Complete PDF Prospectus

The Lost Journals of Sacajewea began as a project during the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. In the Spring of 2005, the Missoula Museum of Art had two exhibitions running simultaneously that were critical responses to the celebratory afflatus that customarily surrounds such events. I was at the museum to open my exhibition Nature Morte when I saw, hanging in the next gallery, a fragment of a poem that accompanied Native Perspectives on the Trail: A Contemporary American Indian Portfolio. I was introduced to the author, Debra Magpie Earling, and based on that fragment, I proposed a collaboration. Over the next few years we met occasionally and worked sporadically on the concept while we each pursued our own busy and demanding schedules. By 2006 Debra had completed the writing, and in 2009 I collected the last photographs that I wished to accompany the text. Printing began in late 2009 and was completed in January 2010.

Debra is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. She has been published in journals and anthologies and her novel Perma Red received the American Book Award, the Mountains and Plains Bookseller Association Award, and a Spur Award. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008.

The typeface is a version of the historic Fell types presumed to be the work of Dutch punchcutter Dirck Voskens and interpreted by Jonathan Hoefler in a conscious attempt to reproduce the imperfect image that the Fell types left on paper when printed in the 18th Century. The Fell types have been described as “retaining a retrogressive old-style irregularity” which somehow seems appropriate given our purpose here in this book.

The text is printed on Twinrocker Da Vinci hand-made paper at Peter Koch Printers and bound at the press by Jonathan Gerken. The smoked buffalo rawhide cover paper was designed and hand-made by Amanda Degener especially for this edition at Cave Papers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.The spine is beaded with trade beads and small caliber cartridge cases.

The images were prepared by Donald Farnsworth at Magnolia Editions and printed on Kozo hand-made paper with the assistance of Jonathan Gerken and Tallulah Terryll.

Debra Magpie Earling; illustrated by Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, CA: Editions Koch, 2010

"The editing of [Hans Peter] Koch’s papers provides researchers unprecedented insight into Montana’s early territorial years from an articulate observer of the frontier and one of the molders of Montana society." —Brian Shovers, Montana Historical Society

Jointly published by Drumlummon Institute and Bedrock Editions, Splendid on a Large Scale: The Writings of Hans Peter Gyllembourg Koch, Montana Territory, 1869-1874, presents the diaries and letters of a highly educated Danish immigrant who made significant contributions to the emerging EuroAmerican culture on the Montana frontier.

Known as Peter, the young man quickly grew “enthusiastic on the subject of Montana, her beauties and resources,” and his writings offer a wonderfully articulate account of his first years in a new country—as an unlikely frontiersman, often reluctant businessman, aspiring naturalist, avid bookman, and yearning lover (he wrote the bulk of his letters to his fiancée, Laurentze, whom he would wed in 1874).

Whether he was painting a picture of the home he hoped to build for his bride-to-be, lamenting the absence of good books, chronicling his efforts to trade with the Crow Indians, or describing the lynching of a murderer by vigilantes, Koch brought a sensitivity and astuteness to the task that belies his concern that the frontier might render him “rough and unpolished.”

Peter’s passion for education and book culture led him to start the Bozeman public library, but it was as co-founder of the Agricultural College of the State of Montana (today Montana State University, Bozeman) that he left his most lasting mark.

In his public spiritedness and as the “compelling, moving, driving force behind the movement for a newer education,” Peter possessed, in the words of the 1919 Bozeman Weekly Exponent, “the intelligence of an aristocrat and the heart of a democrat.”

Koch is often mentioned alongside other major collectors of the literature of western exploration. When Ripley Hitchcock discusses, in his landmark study, The Louisiana Purchase and the exploration, early history and building of the West, "the early memoirs of travelers and hunters, the tales of Indians . . . and the various personal narratives," he cites the "library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, the Mercantile Library of St. Louis . . . and certain private libraries like those of Edward E. Ayer of Chicago [whose collections formed the backbone of the Newberry Library and the Field Museum], H. H. Bancroft of San Francisco [Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley], and the Hon. Peter Koch of Bozeman, Montana, [as especially] rich in examples of this early literature."

Edited and annotated by historian Kim Allen Scott, Splendid on a Large Scale includes not only Peter’s diaries and letters, but also an extensive introduction and afterword, Peter’s vivid account of his experiences as a trader at Fort Musselshell in 1869-1870, an essay on his extraordinary collection of the literature of western exploration, and an inventory of the most significant titles in that library.

The book is designed by Peter Rutledge Koch, great-grandson of Hans Peter Koch, one of America’s foremost letterpress printers and book artists, and founder of the Codex Foundation.

Hans Peter Gyllembourg Koch; edited by Kim Allen Scott
Helena, Montana: Bedrock Editions & Drumlummon Institute, 2010

I’ll Die Tomorrow was designed, printed, and bound in an edition of forty-five copies by Peter Rutledge Koch with the assistance of Jonathan Gerken at Peter Koch Printers for del Milion Editions. The text, set in Bookman Old Style, is printed letterpress on Hahnemühle Photo Rag and the cover is printed on Crane’s Cover. The original photographs are printed with a unique color technique created by Karen Filter and based on Carbro prints from the 1930s & 40s and Technicolor from the 1950s. They were selected from her “B-Movie Series” and “Detective Series” shot in the 1980s. The photographs were then scanned and corrected under the direction of the artist and reproduced as digital pigment prints at Magnolia Editions in Oakland, California.

