2006 Winter Book
The Grammarian's Five Daughters
by Eleanor Arnason
The Grammarian’s Five Daughters was selected as a finalist in the Fine Press category for the 19th Annual Minnesota Book Awards.
Winter Book Information
Since 1988, Minnesota Center for Book Arts has engaged artists, designers, papermakers, bookbinders and printers in producing handmade, limited edition books featuring work by Minnesota authors. A unique manifestation of the book-as-art, the fine craftsmanship involved in the creation of each Winter Book helps to increase its value over time.
MCBA’s eighteenth Winter Book publication, The Grammarian’s Five Daughters, dotes lovingly on language through the story of a grammarian too poor to give her daughters a dowry. Instead, she sends each one into the world with a bag of words. Each daughter, embarking upon her life’s journey, soon discovers the winning ways of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions. Taking the reader through unusual twists and turns, the story reveals how having the right word for the occasion can lead to unexpected fortune.
The 2006 Winter Book is available in Deluxe, Standard and Chapbook Editions. The three editions were designed by MCBA Artistic Director Jeff Rathermel, Jana Pullman and Steve Pittelkow as a team. Jana Pullman also served as master letterpress printer for the project.
About the author:
Eleanor Arnason has published thirty or more short stories, five science fiction novels, several essays and a bunch of poetry. Her novel A Woman of the Iron People won both the James Tiptree Jr. Award and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and Arnason received the Minnesota Book Award for her novel Ring of Swords. Among her novelettes, Dapple won the Spectrum Award and Stellar Harvest was a finalist for the Hugo Award. Arnason’s short stories have been finalists for the Nebula, World Fantasy and Sturgeon Awards and have been reprinted in Best of the Year anthologies.
Edition Descriptions
The Chapbook ($35), numbered 1 through 200, is a 5.5” x 12” landscape softcover volume. Text is printed on natural Domtar Solutions and bound into olive Fabriano Murillo paper with endsheets of lime Murano. Line art illustrations by Linda Koutsky are letterpress printed in plum. Chapbooks were bound under the direction of Jana Pullman. See photos of the Chapbook.
The Standard Edition ($225), numbered 1 through 60 and signed by the author, is a 5.5” x 12” landscape volume featuring a quarter hardcover binding of chartreuse Asahi Japanese bookcloth and plum Japanese momigami paper. The book is protected by a slipcase constructed of black Fabriano Murillo and lavender textured papers. Text is printed in black, plum and celadon on mouldmade Johannot paper. Endsheets are handmade flax paper with complementary inclusions. A series of illustrations by Linda Koutsky accompany select passages. The Standard Edition was bound by Steve Pittelkow. See photos of the Standard Edition.
The Deluxe Edition ($550), lettered A through Z and signed by the author, illustrator, and mixed media artist, is a 5.5” x 12” landscape volume with an accordion binding opening to over 40 feet. The hardcover boards are wrapped in aubergine Japanese bookcloth with insets of brushed aluminum and amethyst cabochons. The book is housed in a box covered in handmade plum and pearl momigami papers. Text is printed in black, plum and celadon on French mouldmade Rives Heavyweight. Pages are backed and hinged with olive handmade Japanese mullberry paper. Tipped-in mixed media illustrations, designed by Lin Lacy based on the artwork of Linda Koutsky, complement the story. The Deluxe Edition was bound by the project design team. See photos of the Deluxe Edition.
Order Information
To place an order, call The Shop at MCBA at 612.215.2520. Winter Book purchases help support the project as well as MCBA's programs and services for artists.
