Surprises sometimes come in the daily welter of email - although most is unwanted.
Recently an email arrived telling us of the British Book Design and Production Awards 2014 - only a few days left to enter it said. Among the fifteen categories of different aspects of design and production it seemed there is one for Limited Editions and Private Presses.
Why not! We produce books that fulfil all their criteria and so, although we have never been much excited by competitions and the like, we submitted Ralph Kiggell's The Third Thing.
Given the standing of the country's great publishing and printing houses we would be a veritable David among the Goliaths but it is a beautiful book and perhaps there would be appreciative judges who would recognise its worth.
So - we are more than happy so be able to say that it has been shortlisted in the category . . . along with Phaidon, Canongate and Northend (who printed our second Bibliography).
There was a form to fill in listing every possible stage of a book’s production and they needed to know the names of all those by which these were performed. In our case, of course, there were only two names to fill in . . . Nicolas and Ralph Kiggell . . . until it came to binding and then, of course, The Fine Bookbindery was inserted.
November 20th is the day when there is a ‘glittering event for all those involved in the industry, bringing printer, designers and their clients together to celebrate the best of British book design and production work’. More than possibly David will have succumbed beneath the combined weight of so many greats but it is good to know that some significant judges from among the higher reaches of design and book publishing have enjoyed The Old Stile Press’s entry sufficiently to shortlist it.
