THOMAS, Peter and Donna. ~ A Collection of Paper Samples from Hand Papermills in the United States of America.
No. 157 of 195 copies. Designed and letterpress printed by Peter and Donna Thomas. Linocut by Donna Thomas. 28 samples of handmade paper all folio size and folded with the paper name and each with a statement by the papermaker printed onto it. Title page with linocut by Donna Thomas, one page foreward and list of contents plus colophon. 4to., in a special design binding by Laura Wait of full handmade paste paper covered boards by the binder stamped in gilt, sewn onto exterior white pigskin thongs, spine stained pink, endpapers made by Ray Tomasso. Housed in the original black cloth clamshell box with printed paper label.
27 papermakers are represented with samples each of which has a statement of their process and/or philosophy printed on a specific sample of their paper and some other samples bound in after the statement. These include Madeleine Pestiaux from Los Angeles, Amanda Degener from Minneapolis, Robbin Ami Silverberg from Brooklyn, John Stahl from California, Exeter Press and Paper in New York, Claire Lissance in Cambridge Mass, Langdell Paperworks in Vermont, Macgregor & Vinzani in Maine, Magnolia Editions in Oakland and the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendal.
Peter Thomas writes that the vast majority of America’s premier papermakers have provided examples of their work and that the first requirement for inclusion was a demonstrated history of excellence. He adds that this “collection of papers represents the current state-of-the-art in this vital and exciting medium. It will serve as a valuable resource for future paper historians, and is offered as an inspiration to the modern printmaker”.
A Collection of Paper Samples Handmade in the USA was featured by the Guild of Bookworkers as the set book for a national traveling show titled Paper Bound during 1997-98, which is why Laura Wait made this binding.