Mickey Spillane; illustrated by Karen Filter
Berkeley, California: del Milion Editions, 2009

Sketches Begun in My Studio on a Sunday Afternoon and Completed the Following Day Near the Noon Hour on the Lower Slopes of the Rocky Mountains was designed and printed by Peter Rutledge Koch with the assistance of Jonathan Gerken. One hundred signed and numbered copies were printed on Hahnemulhe Biblio and twenty-six specially bound copies, signed and lettered A to Z were printed on vintage Robert Serpa handmade paper. The typeface is a hand-tooled digital version of Dante, designed in Verona by Giovanni Mardersteig and cut in steel by Charles Malin.

Copies A–Z were hand-bound at the press by Jonathan Gerken.

Cover wood engraving by Richard Wagener from a 1997 photograph by Fletcher E. Newby.

Rick Newby
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2008

A collection from the printing presses of Peter Rutledge Koch with an introductory essay by Timothy D. Murray.

Black Stone Press 1975 – 1982
Peter Koch Printer, 1982 – 2006

This collection includes over 100 pieces of literary, artistic, bibliophile, and business printing weighing 12 pounds (including the box), produced under a number of different imprints including Black Stone Press, Hormone Derange Editions, Editions Koch, and Peter Koch, Printers. The contents range from a flier advertising the maverick literary journal MONTANA GOTHIC (Koch’s first piece of design, circa 1974 ... using lettraset and an AB Dick copy machine!), letterpress printed bookplates and wine labels, to a laser-printed pamphlet, all designed and printed between 1974 and 2007 by master printer, Peter Rutledge Koch at his studios in Missoula, San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley.

The box, reminiscent of a 19th century letterbox, measuring 11.5 by 15 x 5.5 inches wide, was constructed (with splendid craftsmanship) by Taurus Bookbindery in San Francisco of acid free materials and vintage Buckram.

The accompanying essays and the list of contents are included as the 2007 contribution. In addition to the stated contents each box will have several items that are not included on the list due to the fact that we had less than 27 exemplars of certain materials we deemed appropriate to include in this collection.

The edition of 27 boxes are press-numbered on the spine and are available for sale from the printer.

Peter Koch
Berkeley, CA: Peter Koch, Printer, 2007

Five hundred years ago Venice was host to the greatest Renaissance scholar-printers, humanists, and artists. Here in 1499, Aldus Manutius printed his most beautiful and enigmatic book, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Today we are participating in that great tradition.

Watermark is a series of lyrical meditations woven from the fabric of Venice in the late 20th century ... meditations on time & beauty ... a looking glass romance of a Russian poet-in-exile with a city that beguiles his eye. Brodsky dedicated Watermark to his friend the American painter, Robert Morgan who has lived in Venice for more than 30 years and the book is illustrated with 14 photo-gravures made from his original photographs.

In early September, we imported a printing press, on loan from the Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione printing museum in Cornuda, near Treviso and floated it down the Grand Canal to the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia in the Cannaregio sestiere, where Peter was artist-in-residence for the Fall of 2006.

The paper is Twinrocker “Da Vinci” handmade, with our own watermark designed by Christopher Stinehour and Susan Filter. Robert Morgan’s photographs were digitally re-configured by Donald Farnsworth and printed at his Magnolia Editions in Oakland, California from photogravure plates made by Unai San Martin. The printed sheets were shipped to Venice, Italy, where we printed the text in Monotype Dante types cast in lead at the Olivieri Typefoundry in Milano. Once the printing at the Scuola Grafica was completed, the sheets were shipped to our studio in Berkeley where the book will be bound in richly pigmented papers made by hand at Cave Papers in Minneapolis, MN.

The edition is limited to fifty copies Copies numbered 1 to 30 are bound Venetian-red hand made papers and housed in a hand painted wooden enclosure. Copies numbered I to V designate the deluxe edition bound in full vellum, housed in a unique box with a brass plate imbedded on the surface, includes a suite of all 14 photo-gravures signed by the artist. Fifteen copies are designated h/c (hors commerce).

Joseph Brodsky; illustrated by Robert Morgan
Venice: Peter Koch, Printer, 2006

A Ore Perse is a gathering of four poems composed in the Venetian dialect by Franco Ferrari Delfino that express an often humorous view of the world through the eyes of a native Venetian. The linoleum cuts are of familiar Venetian landmarks one of which is a large 12 x 30 inch fold-out view of the Rialto bridge.

The text was edited by Susan K. Filter and translated by Dina and Adalberto Viggiano. The press mark for this first publication under the del Milion imprint was designed in a collaboration between Susan Filter and Christopher Stinehour. It depicts a particular set of Byzantine-Gothic windows in the Corte del Milion in Venice where Marco Polo lived in the 13th century. Del Milion was the sobriquet given to him by the Venetians after the publication of his travel adventures in French, Livre des Merveilles (known as Il Milione in Italian). The Venetians call it the Courtyard of the Million ... lies!

Sixty-five copies were designed, printed on Arches cover, and bound in terracotta Fabriano wrapppers during the summer of 2006 by Peter Koch with the assistance of Jonathan Gerken. Tony Green cut five linoleum blocks in New Orleans and then proofed them at the press. The typefaces are Scala for the text and Rialto Italic for display.

