Fonts for the Intertype

Lead Graffiti has a 1956 Intertype C4 linecaster. When we purchased it in 2007, we actually we got the machine for free, but did purchase the matrices (type molds) for approximately 200 typefaces.

We want to let anyone who is interested in what it is that we have. We also have hundreds of individual matrices which we are slowly trying to get back into the correct places.

One upcoming project we want to get started with is trying to print a specimen sheet for many of the more important fonts, especially the ones we are more likely to want to use in our work at Lead Graffiti.

Aldus — 12 point
Baskerville / Bold — 10 point
Baskerville / Italic — 8, 9, 11, 12 point
Baskerville / Italic (SPLIT) — 14 point S
Baskerville Bold / Italic — 8, 10, 12, 14 point
Bernhard Fashion w/ Park Avenue — 12, 14 point
Bodoni Bold / Italic — 12 point
Bodoni Bold Cond / Franklin Gothic — 18 point
Bodoni Book / Italic — 10 point
Bodoni Poster / Italic — 12, 14 point
Caslon / Italic — 10, 12, 24 point
Caslon 236 Old Face — 10, 12 point
Century / Bold — 10, 14 point
Century Bold / Italic — 14 point
Century Expanded — 14 point
Century Expanded / Bold — 8, 10 point
Century Medium / Bold — 5.5 point
Cheltenham / ? — 18 point
Copperplate Lining Gothic / Roman — 6 point
Egmont Medium / Italic — 14 point
Egmont Medium Italic Only — 18 point
Fairfield — 9 point
Futura Book / Demi Bold — 6, 8, 10 point
Garamond #2 Reg / Italic — 14 point
Garamond #3 Bold / Italic — 6, 8, 10 point
Garamond #3 Reg / Italic — 8, 9, 10, 12 point
Garamond Bold — 14, 18 point
Gothic Alt 1 / Palisade — 18 point
Gothic Alt 1 / Palisade — 24 point
Gothic Extra Bold / Memphic Extra Bold — 14 point
Goudy / Italic — 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 point
Kenntonian / Italic — 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 point
Lydian Bold / Italic — 10, 14 point
Melior / ital — 6, 8, 9, 10 point
Melior / semi-bold — 9, 10, 12 point
Memphis Extra Bold Condensed — 18 point
Metro Lite / Bold — 8 point
News Gothic / Bold — 6, 8, 10, 10, 12 point
No. 2 / Condensed Title — 10 point
Palatino / Italic — 6, 8, 10, 12 point
Scotch — 11 point
Spartan / Bold — 10 point
Times Roman / italic — 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 point
Vogue Bold Condensed / Extra Bold — 14 point
Vogue Extra Bold (CAPS ONLY) — 18 point
Vogue Extra Bold / Bold — 18 point
Vogue Extra Bold / Oblique — 12, 14 point
Vogue Lite / Bold — 8, 10, 12, 14, 18 point

That list totals 99 named fonts, but almost all of them actually contain 2 fonts. Often a regular or medium will also have the same in italic. Sometimes they will be regular and bold. Sometimes there are two completely different typefaces.

We also have approximately 100 border moulds for a wide range of elements.

VC Family Album pages

VC Family Album pages

If I started teaching now and knew what I know about this assignment, I would make every student in every class do 3 - 5 of these projects every semester. You get points for each to encourage students to work toward the maximum possible. Document field trips, speakers, assignments, best solutions, and semester portfolios.

And I would group them into albums. Then I would give the gazillion pages to some outstanding Special Collections focused on education. Princeton would be a good one because John Nash taught there, and the photo at the top is from the results of this assignment done by Ari Garber (VC'05), produced because we watched the movie, about John Nash, as an in-class event.

• Students work as solitary designers on their pages in every instance, though more than one album page may be desired for more important events.

• Depending on how you think the students will organize themselves and the relative importance of particular events, more than one student might produce a specific album page.

• every assignment, focusing on 3 to 7 of the top solutions

• Every student would do a page for a final portfolio showing all of their final work for every assignment produced in the class.

• Every field trip (maybe 3 students would each do one so we could get different points of view), and I would find excuses to take field trips.

• Every speaker and I would find excuses to get speakers in front of my students and my students in front of speakers.

• Every film was viewed in class, and I would show documentaries, feature films, and shorts.

• an explanation of every textbook and maybe every reading

• Every weird class, and I would find excuses to make them happen.

