Programs :: Rainmaker Editions

Rainmaker Editions

Current Titles

Five Poems - Toni Morrison
Spirit of the River - Russell Banks
Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known - Wole Soyinka
Who's Afraid of the Tasmanian Wolf? - Kenzaburo Oe
The Gatekeeper - Joyce Carol Oates
The Firebird's Nest - Salman Rushdie
Coffeehouse Days - Ismail Kadare
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed - John Irving

Forthcoming

The Chain by Tobias Wolff
Wood engravings by Gaylord Shanilec
Design and printing by Shari DeGraw at Empyrean Press
Binding and housing by Mick LeTourneaux
Signed by the author and artist | Fall 2008
Deluxe. Edition of 125. $650

Rainmaker Editions

Rainmaker Editions is a fine press book series containing original works from some of the world's most notable writers, designed and printed by the country's leading book artists. These sale of these rare, collectible works support writers in the City of Asylum Las Vegas program. Black Mountain asked writers from around the world to donate work for the dual purpose of providing lovers of literature with priceless additions to their collections, and, in so doing, raise funds to secure freedom to write for those whose voices are muffled by censorship and persecution.

Rainmaker Editions books are signed by the writer and artist, printed on the finest paper, illustrated with original art, and handsomely hand-bound and cased. All Rainmaker Editions books are available individually. A limited number of nine-volume Freedom of Conscience library sets are also available. Please contact us for details.

Ordering Instructions

For more information about Rainmaker Editions, including library and bookseller discounts, or to place an order, please contact us. We accept checks and approved purchase orders. Rainmaker Editions books can also be ordered from Wessel and Lieberman Booksellers.

Current Titles

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Five Poems by Toni Morrison

Silhouettes by Kara Walker
Design and printing by Peter Koch at Peter Koch, Printers
Binding and housing by Jace Graf at Cloverleaf Studio
Signed by the author, artist, and designer | 2002
Deluxe. Edition of 26. SOLD OUT
Regular. Edition of 399. $650

Five Poems, a rare collection of original verse by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, was designed and printed letterpress from photopolymer plates at Peter Koch, Printers. The stunningly illustrated book–signed by the author, artists, and designer–features five original silhouettes by MacArthur Foundation Award-winning artist Kara Walker. Set in Rialto Piccolo, a typeface designed by Giovanni de Faccio and Lui Karner, the text is printed on tan Rives BFK paper. The deluxe edition, which is case-bound with cloth boards and features a quarter-leather binding, comes enclosed in a drop-spine box clad in rich red shantung cloth. The regular edition is case-bound in Fabriano Ingres-covered boards printed with a Walker design and comes housed in a yellow silk shantung- and paper-covered slipcase.

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Spirit of the River by Russell Banks

Wood engravings and design by Barry Moser
Printing by Bradley Hutchinson at Digital Letterpress
Binding and housing by Jace Graf at Cloverleaf Studio
Signed by the author and artist | 2002
Deluxe. Edition of 26. $1500
Regular. Edition of 399. $550

An original excerpt from The Darling, a new novel by author Russell Banks, Spirit of the River features three wood engravings by renowned artist Barry Moser. Moser also designed the book, which was printed letterpress from photopolymer plates by Bradley Hutchinson at Digital Letterpress. Set in Matthew Carter's Galliard, with display type in Forum and Ovidius, the text is printed on Magnani, a limited-edition paper manufactured by Cartiere Enrico Magnani in Pescia, Italy. The deluxe edition is housed in a linen-covered drop-spine box and features a quarter-leather case binding over linen boards. The case-bound, cloth-covered regular edition is enclosed by a black cloth and paper-covered slipcase. Both editions include a beautifully printed title label inlaid on the book's cover, and the deluxe edition features a printed leather spine.

Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known - Wole Soyinka

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Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known by Wole Soyinka

Woodcuts by Robert Kleinschmidt
Design by Victoria Hindley at Red Butte Press
Binding by Daniel Kelm at Wide Awake Garage
Housing by the Campbell-Logan Bindery
Signed by the author and artist | 2003
Deluxe. Edition of 26. $1500
Regular. Edition of 399. $650

A long poem by Nigerian playwright and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known was designed and typeset by Victoria Hindley and printed letterpress from photopolymer plates at Red Butte Press. Four original color woodcuts by artist Robert Kleinschmidt are handsomely displayed throughout the book, which is printed on Johannot paper from Trump Medieval types. The book's unique wire edge binding–designed and produced by Daniel Kelm at Wide Awake Garage–features boards covered in Japanese Kyosei-shi handmade paper, with the exception of the deluxe edition, which is covered in sage-colored suede. Both the deluxe edition drop-spine boxes and the regular edition slipcases are covered in burgundy silk and affixed on their spines with printed labels.

