Starting next week, all the books that I’ve written that we sell through Lost Art Press will be signed via a letterpress bookplate.
For the last six months, I’ve been signing the books via a simple adhesive label. We wanted something nicer. These bookplates are about five times nicer and 32 times as expensive.
These self-adhesive bookplates measure 2-3/8” x 2-3/4” and were printed at Steam Whistle Letterpress and Design in Cincinnati, Ohio. The bookplates are on acid-free Mohawk stock and were hand-set and printed on vintage equipment restored by Brian Stuparyk at Steam Whistle.
If you need some letterpress work (invitations, business cards, whatever), I highly recommend his shop. Brian has been obsessed with printing since he was a kid and has quite the collection of vintage machines and type.
As a convenience, we are also offering these signed self-adhesive bookplates by themselves for $2 (that price includes shipping). That way you can affix them in a book you have purchased from one of our retailers. Let me repeat that in a different way: All books sold by Lost Art Press that are written by Christopher Schwarz are already signed by him via this bookplate. You don’t need to buy this item if you are buying a book from us. This item is for people who have bought a book from another retailer and want to add his signature to it.
Here’s the link to the item in our store.
Here are some quick answers to questions we’ve received about signed books.
1. Why use a label or bookplate? Why don’t you just sign the book itself?
Our inventory is in Indiana. I am in Kentucky. There simply are not enough hours in the day for me to drive to Indiana and sign all our books. Until the day comes when we can consolidate all our operations in one city, this is the best that we can do.
2. Why don’t you offer these bookplates signed by other authors?
I suspect we will do that in the future. It’s a time-consuming process, and our first goal is to produce books, not get them autographed by the author.
3. Can I get you to sign my book with no bookplate?
Sure, just show up at one of the places I am teaching (my schedule is in the right rail of the blog). I’ll sign your book, your bare chest, whatever.
— Christopher Schwarz
And to think, I was so close to asking you to sign my bare chest at Handworks…
Nice to see a Parker Pen in one shot. I live in the city where the company originated (and thrived) for many decades. It’s almost impossible to find those pens locally since the company left town.
Need to work on that signature there, Dr. Gibberish…something befitting your status as a gentleman of letters.
Haven’t seen a little letterpress like that since my first paper, the weekly Newton Falls Herald. There was a linotype machine too. I can still smell the ink and the molten lead.
Mohawk is an excellent paper. However, pressure-sensitive adhesives are the bane of paper conservation. Even the so-called “archival quality” adhesives will eventually fail, more often than not leaving behind a permanent stain. I offer this observation as someone who has more than thirty years of museum experience in paper conservation.
Who cares about a signed book or bare chest when you can have Chris wipe his backside with a newly purchased Studley tee-shirt? Instant collectors item, and its all mine!
On a more serious note, these bookplates look terrific. Just another great example of how the folks at Lost Art Press consistently seek the best quality products.
Thank y’all for doing what you do, and being who you are. We are all more fortunate as a result, biohazard tee-shirts aside.
bE
is this product no longer available ??
I am not able to locate this, on the LAP website for ordering. The links below indicate the page is not found.
Please advise.
Daniel. dpittsford@gmail.com
On Sun, Jun 9, 2013 at 7:21 AM, Lost Art Press
I’m afraid we have removed the item from the store after being criticized for selling my signature.
Sorry.