• The instructor should determine how many album pages might be produced during a semester. Say there are 20 students, and the general desire is for every student to make 3 album pages, giving you 60 pages in that class in that semester. Each student will have a final portfolio page. If there are 7 different assignments during the semester and you want the top 3 of each task documented, 2 field trips with every student going, and 5 other important in-class events (movies, guest critiques, etc.). You expect students to attend 5 different events outside of class (movies, guest speakers, etc.). 20 portfolio pages + 21 individual class project solutions + 2 field trips + 5 in-class events + 5 outside-of-class events would total a maximum of 53 (remember you want 60). You must double up on some last events to provide enough for the students.

• And I would add this on top of everything else you are doing, not instead of some things. The students will learn to plow through these things quickly, and the restrictions should reduce the overall effort.

NOTE: Students will complain, but you can help them find ways to get many results from little work. The example at the top was given to a promising student producing the album page for the movie “A Beautiful Mind” I showed in class. He was complaining about how he didn’t have time. He was a great student, and I wanted to help him understand how a design decision could reduce the time. Writing these pages can take a while if they need to be written well with lots of words. So, let’s just set the DVD on the computer, set the captions to be on, and just screengrab every set of words in the most critical scene in the movie. Organize them into a grid, which was pretty much done in less than 3 hours.

Ultimately, it would be the best and most thorough journal about teaching—starting day  1 and going through day number whatever.

The journal itself, closed—a kind of heavy metal design journal.

The idea for the project came from Rose DiSanto (VC'83) who was teaching a course for us, replacing another faculty member on sabbatical. It was a project set up with a heap of rules.

• 11" x 17"

• A rule ran horizontally right through the middle of the page

• main typefaces were Didot and Avenir

• seek inventive design while working in an unforgiving format under a lot of restrictive rules

VC family album

Individual pages may have specific guidelines or needs. For instance a page about a writing class might need more words, but a page about a photographer might need more images.

Click here for an index of some examples (appears to the right) of pages designed by Ray Nichols to see some design issues he thought were important for those events.

It is important to remember that pages can be used in three ways.

• As pages in the mother VC family album where it will be one of probably 200 pages per book and then multiple books that will develop over upcoming years.

• A page for an event can be used as a thank you. The pages are 17" x 11" but are printed on 19" x 13" sheets. This provides some blank area around the image so that participants in the event can sign the page. The page will then be given to people to be thanked. Hopefully, they will keep it around and be reminded of their interaction with us.

• A set of pages can be gathered and used as a mini-book with a particular focus. This can also be given as a thank you. A good example is the VC / London trip. We will do individual pages for all of our visits (which will be given to them) along with a set of all of the pages to the Center for International Studies as a document recording the trip. We might also keep a separate book in VC for students to look at without having to deal with the mother-of-all-journals version.

One additional point worth making is the importance for subjects for such pages so that we will have an excuse to design them. It is the design experience we are looking for. The rest of it is just helpful to do.

You'll need 3 stuffed files (InDesign template and the two dominant typefaces Didot and Avenir) to produce pages using these rules and guidelines.

ALL pages in the book MUST:

• be created in InDesign from templates provided (page size 17" x 11" horizontal only) and use provided stylesheets whenever logical and possible

• be designed with a safe area (within where text falls) which falls on a 12p margin from left side trim and 3p margin from top, bottom and right side trim

• text must incorporate any details which are necessary to placing the page content into the correct context as part of the VC history story (date, their participants / titles, VC participants, place, etc.

• include a .2 pt horizontal rule always centered (33p below top trim) across the page ( the rule is locked into template). There are instances when you might rather have the rule pass behind an image.

• have one headline set in Didot Roman (see image below), 48 point, 100% black and positioned vertically as dictated by the supplied master page using the appropriately supplied stylesheet. The bottom serifs of the type align tangentially with the .2 rule with the typography in front. The headline may be positioned anywhere along the line.

• incorporate 1 – 3 characters (no more or less) in any font other than Didot Roman in any form. It is important to choose a font that contributes to the design of the page. Additional care should also be taken with sizing and kerning the type.

• incorporate a single line of explanatory type in Avenir Black, 12 pt, any color, which must sit just under (the .2 rule must align with the x-height of the text as dictated by the supplied master page) the horizontal rule using the appropriately supplied stylesheet. The text may fall anywhere along that line

the journal pages revealed

Below is what the type looks like together. The Didot sits exactly on the rule and the Avenir Black explanatory line is in front.

