A Miniature
A Miniature is the first book of the poems of Jeff Johnson (1941–2017). Best known as a painter of intricate miniatures – Anthony Green called him ‘the greatest miniaturist that Britain produced in the twentieth century’ – Johnson also wrote poetry throughout his adult life. He made no attempt to publish this work, although when his wife Serena entered one of his pieces to the Cheltenham Poetry Prize in 1978, it won, alongside an entry by Craig Raine. This book includes sixteen of Johnson’s poems.
It is designed by Christopher Wilson at Oberphones, typeset by Phil Treble and Christopher Wilson at Muttons & Nuts, and printed letterpress by Phil Treble. The Prussian blue cover cloth and bright orange foil-blocked title and endpapers are reminders of colours found in Johnson’s paintings, and the frontispiece shows an enlarged detail of one of his drawings. The book is an edition of fifty copies, only twenty of which are available for purchase.
Print details
Printed on Vandercook SP15, Polydiam HF-85 Typeface 10pt Monotype Bembo, 11/12pt Monotype Grotesque bold Paper 175gsm Somerset Book Radiant White Binding Full cloth binding in Windsor Berkeley book cloth with tape head and tail bands in silver grey, endpapers in 175gsm Colorplan Mandarin, and the title foil blocked on the front in orange pigment foil. Edition 50 (of which I have 20 for sale) Size 216mm (h) × 143mm (w) × 10mm (d)