Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities (Quercus Press)

Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities by John M. Carrera, Quercus Press, 2006
Letterpress edition hand-printed by the author, one of only sixteen copies available unbound.

French technique full goatskin binding with laced-in boards. Sewn on flattened cords, false raised bands. Leather hinge, marbelized text paper for endsheets and doublures hand-printed at Quercus Press. Hand sewn, silk headbands; three edges sprinkled with red acrylic ink. Title stamped in black foil. Illustrations scanned from Pictorial Webster’s wall cards laser printed onto goatskin onlays, and outlined with inlaid goatskin lines.

Thirty-three additional illustrations inkjet printed onto Mohawk Superfine text, then hand cut into pop-ups, one sewn inside each of the text block’s signatures. Bound 2011.

6.25 x 5.25 x 2.75”

Design is an abstracted Cambridge panel, color pallet inspired by modern Webster’s dictionaries. Text drawn from the Preface and Introduction describes the original impetus behind the illustrations and the author’s vision for them in this work. Because the dictionary was originally printed to optimize text, not image, Carrera’s work marks the first opportunity for viewers to truly see the illustrations. Pop-ups further bring the illustrations to life.