• set all main body text in Avenir Book (click here to see Avenir Book) 8.5 / 12, 70% black, with an extra 3 points between paragraphs using the appropriately supplied stylesheet

• As a general rule columns of text should align vertically and horizontally (there are instances when you might want to break this rule, but without such an intent this rule should apply)

• print on the front of super A3 size Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper (19" x 13") and trim to 17" x 11"

• must show a credit line which begins with "Page design:" and ends with " / DEsigners." There are spaces on both sides of the "/". Following the colon, specific tasks performed by others is to be listed (i.e., Page design: Raymond Nichols; retouching: Hendrik-Jan Francke; copy: Bernie Herman; photography: Bill Deering."

All pages in the book CAN:

• care must be taken to use understandably named files and supporting images

• files should be well-organized in appropriate folders

• the designer of any page must supply a folder containing all images (typically, at least 300 dpi at the size used) and any typefaces used beyond Avenir and Didot to the caretaker of the VC family album master copy pages (typically in the form of a CD with all of the appropriate files)

— Logo created by British graphic designer, Alan Fletcher
— Story by Ben Thoma (VC’04) & Karla Burger Cushman (VC’04)

As Visual Communication students, we came to expect that amazing experiences could happen at any time. Whether it was on one of our New York City trips or a surprise guest for critique, we knew that there were no ordinary days in the VC program.

The annual study abroad trip to London was no exception. Because it was open only to rising Seniors, each trip would be reported back to underclassmen with such excitement; it became a legendary sort of experience. Visiting design studios and advertising agencies. Sipping drinks with calligraphers and sitting in the studio of design icons like Alan Fletcher. It all added up to the trip of a lifetime.

That last experience—visiting Alan Fletcher—was held in higher regard than all the others. He wasn't just an illustrator or a designer. He was a visionary thinker. He wrote a definitive resource for the creative thinker, "The Art of Looking Sideways," and had been awarded every prize coveted by the artistic community. Meeting him would be like a young musician meeting John Lennon or an author sitting down for absinthe with Shakespeare.

Ben Thoma (left) headed down the alley to the carriage houses that lined the inside of the block.

I don't recall everything about the visit to his tiny studio. What I do remember is more about the space than anything. To get there, we went through a small back alley. It was more like a driveway, but many attached cottages shared it. It wasn't at all what I expected to find in a major metropolis. It was tiny. And the walls were white. It was filled with little bits of his career, but also his musings. A scribble here. A cut paper silhouette there. I'm not sure, but I think it was his home as well.

And there we were — about 25 of us, jammed into his matchbox workspace. He had an assistant who tried to organize us, and then when he was ready, we joined him upstairs (see the portrait to the left).

Ray and Alan sat on chairs, and the rest were on the floor. Ray liked the idea that we were at Alan's feet. We were students at the hand of the master, and there was reverence in it that way. And I recall thinking that we acted that way, too. We had always been trained to be ready to ask questions, but I don't recall any of us being brave enough to start the conversation. Oddly, I don't remember mustering the strength to ask myself—too many self-doubts about saying or asking the "wrong" thing.

When our time on the floor was up, we headed downstairs again, and Alan offered to sign books. I need to remember who it started with, but he drew quick illustrations for each of us. Alan had a distinct drawing style, and his handwriting was even more unique. We instantly transformed into children, asking for horses and muscle-men sketches. There was a giddy reception to each quirky interpretation that Alan would make to one of our requests. I resisted the urge to ask for an illustration. We were treating this design icon more like a sidewalk artist or sideshow.

This natural urge to resist the popular path has generally led to my best stories in life, and this would be no exception. Even though I knew I didn’t want to be seen as demeaning Alan by asking for a sketch, I also wanted to ask him for one. The difference was I wanted my request to mean something. No, to be meaningful.

So, I waited for everyone else to have their turn, and when it was time to go, I approached Alan and asked him if he would consider doing one more sketch. I wanted him to sketch a raven. But this illustration wouldn’t be for me. It would be for someone else. A new initiative at our school. A letterpress facility called Raven Press.

In hindsight, it might have been rude to ask because I was asking one of the most sought-after graphic designers in the world to create an identity for our unknown, tiny effort to revive a dying production craft.

He responded by saying yes, but he would require me to organize through his assistant. So we exchanged information before the entire class left the studio. I had to be sly about it, as I didn’t want Ray or Bill to know anything about it. Honestly, it is an excellent idea, but this is one of those things that can also get you in trouble. This would be something of a gift for them. For the trip. For teaching. For caring enough to make these sorts of experiences possible.

