Sights from a Steeple by Red Angel Press. Hawthorne, Nathaniel - 1988

Bremen, Maine and New York: Red Angel Press, 1988. Signed, Limited Edition, one of 100 copies, all on Frankfurt White and Sekishu paper. Page size: 8-3/4 x 7-1/2 inches. 22pp; plus woodengraving which folds out to 38 x 18 inches and surrounds the text when opened. Bound: dark green buckram blind-stamped with abstract image of steeple, title stamped in dark gray on spine, fine. Hawthorne's sketch from his lofty perch (the steeple) of a New England seaport, the surrounding countryside, distant sea, gathering storm clouds, portray the author as observer -- a role Hawthorne embodied. Keller has set the text in Plantin type; the woodcut is printed in three colors: green, blue, and black. The unfolded woodcut which surrounds the text is reminiscent of Salem (presumably Hawthorne's seaport in the text), but, the artist, tells us was inspired by Camden and Wiscasset, Maine and the villages of Cape Ann, MA. A unique presentation -- as with all the books of the Red Angel Press -- evocative of the text, paying hommage to it while expanding our understanding.