the selection of type design, illustrations, paper, and binding, and cumulatively, these components must work together to reflect the book in its entirety. As Moss wrote, "...we've found that each book reflects its own problems, but that the solution to these problems may often be found within the book itself. The text and images offer their own solutions from the title page design to the page layout."

This is a donation of richness and diversity. Ann Muir's Harvesting Colour: The Year in a Marbler's Workshop (2000) contains 12 marbled paper designs ".drawn from colours, the events, and the physical challenges of each month." Each month's diary begins with a coloured heading, hues changing as the season changes from the cool shades of winter and spring to the warmer tones of summer and autumn. Selecting April as an example, Muir discusses sheep shearing and lamb raising and has produced a beautiful marbled paper she refers to as the "peacock design" - consisting of 10 colours. Each of these 12 beautiful sheets measures 9 x 20 inches, significantly larger than the smaller examples often seen in books.

One hundred and forty copies were printed of Hokusai, a poem written by David Burnett - each with a different cover illustration.

Another important contribution is New Borders: The Working Life of Elizabeth Friedlander by Pauline Pauker. Friedlander fled Nazi Germany in 1936 to make her way to England. During the war years she worked with Ellic Howe for the Black Propaganda Unit, faking German documents. Following the war she resumed her career designing distinctive patterned papers and meticulously crafted borders. Moss writes that the book is actually two publications: the first is the biographical text by Pauker, and the second is a scrapbook drawn from Friedlander's workbooks. The latter includes her calligraphic designs, book cover designs, type ornaments, advertising cards, and much more. The book is printed in the Bembo typeface; at one point Friedlander had designed Bembo swash caps.

Printing broadsheets (single sheets printed on one side) offers the printer many opportunities. Moss acknowledges that "we enjoy the quick gratification which comes from the single page we print, especially broadsheets. There are interesting differences between the requirements of display on the title page of a book and those of a notice that has to catch the eye of a passing reader." Their Forty Sheets to the Wind: A New Portfolio of Old Typefaces is a collection of poetry and prose broadsheets in various sizes with a variety of typefaces and illustrations, each designed to stand alone. A booklet describes each item.

In 1934 the London-based publisher Lovat Dickson issued The Seven Deadly Virtues, with text by Eric Gill. The 200 copies issued were numbered separately - or so they thought. Nearly 20 years later book collector Stanley Scott bought a second copy for his collection; a binding variant was the attraction. This copy was a number 7; coincidentally his other copy was also number 7. The book contains the correspondence concerning this discrepancy along with new illustrations. Incline Press printed 150 copies, all of which are number 7 and bound differently.

The Incline Press Collection significantly adds to our resources for the study and history of the book. This collection joins the library's extensive holdings of British Columbia and other private press material including the recently added Jim Rimmer/Pie Tree Press Collection (see aq April 2005) and holdings of British Columbia publishers' archives, among other related material. An event honouring Jim Rimmer will be held at 7:30 p.m., November 25 at SFU Vancouver (515 West Hastings).

Incline Press printed an illustrated bookplate for this gift that will be inserted with each of the volumes. A selective display of the collection will take place early in the new year in special collections on the seventh floor of the W.A.C. Bennett Library. Details will be announced at <www.lib.sfu.ca/special/> .aq

1. Muir, Ann. Harvesting Colour: The Year in a Marbler’s Workshop. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1999. 96p. There are 12 different marbled papers, one for each month. On display is the “peacock design” for the month of April. 2. Forty Sheets to the Wind: A New Portfolio of Old Typefaces. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1999. 1v. includes 45 broadsides (this is a subscriber edition with an additional five broadsides). 3. Forty Sheets to the Wind… Noted writer and spokesperson for typography Beatrice Warde as drawn by Eric Gill and “verses written to fire engines.” 4. Burns, Robert. The Rose-Bud, the Rose and the Thorn. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1994. iii, 3p. Ann Muir of Harvesting Colour…fame designed and marbled the cover paper – the colours of the budding rose. 5. A Book of Nursery Rhymes… Illustrated with wood engravings by Enid Marx. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1993. viii,33p. The first book of the press; the illustration is for “Polly Put the Kettle On.” 6. Arnold, Matthew. Calais Sands Dover Beach: Two Poems. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1994. 7p. 7. Moss, Graham and Kathy Whalen. At Incline Press: A Brief Illustrated History. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 2000. 12p. No. 23 of 75 copies in a special binding for subscribers; included in the colophon is “this copy has been bound for Jim Rainer.” 8. Pauker, Pauline. New Borders: The Working Life of Elizabeth Friedlander. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1998. 92p. Incline Press publications often contain many tipped-in illustrations. Shown in this example are engravings commissioned by noted typographer John Dreyfus. 9. Goldsmith, Oliver. The Deserted Village. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1993 ix, 22p. This is a reprint of the 1770 classic. The illustration shows the deserted factory. 10. Tegetmieir, Denis and Eric Gill. A Correspondence of 1953 Concerning the Book The Seven Deadly Virtues. Oldham, UK: Incline Press, 1999. 18p.

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