I imagine Bill or Ray scolding me for hanging in Alan’s place too long for overstaying our welcome or disrespecting their generosity. Maybe that happened. Perhaps it didn’t.

But what I recall next was a miracle.

Alan’s assistant had given me a fax number and asked me to send a note detailing the project so that Alan could read it and respond. It was 2003, and the Internet existed—albeit in seedy Internet cafes—but he wanted a fax. So, I drafted a handwritten note and shared it with one of my closest classmates, Karla Burger. She had been chosen to have dinner with Alan, and I respected her design talent more than anyone else in our class. Was I crazy? Was this scrawled-out not working as the brief for the world’s best designer? What else should I tell him? And most importantly: where would we find a fax machine, and how would we know how to use it? Between country codes and calling cards, I barely knew how to call home to say hi to my girlfriend.

Well, somehow, we faxed it. And somehow, we got a response back from Alan’s assistant. We were to come by the studio to pick it up on a specific date. Holy shit! He was going to do it. And we were going to be able to see him again. But did it make sense? Did he understand what it was all about? Was it going to be something we wanted to use for Raven Press?

I recall feeling a lot of anxiety and excitement. We were worried because we had to pick it up on one of our final days in town, and although we knew where to go, getting there and back would be hard undetected. Somehow, we found ourselves again in that tiny back alley. And this time, it felt different. We were above those students who had flocked there feeling green and in awe. We were clients now. We were there to collect a contracted piece of work. Despite this feeling of pride, we were still nervous about seeing Alan again. We didn’t have the safety of the group. Imagine our relief when we discovered that Alan wasn’t even there! His assistant handed us a manila envelope. We thanked her, and we were off. We had it. We had an original Alan Fletcher mark right there in our hands.

I don’t think we could have waited until we were back at the flat to look and see what was inside. Besides, this was a secret. We couldn’t show anyone until we were back in Delaware. Karla and I snuck a peek at the underground. We carefully opened the envelope and pulled out our treasure. It was sandwiched between two pieces of wax paper to protect it—like a nest.

A little blob of ink sat with a thin penned outline of a beak and two wire-like legs. There was a white sticker over the body with an asterisk sketched in the center—an eye. And that was it. It was this perfectly hatched baby raven.

Not only had Alan read the note, but he understood enough to create a mark that represented the youth, experimentation, and notion of Raven Press. In my mind, what had always been a red raven, a mature, Edgar Allen Poe-inspired, suddenly was a quirky, youthful blackbird. It was perfect.

We tucked it away, only to open it again once we returned to the States. I recall feeling worried that something would happen to it during our journey. I was even more anxious to check on it and change fate to a gust of wind or spilled drink.

When back in the States, I did sneak it out long enough to scan it in the student Mac Lab so we could project the image of the logo to the entire Visual Communications program at our monthly gatherings. I’m pretty sure no one, especially Ray or Bill, knew we would present Alan’s mark that day. I was a bit nervous about their response. What if they had been tirelessly working on their own? What if they didn’t like it?

Well, there was nothing to fear. Ray was so overwhelmed that he kissed me—an act he would only repeat on one other day: my wedding day. So, yeah. It was a big deal. I felt proud for seizing the moment and seeing it through. I felt proud to have contributed something meaningful to the program and the teachers who would launch me into my career. I felt proud that I had been worth the time spent on Alan Fletcher’s floor.

Our group outside Fletcher’s renowned “alphabet gate.” Ben Thoma, laying down, lower left; Karla Burger Cushman, second row, middle; Bill Deering, far left; dad behind the camera.

The following year (2004) on our annual first-Friday-afternoon-of-VCUK we again visited Alan. This time we wanted him to write Raven Press for us so we could include it with the logo when beneficial.

Just below you can see a 00:50 film of Alan writing the words. The video was taken with one of the first Nikon cameras that would record video and was limited to 3:00 segments.

And just for fun of it and because I can, a selfie of Ray with Alan.

Our first letterpress piece

RAVEN PRESS at the University of Delaware was named because of the logo of the just-off-campus bar and landmark in Newark, Delaware. Local legend has it that Edgar Allan Poe had downed a few drinks there. We don't believe the drinking story, but we like telling it. Just for the record, there is another Raven Press so to avoid confusion, we always called it "Raven Press at the University of Delaware."