Who's Afraid of the Tasmanian Wolf? - Kenzaburo Oe

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Who's Afraid of the Tasmanian Wolf? by Kenzaburo Oe

Translated by Kunioki Yanagishita
Calligraphy by Kazuko Akiba
Design and printing by C. Mikal Oness at Sutton Hoo Press
Binding and housing by the Campbell-Logan Bindery
Signed by the author and artist | 2003
Deluxe. Edition of 125. $600

Who's Afraid of the Tasmanian Wolf?, an essay adapted from Nobel Laureate Kenzaburo Oe's lecture on the future of Japanese culture, is an original translation from scholar Kunioki Yanagishita. The book was printed letterpress from Bembo types–cast by Michael Bixler and adjusted by the printer's hand–on dampened Somerset Book paper by C. Mikal Oness at Sutton Hoo Press and features calligraphy from artist Kazuko Akiba on its recto pages. The quarter-leather morocco case binding and elegant black cloth-clad drop-spine box were designed at the press and executed by Campbell-Logan Bindery. The covers are printed with excerpts of the text in the author's own distinctive calligraphic hand.

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The Gatekeeper by Joyce Carol Oates

The Gatekeeper is the compelling first chapter from The Falls, a novel by one of America's most important writers, Joyce Carol Oates. Set in Hermann Zapf's Zapf Renaissance and printed on paper handmade by Cartiere Enrico Magnani in Pescia, Italy, the book was designed and illustrated by Barry Moser. The Gatekeeper features seven original woodcuts by Moser, including a portrait of Oates and two stunning full-page fold-out leaves. Bound in blue pebbled morocco quarter-leather and ice blue silk over boards, the book comes enclosed in a drop-spine clamshell box, also clad ice blue silk and mounted with a blue morocco label on its spine.

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The Firebird's Nest by Salman Rushdie

Linoleum cuts by Alfredo Benavidez Bedoya
Design by Victoria Hindley at Red Butte Press
Binding and housing by Craig Jensen at BookLab II
Signed by the author and artist | 2004
Deluxe. Edition of 125. $650

The Firebird's Nest, a powerful story by Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie, was designed and typeset by Victoria Hindley and printed letterpress from Poliphilus and Acolyte types on Somerset Velvet paper at Red Butte Press. The book features four bold linoleum cuts by award-winning Argentine printmaker Alfredo Benavidez Bedoya and is bound in yellow ostrich leather and black paper over boards embossed with the artist's design. The drop-spine box, designed at the press, is covered in black silk cloth.

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Coffeehouse Days by Ismail Kadare

Translated by Pirro Dollani
Photomontages, design, and printing by Peter Koch at Peter Koch, Printers
Binding by John De Merritt, Bookbinder
Metal box fabrication by G. and L. Manufacturing
Signed by the author and designer | 2005
Deluxe. Edition of 125. $650

Translated for the first time into English, Rainmaker Editions' Coffeehouse Days is a witty and exuberant story from Man Booker International Prize-winning Albanian writer Ismail Kadare. Printed letterpress on Nideggen paper by Peter Koch, Printers, the text is set in a decayed version of Paul Renner's Futura designed especially for the edition by Christopher Stinehour. Coffeehouse Days features eleven original photomontages by Peter Koch, also printed letterpress, and is bound in black cloth and paper printed with antique wood types. The book comes enclosed in a distressed metal box silk-screened on its cover in black ink.

Trying to Save Piggy Sneed - John Irving

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Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving

Fax transfer illustrations by Gilbert Neri
Design, printing, and housing by Inge Bruggeman at Textura Letterpress
Binding by Anna Embree
Signed by the author and artist | 2005
Deluxe. Edition of 125. $650

A piercing essay from lauded American author John Irving, Trying to Save Piggy Sneed was printed letterpress by Inge Bruggeman on Somerset Book paper from hand-set Joanna types cast by Winifred and Michael Bixler. The book features original fax transfer illustrations by Gilbert Neri, printed in gunpowder-infused ink. The cover, endsheet and scrap papers were handmade by Ann Marie Kennedy and bound by Anna Embree in a stiff vellum style with pebbled pig leather and paper over boards. The burlap-covered drop-spine box closes with a concealed magnet.



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