EPITHALAMIUM, a wedding poem by Pulitzer Prize winning Paul Muldoon, was designed, printed and bound by Debra Weier of Emanon Press. The book was conceived and produced over four years and seven months and completed in May of 2011. Each of the seven verses claims its own page and is nestled in its own popout, and each popout symbolizes its respective verse through its structure. The penultimate verse reserves a space to inscribe the names of the couple to be wed, thus personalizing the book. Three more popouts grace the title pages and the colophon. In addition there are seven collagraphs, two of which are multiple plate. Two type-high plates begin the book. Bodoni Book 12 point and Bembo Italic 36 point were handset on Arches cover and Canson Mi Tientes and printed on Debra’s Vandercook SP20 letterpress. Suminigashi marbling on Thai Unryu, also by Debra, adorns the endsheets.
The book, with its bright white cover and pale green end sheets, rests in a brilliant blue box by Judi Conant. Embossed with a knot, the cover sets up a recurring theme throughout the book. Knotted string holds three of the popouts in place and gives them their shape. A non-adhesive exposed spine binding is sewn onto nine hand-painted blue tapes, with the sewing weaving in and out of the popouts.
The book measures 10 x 7 x 2 inches. Fifty copies in the edition.