Books by Hand
Gerard Brender à Brandis, Wood Engraver and Bookwright
by Marianne Brandis
Gerard Brender à Brandis is an artist of uncommon breadth and depth. During his long career he integrated all the elements of making books by hand: drawing, engraving, paper-making, typesetting, printing, spinning and dying flax for the covers and weaving them, and book-binding. The books he has created are masterpieces of both art and craft.
Books by Hand explores the artist’s creative life, inner and outer, and some of the factors that made the art possible. It traces the stages by which Gerard invented a career for himself in a field where there were few models.
The book is illustrated with wood engravings that provide a survey of his work from his very first engraving to the present, as well as with a number of photographs.
“[Brender à Brandis] has become one of the foremost proponents in Canada of the arts of engraving and bookmaking.” Alan Horne (quoted in the Conclusion of Books by Hand).
Marianne Brandis, Gerard’s sister and a well-established writer, drew on a lifetime of being close to Gerard’s career, and especially on their collaboration on more than a dozen projects.
To obtain a copy of Books by Hand readers should email directly to Gerard or Marianne. The cost for a single copy mailed to the US will be $30. For orders of more than one copy, the customer would have to wait until the arrival of the parcel, which would contain the invoice.
gerardbab@cyg.net
mbrandis@cyg.net
Look forward to a full review in an upcoming edition of the Block & Burin.
