CAN YOU BELIEVE TWO YEARS have almost passed since the first CODEX book fair in 2007 gathered together an impressive congress of the world’s finest private presses, book artists, artisans, curators, collectors, and scholars?

With such an impressive beginning, we wouldn’t dare miss the 2009 biennial CODEX International Book Fair and Symposium, scheduled from February 9 through 11, 2009 on the campus of The University of California Berkeley. We have reserved our place among the 120 booths for printers and international publishers and we hope to see you there.

The inaugural fair in 2007 provided an opportunity to see and be seen in a relaxed setting; a chance for all to admire the current work of a truly international group of book artists and artisans. The fair itself featured hand-press printers and fine art presses and included booksellers, bookbinders, papermakers, bibliophile organizations, and educational programs in the book arts.

This year, we will be exhibiting our newest publication, Canticle of the Creatures by Francis of Assisi, in original Umbrian text with English translation by John Venerella. We will also have copies on display of our earlier Gospel According to Philip and Thoughts from the Letters of Petrarch. To purchase one of these beautiful books now, contact us by clicking here.

The second biennial CODEX International Book Fair will be taking place in the ASUC Pauley Ballroom on the campus of the University of California Berkeley. The ballroom is near the intersection of Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft way. The fair is rapidly becoming the “world’s fair” of the book as art and artifact. Over 120 artists from around the globe will be exhibiting what amounts to “a staggering panopoly of riches.” For the latest information on the bookfair, visit the CODEX Foundation website.

The CODEX Foundation has a worthy aim to preserve and promote the art and craft of the book. We share that aim and hope to see you there.

Wonderful stories were told by Henry Morris about his Bird & Bull Press, whose first booklet he sold for $3 and was happy to find selling in 1980 for $900. We appreciated his tip about using the magic flat rate postal service boxes which, much to the dismay of his postman, came from all parts of the U.S. stuffed full of lead type for his newest book The Private Type Casters, but most importantly Henry Morris reminded us all about how fun this work really is.

Meanwhile, Graham Moss (Incline Press in the UK) had written some new lyrics to an old popular melody (“A-nutting we will go”) and printed them beautifully as a keepsake for this memorable weekend. Gathering in Bob Fleck’s garden on Saturday evening, Graham passed out copies of his keepsake to the entire crowd and led us all in rousing rendition of the song when Henry emerged from the house.

We were pleased with the caliber of guests drawn to this years event and appreciated being a select part of the panel discussion with other printers and librarians. A memorable slice of pre-meeting communication included the musings of one pressman on the state of the fine press world today:

While most of us shared his views, we still seemed to flourish this year as the committed following of fine press lovers continued to find their way to our table.

At Oak Knoll 2008 we previewed our newest publication, Canticle of the Creatures by Francis of Assisi, in original Umbrian text with English translation by John Venerella. Though we will have many handmade paper copies available, by the end of Oak Knoll Fest, the parchment copies were already sold out! If you want more information on this publication please see our announcement here and to purchase this beautiful book contact us by clicking here.

Two collectible limited editions of the Canticle are being issued: 6 copies printed on sheepskin parchment, and 60 copies printed on cream-colored handmade paper, produced especially for the Press by Ruscombe Mills in France. The text has been set in beautiful Poliphilus type, with large initial letters in red, designed at the Press in the style of the original manuscript initial. (See the original here.) Our eight-page edition of the Canticle is printed in Large Quarto format – 10 x 13-1/2 inches. Both the paper and the parchment editions are bound in half Japanese linen with the boards covered in handmade Nepalese Lokta paper printed with our own Canticle pattern. Parchment copies are protected by a slipcase.

We expect to deliver finished books to their owners in December 2008.

For details about the 15th annual Oak Knoll Fest visit visit their website.
We hope to see you there!

This year we will enter our second book, The Gospel According to Philip, also with a parchment edition, into the Gregynog Letterpress competition for the finest book printed using traditional letterpress. We will also enter the Judges’ Choice Awards where three collectors and dealers chose their favorites of the books published since the previous fair. Wish us luck!

Although some official recognition would be nice, what we really love is meeting old and new friends and enjoying Oxford.

For more information about the Oak Knoll Book Festival, visit their website. We look forward to seeing the early fall colors, joining our old friends and meeting new faces. And we are always inspired by wonderful work of our peers.

The theme for the symposium – “The Fate of the Art, The Hand Printed Book in the 21st Century” – elicited lively, thought-provoking presentations from the international panel of speakers. We particularly enjoyed Robert Bringhurst’s lecture on spiritual geometry, which made such unexpected and delightful connections. We can’t see a snail now without thinking of the Greek key design! The exhibiting presses and vendors, representing nearly a dozen countries, displayed a mouthwatering array of papers and skins, calligraphy and bindings, handpress books and prints. We spent time with old friends and new while enjoying the generous receptions and dinners (as well as the wine bar!). We won’t miss the next one – slated for 2009.

Written in Coptic, and dating from the first half of the fourth century, The Gospel According to Philip appears to follow the tradition of the Christian Gnostic teaching promulgated by Valentinus in the second century. While we have both original Greek fragments and a nearly complete Coptic translation of the Thomas gospel, the only known instance of The Gospel According to Philip is contained within the Nag Hammadi codex. The text, translated into English by Wesley W. Isenberg, preserves seventeen sayings of Jesus, nine of which are also found in the canonical gospels; the others are unique to this work.

To place your order, call us at 530-692-9531 or email us. For more details, see The Gospel According to Philip.

Thanks to Oak Knoll Books for hosting once again this important contribution to the fine-press community. And thanks to so many of you for stopping by our booth. It was nice to recognize some faces from last year and also meet many new book lovers. Your encouraging comments and feedback are why we attend. If you did not sign up on our mailing list at the fair, you can do so now on the Contact Us page. Then we can keep you up to date with our new publications and let you know what book fairs we will be attending next.