Franco Ferrari Delfino; translated by Dina and Adalberto Viggiano with refinements by Ariel Parkinson; edited by Susan K. Filter; illustrated by Tony Green
Berkeley, CA: del Milion, 2006

A sequence of 12 poems and translations based on Presocratic sources. Designed and printed letterpress from photo-polymer plates by Peter Koch. The English text is set in Giovanni Mardersteig’s Dante type, designed in Verona and cut by Charles Malin in Paris in 1954. The Greek source texts, printed on facing pages, are set in Christopher Stinehour’s Diogenes Greek, designed in Berkeley in 1996. 200 numbered copies have been printed on Hahnemühle Biblio paper, Smythe-sewn, and enclosed in letter­press printed wrappers with cover designs by Winifred McNeill. Signed by the author. 26 lettered copies have been printed on Serpa handmade paper, with a typographic cover designed by Bringhurst and printed on Magnolia handmade paper. Hand-bound at the press by Jonathan Gerken. Signed by the author and slipcased.

Robert Bringhurst
Berkeley, CA: Editions Koch, 2005

A portfolio of digital pigment prints assembled from historic photographs and documents; the manuscript journals and papers of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Elers Koch; and short legends by the artist hand-set in lead type. The prints are accompanied by texts selected from the writings of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Ross Cox, William T. Horniday, L.A. Huffman, Elers Koch and others. A preface by Rick Newby, an introduction by Griff Williams, and a statement (writings) by the artist complete the portfolio.

Nature Morte was originally commissioned in exhibition print format by the Holter Museum in Helena, Montana on the occasion of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition 1804-1805.

The images are printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag by Urban Digital Color in San Francisco and the title engraving and texts are printed letterpress on Hahnemühle Copperplate by Peter Koch. The portfolio boxes are linen paneled with a stamped quarter leather spine and made by John DeMerritt in Emeryville, California.

The portfolio consists of eleven images printed on 16 by 22 inch sheets in a landscape format and slipped into folios on which are printed the accompanying texts. The title page, documentation, and essays are printed on loose folios and housed with the images in a sturdy clamshell box. A suite of exhibition prints of the entire text may be special ordered in sheets to facilitate wall hanging. The title page collage/engraving was hand-colored at the press by Susan Filter. Each portfolio is signed and numbered by the artist and each image is signed on the reverse.

Please also see a PDF showing the entire contents of Nature Morte.

Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2005

The text is comprised of all twenty Greek fragments, varying in length from a only few words to 66 hexameters, of a poem composed by Parmenides almost 2,500 years ago in southern Italy. For this project, Peter Koch commissioned Dan Carr to create a new typeface that balanced the lyricism and movement of the handwritten poem and the formality of a carefully-made inscription. Parmenides Greek, the foundry face designed, cut, and cast by Carr at the Golgonooza Letter Foundry, is accompanied by Diogenes Greek, a digital face designed by Christopher Stinehour. Printed in Greek on the left with the translation by Bringhurst on the facing page. Greek text handset in Parmenides Greek at the press by Richard Seibert, Robert Bringhurst, and Peter Koch; English text set in Monotype Dante at the Golgonooza Letter Foundry; cover text, printed in red and black, set in Diogenes Greek. 5 wood engravings that boldly accent the text are hand-printed by Wagener in vibrant red, fiery orange and velvety black on Zerkall mill paper. 120 numbered copies, bound by Peggy Gotthold at Foolscap Press in quarter leather and Hahnemühle Bugra paper, are enclosed in a case covered in gold Japanese silk. 26 lettered copies, bound in full leather by Daniel Kelm and enclosed in a drop-back box, are accompanied by a suite of 10 wood engravings signed by Richard Wagener and a broadside specimen sheet for each of the typefaces made for this edition. Afterword by Bringhurst set in special digital Dante, New Hellenic Greek, and Lazurski Cyrillic, and printed from polymer plates. Signed by Koch, Wagener, and Bringhurst.

Parmenides; translated by Robert Bringhurst; illustrated by Richard Wagener
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2004

A revised second edition of The Diary of Christian Koch, privately published by the Koch family, including the original introduction by Thomasine Lutken in 1947. The diary covers a number of seafaring and river running adventures from the East coast of the United States and Central America, to the Mississippi and upper-Missouri Rivers during the early 19th Century. The new edition contains a second introduction by the editor, footnotes, and appendices. Designed by Peter Koch. Bound using orange quarter cloth and green paper over boards. Gold imprint of leaf on cover.

Christian Koch; edited by Richard T. Rhoades
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2004

A reprinting of Keats’ poem in portfolio format accompanied by 11 drypoints hand-watercolored by the artist and one relief print. Text composed in a digital restoration of the historic Fell types and printed letterpress from photo-polymer plates by Peter Koch. Drypoints printed by Kay Bradner. Enclosed in a dark blue cloth clamshell box with stamped quarter leather spine constructed by John DeMerritt. Afterword by Matt Phillips.

John Keats; illustrated by Matt Phillips
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2004

“This book is ... a guided tour of ... the philosophy of artisanship, in some of its many forms.” A series of essays by master letterpress printer Peter Koch; poet, translator and typographer Robert Bringhurst; punchcutter, type designer, typefounder and poet Dan Carr; master stonecutter and type designer Christopher Stinehour; master bookbinder Daniel Kelm; bookbinder, casemaker and printer Peggy Gotthold; and visual artist and master wood engraver Richard Wagener. These essays, which detail their collaborative efforts in creating The Fragments of Parmenides, include “Philosophy and Printing in the Real West” by Koch; “Finding the Form of an Ancient Text” by Bringhurst; and “Parmenides, Craft and Being” by Carr. This companion text also features a number of photographs that trace the journey of creation, from conception to realization.

