I am currently preparing an accompanying publication that will present the project at large. The making of, the books, and the bindings.
Text and images will dovetail in a unique structure to present this grand project. It will be limited signed edition of 200 copies, with two original paper samples
of the project.
The publication will be available by end of January and is 75€ plus shipping. Reserve your copy now
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
by
Laurence Sterne
photos by Shannon Tofts
London, 1760-69
in 9 Vols. / mixed first edition
Volumes VII, VIII and IX being first edition,
Volumes III, IV, V, and VI being second edition
and Volume I and II being sixth editions.
160 x 100 x 20 mm (books)
now to be found in the collection:
(available)
The binding:
Nine full leather bindings in shades of red, green, beige, and yellow goatskin, with matching leather joints and sewn headbands in blue silk. The sections have been re-sewn but not trimmed, and the edges are decorated with a mottled pattern — dark plum at the head and a lighter, bi-coloured purple at the fore and tail edges. The paper bord-à-bord doublures are light blue and contrast with the lively patterns of the decorated endpaper sections, each following a different colour scheme for every book.
The books are housed in a unique enclosure that was specifically developed for this project. Each of the nine slipcases opens at the head and provides access to an inner box containing a book
within. The slipcases are mounted on ball bearings and linked horizontally with alternating Tyvek straps, allowing them to shift position. This nonconformist structure invites playful
rearrangement and creates an ever-changing array of constellations. The first slipcase presents the title in metallic lemon along the head, tail, and inner margin of the spine. Both the outer
slipcases and the inner boxes are covered in blue Tyvek and lined with soft blue fabric. All papers and Tyvek have been hand-decorated and dyed.
The design of the bindings features a free interplay of curves and fine lines tooled in matt silver and metallic foils — the latter matching the respective colour scheme of each book’s decorated
endpapers. When placed next to each other, the text on the spines forms a continuous monologue, as the hand-lettered sentences chirp out a phrase from within, in which the narrator addresses the
reader directly… “Shall I go on?”
The group is embraced by a supporting wrapper and rests in a drop-back box that doubles as the project’s trousseau. The trousseau is covered with cloth that has been hand dyed and decorated
with a dark aubergine pattern and lined with soft fabric panels.
The novel:
Conceived in the first volume and born in the third, progress is slow in this life of Tristram Shandy. It’s a riot, though — full of digressions, double entendres, and playful chit-chat with the reader. Today it is regarded as a cornerstone of modern literature, for Sterne had emptied out the writer’s toolbox and assembled a new set of devices never before used in storytelling. Typography, imagery, the very structure of the book — all had their say.
Nothing captures the author’s intent better than his promise (or threat?) to the reader at the end of volume one:
“...if I thought you were able to form the least judgment …/ of what was to come in the next page — I would tear it out of my book.”
bound 2024/25
Annette Friedrich