DeWalden Press ~ Canada
(Jan Kellett)

The Tower of London A To Z
By Jan Kellett
2001. Edition of 49.

2.75" x 2.85", 70 pages. Text printed in gold and black on cream Zerkall paper, in Dauphin typeface (with similarities to the early Norman French script). Nine hand-colored illustrations. One illustration printed in gold. Letter K folds out with a list of Kings and Queens including the dates of their reigns. Includes a fold-out plan of the Tower plus a copy of an early print showing Lady Jane Grey about to be beheaded on the scaffold. Frontispiece shows the fate of Gruffud, who fell to his death trying to escape. Illustration of the second elephant to appear in England is under the letter Z for Zoo. SIGNED & numbered by Jan Kellett. Fine, bound in English calf leather, dyed a russet color, blind tooled in medieval style with a gilt rose. Covers fasten with leather loop and knot. With a black & gold printed slipcase.

A miniature alphabet book, in Kellett's recognizable style.
CA $445

Click image to enlarge

The Fortune Teller
By Jan Kellett
2002. Edition of 49 .

Muted shades of Ingres paper pages are folded so that the book fans out. Book covers are of pastepaper, handpainted by Claire Maziarczyk, in shades of green, pink, blue, gold and silver, to tone with the pages. The spine is green leather with the title blocked in gold lettering. Endpapers are hand printed with gold stars to match the cover of the box . On the lid of the box is a colour print showing symbols for the planets and the zodiacal signs from the 1677 edition of the alchemical "Aureus Tractus" by Agrippa von nettesheim.

A nineteenth century porcelain doll made in Germany and dressed in a long hooded cloak, covering a multi-coloured pleated skirt made of paper, was the inspiration for this book. The owner of the doll was unaware of its secret until an expert examined the doll on the Antiques Roadshow BBC TV programme. The "fortunes" were hidden inside the folds of the paper strips making up the skirt. Each coloured page is printed with a heart, diamond, spade or club symbol. By choosing a colour and a suit, the player selects his or her "fortune."
CA $215

Click image to enlarge

The House That Jack Built
By Jan Kellett
2004. Edition of 40.

2.3 x 2.8" 12 double pages of hand-coloured illustrations and text plus colophon. Accompanying booklet : 2 x 2.75" 18 pages including bibliography. Signed & numbered. The original illustrations were drawn in pen & ink, printed from plates and individually hand-coloured with watercolours. The design of the book allows a double page for each object or character, using diminishing text sizes to accommodate the verse as it grows longer. Constructing the book with guards, so that each double page stands away from the spine when open, allows the pictures to be easily seen, yet maintains a neat book shape when closed. Printed on Magnani mould-made paper. Combining modern technology and traditional methods, polymer plates were made of the artwork and text, making it possible to letterpress print both together. Interestingly, this mimics the old method of hand-engraving metal plates with both text and illustrations, as can be seen in some of the early 19th century versions of this rhyme. The book is hand-bound in sage green goat leather, which has a beautiful two-toned grain. The title is gold blocked on the front cover, and a separate booklet of notes and observations on this ancient rhyme accompanies the book. Book and booklet are housed in a slipcase, covered with a Japanese Chiyogami paper made from mulberry fibre.

Nursery rhymes are part of a rich oral tradition passed down from parent to child, long before books were printed expressly for children. The House That Jack Built is an accumulative rhyme, with a lively cast of characters, both human and animal, lending itself to art and drama in equal measure. The animals play their traditional roles, and the humans play theirs, seen against the age old backdrop of an agricultural community.
CA $475

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine
By Charles Anthony Silvestri
illustrated by Jan Kellett
Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada: De Walden Press, 2010. Edition of 20.

2.5 x 2.75"; 40 pages. Letterpress printed on handmade paper from Griffen Mill. Set digitally in Brioso Pro typeface designed by Robert Slimbach. Original illustrations transferred to polymer and printed letterpress onto handmade Japanese Bicchu Torinoko Gampi paper. Illustrations hand-gilt and burnished using gold leaf. Sewn onto vellum slips which are laced into the cover. Vellum slips dyed red to blend with the burgundy goatskin. Bound in burgundy goatskin with gilt stamped titles and ribbon tie closure. Signed by Kellett, the poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, and the composer Eric Whitacre.