Robert Bringhurst and Peter Rutledge Koch, et al.
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2004

A pamphlet containing excerpts from the war letters of William H. Filter, WWII, and Roland W. Filter, WWI. Introductions by Susan Filter, W. Jeffrey Filter, and Elise Filter. Cover printed letterpress by Susan Filter and Peter Koch. Text reproduced by copy machine on Mohawk superfine text. Brown Fabriano Ingres wrapper featuring antique wood type.

William H. Filter & Roland W. Filter; edited by Susan K. Filter
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 2004

The Helen Fragments is a collaboration between two contemporary artists who have come together over an ancient text that has fascinated readers for millennia. The poet and printer, Richard Seibert, has selected portions from Homer’s Iliad that tell the tumultuous story of Helen of Troy and has translated them from the original Greek into contemporary lyric.

Winifred McNeill, a New York based artist, working over a period of two years, completed over a hundred drawings for this project. Each of the fifty fragments is accompanied by a drawing that has been reconfigured digitally under the supervision of the artist and printed letterpress from polymer plates.

The text is composed in Monotype Quadraat and the epigraph is in Wilson Greek. Printed from photo-polymer plates on Zerkall Bütten-Karten paper by Max Koch at the Koch Studio. Cover paper made specifically for this edition by David Kimball. Non-adhesive, external, long-stitch binding with leather tabs designed by Victoria Heifner and bound by John DeMerritt. Edition enclosed in a paper-covered slipcase with spine tab plus chemise.

Homer; translated by Richard Seibert; illustrated by Winifred McNeill
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2003

A set of seven typographic prints composed of found engravings and antique wood type. Designed and printed by Peter Koch. The prints pair images of war with the traditional seven liberal arts of the Renaissance. Includes a title page. Housed loose in a dark blue cloth box with quarter leather constructed by John DeMerritt. Each print signed by the artist.

Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2002

A humorous typographic specimen book designed to imitate the style of a fictional 19th century printing business on the Montana frontier. Printed by Hannah Berman, Karen Eng, Max Koch, Marina Luz, and Chadwick Bidwell, under the direction of Peter Koch. Hand-bound by Victoria Heifner using quarter cloth over Davey board with hand woven headbands and an extra spine lable tipped in. Cover board features a rodeo engraving printed in terra cotta, and text printed in green and marigold.

Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2002

A collaboration between poet Mary Julia Klimenko, artist Manuel Neri, and photographer M. Lee Fatherree. The portfolio is comprised of ten poems written in English by Klimenko and translated into French by Armelle Vanazzi Futterman; a unique painting on printed paper by Neri; and 13 silver-gelatin prints from photographs of Mary Julia taken by Fatherree, 11 of which are hand-painted by Neri. Introduced in French by writer and journalist Paul Van Melle and English by Futterman. The text was designed and printed on Rives BFK paper by Peter Koch, using Centaur and Arrighi types cast by M & H Type. The binding structure was designed by Daniel Kelm and executed by Kelm, Kylin Lee, and other mechanics at the Wide Awake Garage. Numbered and proof editions are bound in goatskin leather, with leather onlay, hand-tooling, and stamping in palladium leaf. The book, plus one hand-painted photograph, is housed in a clamshell box covered in Japanese book cloth constructed by Linda Lembke at Green River Bindery. The deluxe edition, like the other editions, is bound in goatskin leather, with leather onlay, hand-tooling, and stamping in palladium leaf. Included with the book is a suite of three silver-gelatin prints, one of which is uniquely hand-painted by Neri. The book and suite are housed in a leather-covered drop-wall box that echoes the palladium design of the book cover. Limited to 25 numbered copies, 10 deluxe copies, 2 printer’s proof copies, and 3 artist’s proof copies.

Mary Julia Klimenko; illustrated by Manuel Neri, painter, and M. Lee Fatherree, photographer
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2002

Over a period of ten years beginning in 1991 I designed and printed from hand-set type, found-engravings and original artwork, a series of literary broadsides on various papers under the imprint of “Hormone Derange Editions, Last Chance Gulch,” an imprint invented for this series and for the joy of cowboy humour. The authors and artists include maverick poets, barflies, and cowboy surrealists among several well-known names in American literature. This collection was made purely for the fun of it all and friendship with the printer was the driving editorial criterion. The broadsides were printed in editions of 100 and 26 signed copies were reserved for this lettered edition.

The portfolio includes 16 signed broadsides by writers Victor Charlo, Barry Gifford, Greg Keeler, William Kitteredge, Peter Koch, Ed Lahey, Milo Miles, Rick Newby, Paul Piper, Thomas Sanchez, David Thomas, Philip Whalen, John Yao, and an additional broadside featuring a poem by Robert Bringhurst. Original wood engravings by Dirk Lee. The broadsides and a lettered title page are laid in an oblong clamshell box covered in German linen with a spine label printed on Fabriano Ingres. Broadsides may also be purchased individually.

Various authors
Berkeley, California: Hormone Derange Editions, 2001

A poem celebrating Venice and the complaints of its inhabitants written in Venetian dialect with an English translation on facing pages. Franco Ferrari, a life-long inhabitant of Venice, pokes gentile fun at his fellow citizens of the Serenissima. Tall, narrow, pamphlet printed letterpress on Rives paper by Susan Filter under the direction of Peter Koch. Two text illustrations of the Venetian neighborhood osteria, Già Schiavi, printed in blue. The pamphlet is enclosed in an Aragosto red Fabriano Ingres printed wrapper.

