“Overnight on Abiding-Integrity River” ~ an unfolding poem

• Miniature book, handmade by Emily Hancock
• 2-inches square, by a half-inch thick
• Text hand-set & letterpress printed
• Book assembled from beautiful papers, including Nepalese Lokta, Thai Unryu, and Magnani Pescia
• Edition of 21 books

Ancient Chinese poetry has long been an enjoyment of mine, particularly poems translated by David Hinton. And a favorite author that Hinton translates beautifully is the early T’ang Dynasty poet Meng Hao-jan (689-740 C.E.)

One of Meng’s crystalline four-line poems struck me as a lovely candidate for a miniature book. At 2-inches square and a half-inch thick, this unfolding journey is small in size but large in scope. Meng’s linked, sensory lines seemed to naturally suit themselves to a linked, tactile format.

I set the poem in metal type, printed it on my trusted foot-treadled Golding press, and cut-and-assembled the paper pieces by hand to form the book. It’s a very limited edition — just 21 books.