Jan Kellett, on the project: "[The] book entitled Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine, [is] based on a choral work by the American composer Eric Whitacre, with libretto by Charles Anthony Silvestri. These very talented men collaborated to produce an unusual and stunning work, full of action, exploring the concept of Leonardo da Vinci dreaming of his flying machine. I first heard this piece sung by the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2006, a magical performance which inspired me. From this beginning, I began to research Leonardo's notebooks (and along the way filled a few of my own)."

Jan Kellett, on the paper: "This book involves three outstanding men, the legendary Leonardo Da Vinci, the brilliant composer Eric Whitacre, and the multi-talented poet and artist Charles Anthony Silvestri. To me, there is no better paper for this purpose than a handmade paper, because it not only looks and feels beautiful, it has no grain, it is strong and durable, and is archivally sound. It takes letterpress well (they were, after all, made for each other), and will contribute towards the character of the book, without taking centre stage."

Jan Kellett, on the binding: "I wanted to reference Leonardo's notebooks in the binding so extended the leather on the back board at the fore-edge to form a flap, which folds over the text block and fastens with grosgrain ribbon ties. The flap is lined with a thin piece of leather and finished with a blind-tooled double line around the edge. ... I used the same art-work for the title on the front cover as I had drawn for the title page, which gives the book a unity of design and the lettering is quite decorative in itself."

Jan Kellett on the illustrations: "Looking through the facsimile pages of Leonardo's notebooks for his early studies of wings, I came across a page fragment with four separate sketches of different types of winged creatures, none of them birds.

"The pen-strokes are rapid but controlled and sometimes don't quite join up, and he doesn't bother to complete the opposite wings of the fish and the bat, they are taken as read, being the mirror images of the first side. They are notes on his observations, aides memoirs. The dragonfly's legs are haphazardly drawn, but they are of no concern to Leonardo, it is the wings that interest him.

"I find the sketch of the bat particularly fascinating as to me it reveals Leonardo the man, enjoying his own joke, his old retainer holding out the wing of this enormous bat, the wing being almost the size of his retainer's cloak, the body of the bat being the size of a large lamb.

"The retainer's expression is one of comical earnestness, he's holding the bat's voluminous wing and the quality of the drawing is such that one can almost feel his grip on it. The hooded cloak is drawn in some detail, almost as though Leonardo couldn't help reproducing the folds of this garment. I love this drawing for its immediacy, skilful execution, and its humour, it brings the genius that was Leonardo Da Vinci to life."
(SOLD)

Qualicum Blue
By Jan Kellet
2007. Edition of 30.

3 x 2.75" inclusive of slipcase; 69 pages. Signed and numbered. Printed letterpress with photopolymer plates on blue Zerkall Ingres mouldmade paper. Pochoir frontispiece, contents page and bibliography. Blue Gallery consists of seven pochoir prints on Zerkall mouldmade paper alternating with pages detailing the name and description of the plant or creature. Bound together, in slipcase. Dos à dos binding, as the illustrations are complementary to the text, rather than illustrative of it. Bound in blue goatskin leather. Title labels gold blocked and inlaid into the covers, to give a cushiony effect. Covers fastened with two salmon-shaped bronze toggles designed and made especially for the book by Canadian designer jeweler John Hughes. Claire Maziarczyk's hand made pastepaper used for endpapers, and also covers the slipcase.

Jan Kellet: " My curiosity was piqued shortly after I came to live in the small town of Qualicum Beach, on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The whole area seems steeped in blue. It has the sea on one side, the mountains behind, and the sky like a giant blue shade pulled down to meet them.

"Some days the scene is violet and indigo, on others it's an intense 'Virgin Mary's cloak' blue, or palest silvery blue. There are shades of blue everywhere, from the purplish blue Alpine Lupines lining the highway, to the gray blue, Great Blue Heron, Steller's Jays, blue butterflies, dragonflies, salmon and of course, blueberries. So many blues, I was stimulated to explore the colour, its historical and cultural associations and the meanings or emotions conveyed to us, shaping our perceptions. ...