Franco Ferrari Delfino; translated by Diana and Adalberto Viggiano
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 2000

These one word picture poems were first begun in 1991 in an attempt to reformulate the custom of issuing wanted posters. I was searching for a new language form to express what was wanting (wanted) in my own vocabulary of symbols. The lead and wood types, copper electroplated and zinc photo-engravings were collected from such various sources as a newspaper office near Freezout, Montana and a printer’s junkyard in San Francisco.

A portfolio of eight Iris prints generated from the original photo-engravings and handset types of Portfolio One and digitally re-configured to produge these striking and densely pigment saturated prints in a limited edition of 20 copies. The prints, measuring 15 x 19 inches are printed on 500 gr. Somerset Radiant White. The box, fabricated by John De Merritt, is covered with German Iris Cloth and hinged in foil stamped terra cotta leather. Signed.

Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2000

These one word picture poems were first begun in 1991 in an attempt to reformulate the custom of issuing wanted posters. I was searching for a new language form to express what was wanting (wanted) in my own vocabulary of symbols. The lead and wood types, copper electroplated and zinc photo-engravings were collected from such various sources as a newspaper office near Freezout, Montana and a printer’s junkyard in San Francisco.

A portfolio of nine letterpress prints in a limited edition of 20 copies, was generated from photoengravings, lead and wood types. The prints, measuring 10 x 13.5 inches are printed on Fabriano Rosapina. The box, fabricated by John De Merritt, is covered with German Iris Cloth and hinged in foil stamped terra cotta leather.

Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, California: Editions Koch, 2000

This abcdarium and bestiary was commissiond by Peter Koch from the artist Richard Wagener in 1991. It came to completion seven years later in what has been hailed a tour de force of wood engraving by a modern master. Designed and printed on Zerkall paper by Peter Koch and Richard Wagener. The text, twenty-six short fictions written by Wagener that evoke the American West, is composed in Monotype Ehrhardt cast by the Golgonooza Letter Foundry. Accompanying the text are twenty-six wood engravings in black that follow the artist’s zoological alphabet, from the armadillo, Tolypeutes tricinctus, to the meadow jumping mouse, Zapus hudsonius. In addition to the zoological alphabet blocks, there are twelve engravings in red that serve as backgrounds for the initial letters used to indicate a new section. Bound by Peggy Gotthold using quarter leather and printed gray Fabriano Roma paper over boards, with gold lettering on the spine. Housed in a red cloth slipcase plus gray chemise. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Richard Wagener
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1998

A selection of sixteen poems by Robert Creeley. Text composed in Monotype Gill Sans by the Golgonooza Letter Foundry, Ashuelot, New Hampshire, and printed on Zerkall paper by Peter Koch. Nine linoleum cuts by the Los Angeles painter, John Millei, were proofed, printed, and then canceled at the press. The books are bound in quarter cloth with Fabriano paper sides, labeled and housed in a slipcase. The edition, limited to seventy-five numbered and twenty-five lettered copies, is signed by the author, artist, and printer.

Robert Creeley; illustrated by John Millei
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1998

Spanish with English translation by Stephen Kessler on facing pages. Six aquatints that capture the spirit of typography printed on Zerkall-Frankfurt paper by Kay Bradner. Text composed in Van Dijck by M & H Type and printed on Zerkall-Nideggen paper by Peter Koch. Printed Hahnemühle Bugra cover with black quarter leather bound by Peggy Gotthold.

Pablo Neruda; translated by Stephen Kessler; illustrated by Joseph Goldyne
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1998

Designed by Peter Koch in collaboration with Joseph Goldyne and printed letterpress on handmade Moravia paper from the Velke Losny Mill. The text, a short story by Saroyan that first appeared in The Yale Review, was composed at the press in Poliphilus and Blado, with Delphian, Libra, and Trajan for display. Paired with the text are ten etchings by Golydne, which were proofed and editioned by Kay Bradner. The cover is printed on custom handmade paper from the Magnolia Mill. Bound in a hand-sewn paper case and housed in a quarter leather clamshell box constructed by the Taurus Bindery. Leather spine features gold lettering and hand-tooling of a repeated pear designed by the artist. The edition, which originally numbered fifty copies, was reduced down to forty copies in the final stages due to foxing. Each plate is signed by the artist.

Four copies are currently available.

William Saroyan; illustrated by Joseph Goldyne
Berkeley, California: Bluewater Books, 1996

A hyper-modernist edition of the concrete poem wordswords is "Koch's final disarticulation" and ironicallly symbolizes the devaluation and loss of faith in the Word. Ur-Text is an extreme example of a metaphor and an icon of the "book as object." Text composed in Monotype Reproducing Bold type and printed on Mohawk Superfine paper. Hand-bound by Daniel Kelm in various metals. Covers are acid-etched zinc lined with doublures of oxidized brass. Primary sewing is braided dacron thread holding each signature to an external brass spine rod covered by aluminum tube segments, leaving space for a weaving of braided silk thread which connects the covers and signatures. Housed in a black and red Japanese-cloth-covered portfolio with magnetic fore-edge flap. Page edges tinted black.

Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1994

Ur-text, the concrete poem “wordswords,” is an icon in the form of a sacred medieval manuscript book translated into a typographic form and printed by Peter Koch. The text is composed in Monotype Goudy Text and printed on Serpa hand-made paper watermarked with the press logo. The pages are hand-sewn onto alum-tawed goatskin thongs and covered in calfskin vellum, with twisted calfskin and Tibetan bone bead clasps. Various binders have contributed to the design and execution of the vellum treatment.

