A Ghost Story of Christmas. A New Edition of A Christmas Carol by Caliban Press. Dickens, Charles - 2017

Jay, NY: Caliban Press, 2017. One of 100 copies, on various handmade and mould-made papers including Zerkal Ingres papers from La Papeterie St. Armand, each copy signed by the printer / designer, Mark McMurray on the colophon. Page size: 10-3/8 x 7-1/4 inches; 107pp. plus half-title and titlepage, table of contents, and colophon. Bound by Anastasia Osolin: red morocco leather spine and black paper over grey paper with title printed on grey, visible through rondel cut out in black paper, title stamped in grey on spine. Set in 12-point Bell cast by Michael and Winifred Bixler, the complete text of the first edition of 1843 also uses 19th century metal and wood types. The images are by Guy Berard, Greg Lago, Melissa Schulenberg and Gregory McMurray and are accomplished in various media, including pochoir, collage, wood engraving and relief blocks. The illustrations are numerous and unusual, collages of disparate materials - always suited to the text and designed to bring life to it, no matter how many times one has read the story. The wood type is used to great effect. as are the varieties of paper and variations in type size, dingbats and shaping of text. In all this is a CHRISTMAS CAROL to reveal to the reader the "dark, sleep-deprived angst of the original complete text" (from the artist's statement). A wonderful book.