This week we bring you Tickletoes, a collection of poems for children by John Wills. The book was letterpress printed in an edition of 40 by Robert Johnson in 1993 at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) in Minneapolis for his Melia Press.
Johnson has had a series of professions. Trained as a painter, he has been an art professor, a sled-dog racer, a shop supervisor at MCBA, and a letterpress printer. Today he is retired, and is a certified reflexologist. Johnson learned to print and make books from Wisconsin artist Gaylord Schanilec when they were both at MCBA. As Johnson puts it, he prefers to publish the works of poets "born before TV." Johnson's images and design for Tickletoes reflects the playful, colorful tone of Wills's poems.
Tickletoes was printed from hand-set Clarendon, Bembo, and Huxley Vertical types on Rives BFK paper. The images were printed as letterpress relief collagraphs. Each page was run through the press as many as 15 times. Jill Jevne bound the edition and created the box. Our copy is signed by everyone mentioned in the colophon.