Peter Rutledge Koch
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1994

This "text transmission object" is a collaborative sculpture designed as a "forgery" of a hypothetical object discovered by archeologists in the dump of ancient Corinth. Mixed media, ceramic and lead multiple. Designed by Peter Koch and hand-lettered by Christopher Stinehour. Printed letterpress from zinc engravings onto soft lead plates by Koch. Housed loose in a glazed ceramic box created by the sculptor Stephen Braun, each box unique in color and shape. Contains a selection of twenty-one selected short, philosophical performance pieces by Thomas McEvilley composed from the lore surrounding Diogenes of Sinope. As the plates are loose and unpaginated, they can be read in a random order.

Thomas McEvilley
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1994

A "cheap paperback" edition designed and printed letterpress on chipboard by Peter Koch from the same plates used in the lead edition. Housed loose in a cardboard box with terra cotta and black printing. Includes an essay by the author reprinted from ARTFORUM magazine in orange and black, laid in. An image taken from Raphael’s “School of Athens” [1509-1510] is printed in solarized detail on the essay title page and in half-tone detail on the box top.

Thomas McEvilley
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1994

The "book about the object" issued to accompany and explain the mysteries surrounding the arch-cynic Diogenes and the "forged" archeological discovery of the lead tablets. Designed and printed letterpress from photo-polymer plates by Peter Koch, using Adobe Caslon for text, and Monotype Gill Sans and Deberny & Peignot Bifur for display. Lead tablet illustrations printed in two colors from linoleum blocks and photo-polymer plates. Color reproduction of the ceramic box and plates tipped in. An image taken from Raphael’s “School of Athens” [1509-1510] is printed in solarized detail on the title page and in half-tone detail on the cover. Bound by Arnold Martinez using chipboard and a black cloth spine. Features an introduction by Robert Bringhurst, a lengthy essay by McEvilley entitled “Diogenes of Sinope,” and notes “On lead as a text transmission object” by Koch.

Thomas McEvilley
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1994

Unsought Intimacies includes a small collection of very touching poems of love and friendship and a suite of 3 etchings. The entire edition was printed on paper made especially by Robert Serpa. The etchings were printed by Brian Shure at Smalltree Press in San Francisco. The text type, hand-set at the press, is 16 point Monotype Van Dijck roman and italic. The edition is bound in boards covered with Timothy Barrett’s blue-grey paper-case paper by Priscilla Spitler at BookLab, in Austin, Texas and is enclosed in a cloth covered slipcase. Signed by the author, artist and printer.

Thom Gunn; illustrated by Theophilus Brown
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1993

Twenty-six letters printed on Masa paper by Peter Koch. Each letter began as an original papercut and was photo-engraved on zinc plates for printing. Bound by Kuznicki using black cloth over boards with a cover label printed in red and black, and a visible stab-sewn binding. Red paste papers with alphabet motif also made by Kuznicki. Copies lettered A-Z include one of the original papercut letters in its own portfolio. Remaining copies numbered 27-126. Signed by the artist.

Philip Kuznicki
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1991

The entire surviving fragments of Herakleitos printed in a bilingual edition, celebrated by Robert Bringhurst in his book, A Short History of the Printed Word. Designed and printed letterpress by Peter Koch with Greek and English texts on facing pages. Greek text hand-set by Mark Livingston in Monotype Gill Sans; Latin fragments and English text composed in Bembo Roman and Fairbanks Italic. Cover paper hand-painted in a rich brown by Shelley Hoyt-Koch and features a printed label. Visible stab-sewn binding based on a third-century A.D. Coptic sewing structure designed and executed by Hoyt-Koch. 100 copies printed on Zerkall-Nideggen paper and 13 copies printed on Serpa handmade paper with a handmade paper wrap-around case. 33 unbound copies were discovered 15 years later and bound in paper over boards by Jane Kim. The first fragment of Herakleitos is composed in Kabel Greek type and printed on the cover in two colors. English translation of the fragments of Herakleitos reprinted with minor variations from Grey Fox Books. Signed by the translator.

Herakleitos; translated by Guy Davenport
Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, Printer, 1990

Hailed as a masterwork and one of the great printed works of the late 20th century, Point Lobos was published as a collaboration between the typographer and printer, Peter Rutledge Koch and the photographer, Wolf von dem Bussche. The text is comprised of fifteen poems by Jeffers, chosen for their various reverberations of the spirit and beauty of Point Lobos, and a lengthy introduction by the poet, printer and Jeffers scholar, William Everson. The poems were handset in Albertus and Pegasus types; introduction and colophon set in Monotype Van Dijck. Printed by Peter Koch on Rives BFK White. Title page printed in terra cotta and black. Publisher’s device embossed on the lower right-hand corner of each leaf. Fifteen original photographs by von dem Bussche dramatically mirror the text and document the site of Jeffers’ inspiration; they are archivally printed and individually mounted on Rives BFK White. The pages are housed loose in a special folding case covered in German linen made by Klaus-Ullrich Roetzscher. Custom slipcase handcrafted from three-quarter inch black walnut by Shigoto Ya, Inc. Introduction by William Everson. Signed by both printer and photographer.

Though the edition was limited to 125 copies, 52 were destroyed in the Oakland Hills fire of 1991, paring the number of the edition down to seventy-three copies.

Poems reprinted from Timothy Hunt’s critical edition published by the Stanford University Press. Issued on the 100th anniversary year of the birth of Robinson Jeffers.