World typography needs a postcard

The Visual Communications Group at the University of Delaware hosted an exhibition during February 2003 entitled “bukva:raz!,” an international competition resulting in an exhibition of the 100 best international typeface designs completed or released over the previous five years. Sponsored by the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI), bukva:raz! was a special contribution to the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations (2001).

The exhibition had been at the United Nations in New York City. Ray called to see if there was any chance we could borrow it to show at Delaware. They said, if we would come and get it, we could just have the exhibition.

Our first letterpress project was going to be a 6" x 4" postcard promoting the exhibition.

The name of the competition—bukva:raz!—translates as “letter:one!” Bukva is Russian for “letter” (as in letterform) and raz for “one” (as in two thousand one). As the card states, "Bukva:raz! celebrates cultural pluralism and encourages diversity, interaction, and cooperation in typographic communications."

Typeface designs from the countries of Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States were represented in the exhibition.

Getting the exhibition is a story unto itself. If you have the chance to have lunch with us and you say you want to hear the United Nations Bukva:raz! story, we'll give you your choice of Lead Graffiti posters. We love telling the story of running and sliding in the atrium of the U.N., purple hair, and "No you cannot bring scissors and knives in here." 

We bought our first plates for the 2-color job from Boxcar Press in Syracuse, NY. We had borrowed a brand-new Boxcar base from our only knowledgeable letterpress friend, Mike Kaylor, who handed it over with the explicit directions, "Do not get ink on the plate." We had cleaned our 100-year-old Chandler & Price 10 x 15 press about as much as reasonable people with a new, but dirty, toy would. 

Raven Press at the University of Delaware was at the starting line.

We set up to print the red run first.

We cut the press on.

Immediately the rollers laid down a solid layer of red, printing to the bottom of the plate and beyond.

"Oh, my God."

We cleaned it up as best we could, but there was clearly a pink stain across the whole 9: x 12" base except for the 1" x 4" plate for the red type you can see below. Later we would figure out that the ink rollers were too low, but we were newbies who never suspected such a thing was even possible.

To keep the base from being re-inked we put Scotch tape across the whole surface, but the slight change in depth of 2 layers of tape where they overlapped versus 1 was enough to print. We could not figure out how to keep that from happening.

So we just let it ink and printed 500 cards. Put a ruler on that red type and you can see it isn't straight, but we were trying to solve the problems one at a time. That red line under "raz" helped balance things out visually, though in no way a deliberate act.

Strangely, a lot of people said they loved the antique effect as if it was a design decision, and wanted to know how we achieved it. We accepted all praise, knowing the full truth of the matter.

The press which came with a motor that ran at one speed ended up being another problem for us. It was just a bit too fast. We would print 3 postcards and drop one through the press because we just couldn't get it to hit the registration pins correctly very many times in a row. I was feeding the paper and Jill was pulling it out. We looked like clowns.

But this was really a fun day at the circus and Raven Press at the University of Delaware was off and running.

Just to complete the story this is a photo of our students attending the opening of the Bukva:raz! exhibition.

And a photo of Ray with some Cyrillic letterforms.

Visiting Eric Gill’s Gravesite

Visiting Eric Gill’s Gravesite or Ah, to have money and the collecting spirit

A bunch of wonderful items by Eric Gill is going on the auction block today, Tuesday, April 19, 2011, in England. Eric Gill designed some of the really wonderful sculpture along with a few exceptional typefaces (Gill Sans, Perpetua, and Joanna). So, that makes a pretty nice reason to talk about our visit to Eric Gill’s gravesite back in 2001.

One of the auction items is Gill’s handwritten description of his burial plans.

This from the auction description. 662. Gill (Eric, artist, craftsman, and social critic, 1882-1940) Memorandum re Funeral, etc., autograph manuscript initialed “E.G.” & with a pencil addition by his wife, Mary Ethel, 1p., docket on verso, folds, framed and glazed, 290 x 235mm., 25th October 1940. *** Gill’s funeral instructions. “I desire that my body shall be brought from the place where I die & placed in a plain box of pine wood, not coffin shaped, in Pigott’s Chapel to await its burial. I desire that a Requiem Mass be said in Pigott’s Chapel on the day of my funeral and that my body be taken immediately thereafter to the place of burial. I desire that a simple headstone, like Charlie Baker’s with footstone to match be placed on my grave & that the natural grass mound be retained without kerbs. I desire that there shall be the following inscription on the headstone: PRAY FOR ME ERIC GILL STONE CARVER 1882-194… .” - Gill. “Through summer 1940 Gill was seriously ill, first with German measles, then with congestion of the lung. He had been (and remained) an inveterate smoker, demonstrating working-class solidarity by rolling his own cigarettes. Lung cancer was diagnosed in October 1940. He refused the proposal of a pneumectomy and died in Harefield Hospital, Uxbridge, in the middle of a heavy air raid in the early morning of 17 November 1940. The funeral was held four days later at Pigotts, in the Gill’s family chapel. Requiem mass was said according to the Roman rites. Gill’s body was then transported in a farm cart for burial in the churchyard of the Baptist church at Speen, a curious reconnection with his dissenting ancestors. He had left characteristically exact instructions for his gravestone, allowing space for Mary. The inscription was cut by Laurie Cribb.” - Fiona MacCarthy. Oxford DNB.