"The text occupies one side of the book: there are sixty nine pages with a bibliography, and a pochoir frontispiece showing a view of Denman Island from Qualicum Beach.

"The second part of the book, Blue Gallery, contains a series of illustrations made using the pochoir technique, a form of stenciling. For me, the charm of the technique lies in the vibrancy obtainable using watercolours, and the range of effects from dense solid shades to transparent veils of colour. The stencils are hand cut, at least one for each colour, from original artwork. It is a laborious process, and not surprisingly, ceased to be used as soon as a suitable more automated method could be found to replace it.

"The illustrations are all of plants and creatures found in the vicinity of Qualicum Beach, on Vancouver Island, although many of them can also be found across North America and in particular along the Pacific Coast. They range in hue from palest azure to inky dark indigo, a symphony of blues."
(SOLD)

Shakespeare's Flowers
By Jan Kellett
Malvern, England: De Walden Press, 1999. Edition of 49.

2.25 x 2.75". Bound by hand in kingfisher-blue calf leather, decorated with a gilt design of flowers and leaves. A gilded sterling silver clasp designed by Judith Price in the form of a leaf fastens the covers of the book. Seven hand-colored woodcuts and seven quotations. Concertina-style miniature book with case of soft, black suede with gilded sterling silver clasp and chain.

Jan Kellett: "In designing and making this book I have combined the beauty of Shakespeare’s poetry with the charm of herbal woodcuts in a binding intended to reflect the precious nature of both. The book is bound by hand in a brilliant kingfisher blue calf leather, decorated with a hand gilt design of flowers and leaves. Each impression is made individually with heated brass engraved hand tools. ... "Some of the most beautiful phrases in the English Language were written by William Shakespeare. Then, Herbal Medicine reigned supreme and the properties of plants were comprehensively documented in books called Herbals. Shakespeare was familiar with these and his allusions to plants and flowers carried meanings beyond the obvious.

"Herbals were illustrated to enable the reader to identify accurately the plants to be used medicinally. The illustrations in early Herbals were printed from woodcuts; hard wooden blocks with the image cut into the surface. I have used metal copies of these to illustrate the quotations, marrying the best of each. ... "The illustrations are hand coloured individually using watercolors, as they were in early Herbals."

A stubborn perfectionist, Kellett's work is as usual impressive.
(SOLD)

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Shakespeare: Man of Property
By Jan Kellett
Malvern: De Walden Press . 2000. Edition of 49.

2.25 x2.75", 80 pages, miniature. Cover lined with hand-made paper, blind tooled, fastens with a strap & buckle. Pages folded and sewn onto small blocks made of leather & paper; whole laced into the cover with strips of vellum. Illustrations screen printed from pen & ink drawings by Kellett, onto Griffen hand-made paper; hand-coloured with watercolours. Four double-page spreads mounted onto guards, so they can be seen without a sewing thread in centre of the page: map of Stratford upon Avon (adapted from one drawn in the 28th century); Anne Hathaway's cottage; Mary Arden's House; and, Shakespeare's birthplace. Other drawings of New Place, Shakespeare's Coat of Arms, and the bust on his Monument. Frontispiece special edition stamp issued in 1995 of the Globe Theatre. SIGNED by Jan Kellet.

Jan Kellett: "William Shakespeare had a highly successful career as an actor and playwright, but was financially even more successful as a member of the syndicate of players operating the Globe Theatre. This book traces his rise to the status of Gentleman, with his own Coat of Arms, a large residence and lands. The proceeds of his success funded Shakespeare’s purchases of land and property. New Place, the house he bought in Chapel Street, Stratford upon Avon, was one of the best houses in town and reflected the status he had attained. His purchase of the gatehouse at Blackfriars in London was rather more mysterious. In the event, nature thwarted Shakespeare’s carefully laid plans in a way he had not foreseen.

"The Globe Theatre was the subject of a special edition of Royal Mail postage stamps issued in 1995. There are two versions, one before the fire in 1599 and the other in 1614 after it had been rebuilt. One of these stamps forms the frontispiece for each book. The stamps were originally designed by Walter Crane. "

Distinguished Book Award 2000, Miniature Book Society
(SOLD)

Click individual image to enlarge