Dry Inc ~New York
(Richard Kegler)

The Aries Press of Eden, New York
By Richard Kegler
Foreword by Anthony Bannon
Rochester, New York: RIT Press, 2022. Edition of 50.

6.25 x 9.25”. Type: Kennerley Pro by Lanston Type Company. Paper: Mohawk Via 700# Laid Natural White. Hardback case binding in Japanese Marine Blue cloth. Tipped-on spine label. Custom marbled endpapers by Stephen Pittelkow. Hand bound by Richard Kegler at Wells College Press. Signed and numbered by Richard Kegler.

Press Statement: “The digital version of Frederic Goudy’s Aries typeface, was released by P22 Type Foundry in 2003—and the result of Richard Kegler’s ongoing research into the history of this type and the Aries Press are collected into this book. Co-published by RIT Press, ‘The Aries Press of Eden New York’ tells the story of a curious chapter in a long history of printing and independent publishing. There are many connections to renowned figures in the art, printing, and typographic worlds of the 1920s. The book is a complete bibliography and brief history of Aries Press.

“Spencer Kellogg Jr., a businessman and book designer, founded the Aries Press in Eden, N.Y., during the 1920s with a vision to produce high-quality book designs. Kellogg hired talented workers with a passion for printing, including a craftsman connected to the nearby Roycroft campus. He also commissioned type designer Frederic Goudy to create a typeface for Aries Press. While the press was only open for four years, it produced many fine standard-setting examples of printing.

“In 1926, the first book printed at the Aries Press, ’The Ghost Ship’, by Richard Middleton, was named one of the 50 best-designed books by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. To uphold the high-quality printing values of a private press, no more than 300 copies of a book were printed.

“The Aries Press was also known for its connections to William Morris, Rockwell Kent and Bruce Rogers. Kellogg purchased his printing press from Frederic Goudy. It was later known as the Kelmscott/Goudy Albion Press and was acquired by the Cary Graphic Arts Collection in 2013.

“Printers, print historians and typographers will enjoy the Aries Press story as will anyone with an interest in Western New York history. The colorful examples highlighted in Kegler’s book provide inspiration for today’s contemporary designers.

“This book was nominated for a bibliographic prize and is now offered in 3 formats: Deluxe, Regular, and for the intrepid book binder, Unbound press signatures.”

Deluxe edition:

• A collaboration between P22 Type Foundry, RIT Press, and Wells College Press
• Additional letterpress printed pages, including a frontispiece printed on the Kelmscott-Goudy Albion Press at Rochester Institute of Technology
• A specimen of Dard Hunter’s Roycroft alphabet printed from wood type
• Re-strikes from original Aries Press blocks
• An original leaf from ‘The Ghost Ship’ printed at the Aries Press

$300

The Faces of Victor Hammer
By Richard Kegler
Foreword by Dan Reynolds
Aurora, New York / Rochester, New York: Dry Inc / Wells College Press, 2022. Edition of 50.

6.5" x 6.5"; 40 pages. Letterpress and pigment prints. Photographs printed in black and grey pigment with an Epson Stylus Photo R2880 on 196g Hahnemühle Photo Rag Duo. Additional page paper is Hahnemühle 180g cotton. Metal type specimens are printed on tipped-in Kozuke White paper. The specimen header type is the same hand-set metal Spiral type used by Victor Hammer at Wells College, Aurora, NY. The running text is set in digital Emerson by Jerry Kelly. Additional specimens and running text are printed from photopolymer plates produced at Boxcar Press, Syracuse, NY. Marbled endpapers were made by Susan Doran specifically for this book. Case bound in rust colored Asahi cloth with inset "VH" title label. Design, printing, and binding by Richard Kegler. Signed and numbered by Kegler. .

Press statement: "The finest examples of any of Victor Hammer’s typefaces in use are found in his own limited-edition books that feature elegant compositions with generous leading and understated simplicity. Hammer’s dedication to and focus on the uncial form occupied many years of his prolific and varied artistic life. The archives of the Wells College Book Arts Center in Aurora, New York, hold the majority of the extant materials related to the making of his typefaces. Various punches, matrices, and trial castings found in this archive have inspired the typefaces presented in this book. ‘The Faces of Victor Hammer’ features an intimate look at the man through a series of seven black and white photographs taken at Wells College in the 1940s by his friend, fellow Austrian expatriate Robert Haas. These portraits are paired with printed specimens of his typefaces. Materials were sourced from the Wells College Archives and reproductions were made where original materials could not be found. Specimens included feature the typefaces: Hammer Unziale (Hammerschrift), Ratdolt, Samson, Pindar, Aurora Uncial, American Uncial (3 sizes), Andromaque, Underwood Typewriter, plus Greek variants and test plate proofs.”
$425

A Specimen of Wood Type
By Richard Kegler
Rochester , New York: P22 Publications, 2020.
Book Edition of 75. Folio Edition of 20.

Book Edition: Slightly oversized Quarto 9.5 × 12.5”; 56 pages. 26 wood type specimens. Printed on 100lb Arjowiggins Utopia 2 Ivory Matte text paper. 82 hand-press runs in six different print shops. Case sewn and hand-bound in Asahi cloth (red or orange). Foil-stamped cover (gold on red or black on orange). Signed and numbered by Richard Kegler.

Folio Edition: Same as Book Edition except specimens and descriptions unbound as individual one-sided plates. Laid in a box hand-bound in blue Asahi cloth with gold foil and spine label.

Press Statement: "A tour de force of typographic design and a celebration of American printing innovation,’ A Specimen of Wood Type’ is a hand-bound, hardcover letterpress printed book by Richard Kegler. It features 26 wood type specimens hand-printed between January 2017 and October 2020 using the original wood types referenced to digitize the Hamilton Wood Type Collection (HWT) from P22 Type Foundry. Multicolor innovative layouts highlight the type designs printed with the actual wood type used to make these revivals are paired up with accompanying descriptive text that was set and cast in metal type by the celebrated Press & Letterfoundry of Michael and Winifred Bixler of Skaneateles, NY.

“Richard Kegler printed the specimens using vintage wood type collections at six locations across the USA. These include the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum (Two Rivers, WI); Wells Book Arts Center (Aurora, NY); RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection (Rochester, NY); the Western New York Book Arts Center (Buffalo, NY); Flower City Arts Center (Rochester, NY); and P22 Press (Rochester, NY). The typographic showings vary from one to three colors each for a total of 82 press runs.”

$599 Book Edition
$699 Folio Edition