Estimated selling price. £4000 – £6000

Our trip to Gill’s gravesite.

It was June 2001 and I had gone to London a week ahead of a study abroad group from the Visual Communications Group from the University of Delaware to both attend a D&AD conference and to make sure everything was ready for our nearly two dozen students. One of my first days there I was walking the streets around Russell Square (which would be our neighborhood for the five years I was involved with the study abroad trips) and happened to walk by a used bookstore named Collinge & Clark. In the window was a display of books about Eric Gill. There was also a short typed manuscript of an unpublished manuscript by Gill for £200 which I didn’t buy, but that is a story for another day of self-flogging. Here is the front of Collinge & Clark.

I bought five books. I would pull up a chair by the window of my hotel window at night and read. One of the books, a biography of Gill by Fiona MacCarthy, showed a photo of Gill’s gravestone.

The students came on June 25, 2001, Jill and I decided to test out the British train system. We looked up Speen (Gill's burial site) and made our best guess as to how to get there. Catch the train to High Wycombe and then take a taxi to the gravesite. It appeared that Speen was about 6 miles from High Wycombe so at the very least we could walk.

We stocked up on supplies. A variety of papers bought at Paperchase to do a gravestone rubbing, some rubbing crayons bought at St. Martin’s in the Fields (rubbing crayons aren’t the same as Crayolas), and a killer picnic lunch with lots of cheese and sandwiches. We figured out the train system and caught an early Saturday morning train (we thought Sunday might be a bit more crowded at a church) and set out rather naïvely to meet with Mr. Gill. We were starting to see some potential problems in our plan while on the train ride. The 6 mile walk? Getting back? Roads? 

Finding the cemetery?

We arrived at High Wycombe and walked out to talk to a taxi driver. We told him our story and what we wanted to do. We promised a small tip for the ride out with a much larger tip if he would agree to come back and pick us up at a predetermined time. He agreed, and we were off.

The road was incredibly narrow with lots of curves and overhanging brush right to the edge of the road. There was NO WAY we were going to have been able to walk that road and avoid being killed.

As we were driving to Speen, we noticed a sign for Pigott’s where Gill had worked. He had printed his book “Essay on Typography” there (and we own a signed copy), but that again is another story. We were on the right track. When we arrived at what appeared on the map to be Speen, there was no town. There were no businesses. JUST a corner.

We asked someone along the road if there was a church with a cemetery there. He pointed us back down the road we had just come up, so the taxi turned around and headed back. We passed what might be a church, and for a brief two seconds, you could see a few gravestones. We turned back around and headed up a tiny road beside the church. We got out and immediately I could see Gill’s gravestone at the top of the hill. We agreed that the taxi driver was to come back at 2:30 to pick us up and that the tip would be four times his normal tip (they don’t tip well in England generally).

The photo at the top is me with Gill’s gravestone.

Above I’m doing a rubbing of the type on the gravestone.

Below is one of the finished rubbings.

The taxi driver was about an hour late returning, and we were starting to seriously worry and were about asking some other visitors (historians who were recording all of the information on all of the gravestones) to the cemetery if we could catch a ride with them. It would have been awful to have him come back for us and us not be there. So, in the end, the trip had none of the problems we were imagining. We tipped the driver £20.

Still, one of the most fabulous days Jill and I have ever spent together.

Here is one of the other items for sale in the auction. How often do things like this ever even come up for sale? 

It was an original woodblock “Raising of Lazarus” with the word ‘And,’ incised with Gill’s monogram and used on p.244 of the Golden Cockerel Press Four Gospels. It went for 10 times more than I could have ever paid.