Robinson Jeffers; illustrated by Wolf von dem Bussche
Oakland, California: Peter and the Wolf Editions, 1987

Handbook of Ornament is a suite of poems written in a sparse language that verges on the surreal. When issued, the book won several design awards and is a delight to hold and to read. Designed, handset in Romulus types imported from the Netherlands just for this edition, and printed letterpress by Peter Koch on Mohawk Superfine paper. Includes geometric typographic designs arranged by Koch and printed in yellow. 474 copies Smythe-sewn into ivory paper covers with an embossed typographic design. 26 copies hand-bound by Shelley Hoyt-Koch in yellow quarter cloth and ivory Fabriano Roma paper over boards with embossed design and printed spine label. Numbered and signed by the author.

Michael Poage
San Francisco, California: Black Stone Press, 1979

Opal Nations has written a very sarcastic short piece of alchemical prose and invited the artist to illustrate it sight unseen and unread. The result is surreal chance formed in the somnambulist tradition.... a perfect match. Designed, handset in Linotype and foundry Garamond, and printed letterpress by Peter Koch on Curtis Utopian paper. Includes six full-page surreal anatomical collage illustrations created by Peter Koch and printed in dark terra cotta. 474 copies sewn into blue Strathmore wrappers printed in dark blue and black over black boards. 26 copies hand-bound by Shelley Hoyt-Koch in original marbled paper over boards with a printed spine label.

Opal L. Nations; illustrated by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1978

A suite of poems written in the finest tradition of rebellion and the surreal. Adam Cornford's first book of poems. Designed by Peter Koch and Shelley Hoyt-Koch and handset in Gill Sans types specially imported for this edition from England. Printed letterpress by Koch on Mohawk Superfine paper. Includes four full-page and title-page collage illustrations by the artist-in-exile Ludwig Zeller. 500 copies bound into red paper covers printed with an anatomical collage illustration. 50 copies hand-bound by Hoyt-Koch in black cloth over boards with printed cover and spine labels. Signed by the author.

Adam Conford; illustrated by Ludwig Zeller
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1978

A tri-quarterly publication featuring cowboy surrealists, maverick poets, writers, and artists. The publication was published and edited by Peter Koch and ran for six issues, spanning from 1974 to 1977. Shelley Hoyt-Koch collaborated on graphics and design for the last three issues.

Number Six, Fall 1977
Offset Lithography. Features poems and prose by a number of writers, including Sky Garner, Ludwig Zeller, Adam Cornford, and Michael Poage. Closing essay by Peter Koch symmetrically entitled “Deadstart.” Text accompanied by a variety of graphics, including collages by Philip Kuznicki. Also includes two folding collage illustrations on Warrens Old Style paper by Ludwig Zeller and Susana Wald. Letterpress blue cover designed and printed in red and black by Shelley Hoyt-Koch.

Complete list of contributors: Sky Garner, Ken Waino, David Thomas, George Hitchcock, Michael Fiedler, Joyce Mansour, Peter Koch, Jerry Estrin, Edwin Charles Dobb, George Evans, Abdal Wahhab al-Bayati, Ira Cohen, Ludwig Zeller (ill., fold-outs), Paul Brown, Carolann Russell Nord, Derek Pell, Fernando Alegria, Adam Cornford, Christine Zawadiwsky, Larry R. Smith, Richard Kostelanetz, Rene Daumal, John Digby, Gabriel Weisz, Shoshana Wechsler, William Gammil, Janine Pommy Vega, Michael Poage, Mark Lecard, Milo Miles, Paul Kuznicki (ill.), Susana Wald (ill., fold-out 2), Shelley Hoyt-Koch (cover)

Various Authors; edited by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1977

A tri-quarterly publication featuring cowboy surrealists, maverick poets, writers, and artists. The publication was published and edited by Peter Koch and ran for six issues, spanning from 1974 to 1977. Shelley Hoyt-Koch collaborated on graphics and design for the last three issues.

Number Five, Winter 1977
Offset lithography. Features poems and prose by Douglas Blazek, Patricia Geary, Daniel Lusk, Jane Bailey, Nancy Steele, and many others. Text accompanied by a variety of graphics, including paper-cuts by John Digby. Cover features an illustration by Bill Yenne. Co-edited by Jane Bailey.

Complete list of contributors: Derek Pell (ill.), Douglas Blazek, Tom Rea, Michael Poage, James Penzi, Craig Churry, Daniel Lusk, Whitson (ill.), Tom Montag, Opal L. Nations, John Digby (paper cuts), T. E. Jay, Patricia Geary, William Pillin, Patrick Todd, Bill Mayer, Jim Heynen, Dirk Lee (ill.), Kathleen McCullen, John Bennett, David Thomas, Frank Dugan (ill.), David Chevin, W. M. Ransom, K. E. Roney, Paul S. Ziegler, Charles Webb, Carol Jane Bangs, David Long, Ken Gerner, Jane Bailey, William Pitt Root, Mark Vinz, Cheryl Van Dyke, Kim Robert Stafford, Robert Long, Wilbur Wood, Marjorie Hawksworth, Sam Hamill, Bruce Lee (ill.), Nancy Steele, Eliott Brody, James Majorian, Terry M. Brown, Jane Miller, Mahlon Hubenthal, Bill Yenne (cover)

Various Authors; edited by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1977

A tri-quarterly publication featuring cowboy surrealists, maverick poets, writers, and artists. The publication was published and edited by Peter Koch and ran for six issues, spanning from 1974 to 1977. Shelley Hoyt-Koch collaborated on graphics and design for the last three issues.

