21 Sep 2014

Janus Press: The New Zealand Connection

From Standing Room Only, 2:26 pm on 21 September 2014

For more than fifty years, Janus Press in the United States has been turning out highly-designed, handmade editions that are more like sculptures than books.

Small book

They are complete art works in themselves.

 

IMG

Aucklanders Elizabeth Steiner and Beth Serjeant each own several of the precious (and costly) books and their collections range from the tiny to the tremendous. But Elizabeth says they are still, at heart, things that demand to be read.

Janus Press

Over the years Janus Press have published several works by New Zealand authors (including one co-authored by Elizabeth) and now Objectspace Gallery in Auckland is staging an exhibition to highlight that Kiwi connection. The exhibition, which opens in late October 2014, will coincide with The Association of Book Crafts NZ first international conference and trade fair. Elizabeth, Beth (and their book collection) will be there, along with international guests, all arguing the case for the book in the age of the eBook.

“The fact that you can touch it, you can hold it, you feel its weight, its texture. I love it. I love it.”

Janus Press

Produced by Justin Gregory.