Number Four, Spring 1976
Offset lithography. Features poems and prose from a number of writers, including Gabriel Weisz Carrington, John Digby, Janine Pommy Vega, Gary Young, Henri Michaux, and many others. Text accompanied by graphics by Frank Dugan, Bruce Lee, Dirk Lee, and Pablo Weisz. Letterpress red cover features an illustration by Russell Smith.

Complete list of contributors: Michael Poage, Peter Koch, Gabriel Weisz Carrington, Steve Attkinson, John Digby, William Harrold, B. C. Leale, Janine Pommy Vega, Ed Dobb, Harold Norse, Paul Brown, Paul Grillo, Andrei Codrescu, Craig Churry, Gary Young, Albert Stainton, Louis Hammer, Joyce Mansour, Hillary Russell Jr., Doren Robbins, Clifford Saunders, Cecil Helman, Charles Plymell, David Thomas, Ira Cohen, Milo Miles, Carla Hoffman, Henri Michaux, Nanos Valaoritis, Frank Dugan (ill.), Dirk Lee (ill.), Bruce Lee (ill.), Pablo Weisz (ill.), Russell Smith (cover)

Various Authors; edited by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1976

A tri-quarterly publication featuring cowboy surrealists, maverick poets, writers, and artists. The publication was published and edited by Peter Koch and ran for six issues, spanning from 1974 to 1977. Shelley Hoyt-Koch collaborated on graphics and design for the last three issues.

Number Three, Fall 1975
Offset lithography. Features poems by Adam Cornford, Michael Poage, Albert Goldbarth, Michele Birch, and many others. Text accompanied by graphics by Bruce Lee, Dirk Lee, Sir Quaxalot, and Peter Whitson. Frontispiece by Lee. Letterpress yellow cover printed in red and black and features an illustration by Dana Johnson. Co-edited by Jane Bailey.

Complete list of contributors: Albert Goldbarth, Michele Birch, Tess Gallagher, Elizabeth Libbey, Michael Poage, Adam Cornford, Judson Crews, Peter Koch, Siv Cederling Fox, Jane Bailey, Christine Zawadiwsky, Patricia Geary, Leslie Ullman, Stephen Lewandowski, Carolann Russell Nord, Edward Harkness, David Thomas, David Dayton, Patrick Todd, Merritt Clifton, J. Denison, Charles Fishman, Thomas Johnson, Tom Eagle, Luci Huhn, Lynn Lifshin, Tony Petrosky, Sandra Schor, Gary Young, Douglas Blazek, Quinton Duval, Heather Tosteson Reich, Robert Bly, Andrew Grossbart, Milo Miles, Bruce Lee (ill., frontispiece), Dirk Lee (ill.), Sir Quaxalot (ill.), Peter Whitson (ill.), Dana Johnson (cover)

Various Authors; edited by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1975

A tri-quarterly publication featuring cowboy surrealists, maverick poets, writers, and artists. The publication was published and edited by Peter Koch and ran for six issues, spanning from 1974 to 1977. Shelley Hoyt-Koch collaborated on graphics and design for the last three issues.

Number Two, Spring 1975
Offset lithography. Features poems, prose, and psalms from a number of writers, including Robert Bly, Keith Abbott, James Magorian, Milo Miles, and Steven Flick. Text accompanied by graphics by Bruce Lee, Dana Johnson, and Sir Quaxalot. Cover illustration by Lee.

Complete list of contributors: Robert Bly, Adam Cornford, Anselm Parlatore, Jane Bailey, Keith Abbott, Tim Kyle, G. Sharits, Steven Flick, Eileen Shukofsky, Howard Hart, David Long, Opal L. Nations, Stuart Peterfreund, Wilbur Wood, Barbara Holland, James Magorian, Will Hochman, Charles Plymell, David Thomas, Sheryl McKinsey, Milo Miles, Ed Meek, Merritt Clifton, Jim Brook, Claud Peleiu, Ann Weisman, Bruce Kennison, Bob Bingham, Patrick Todd, Ed Dobb, Bruce Lee (cover, ill.), Dana Johnson (ill.), Sir Quaxalot (ill.)

Various Authors; edited by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1975

A tri-quarterly publication featuring cowboy surrealists, maverick poets, writers, and artists. The publication was published and edited by Peter Koch and ran for six issues, spanning from 1974 to 1977. Shelley Hoyt-Koch collaborated on graphics and design for the last three issues.

Number One, Fall 1974
Offset lithography. Features poems and prose by Peter Koch, Adam Cornford, Jane Bailey, Robert Bly, Will Hochman, and many others. Opening essay by Koch entitled “Deadstart.” Text accompanied by illustrations and collages from artists such as Bruce Lee, Marie Wilson, Sir Quaxalot, and Nanos Valaoritis. Centerfold illustration by Jay Rummel. Cover and logo by Bill Yenne.

Complete list of contributors: Peter Koch, Adam Cornford, Louis Hammer, Merritt Clifton, Bruce Lee (ill.), Jane Bailey, Robert Bly, Jacquelyn McElroy, Steven Christenson, Will Hochman, Sir Quaxalot (ill.), Opal L. Nations, J. Izzo Jr., Carolann Russell Nord, Bob Behr, G. Karl Marcus, Jay Rummel (centerfold), Soshana Wechsler, Marie Wilson (ill.), Nanos Valaoritis (ill.), Ira Cohen, Dana Young, Charles Henri Ford, Harold Norse, Cynthia White, Milo Miles, Steven Flick, Bill Yenne (cover)

Various Authors; edited by Peter Koch
Missoula, Montana: Black Stone Press, 1974