Lettered Edition of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The man who is often named as America’s first author to earn his living from writing was born at the end of the American Revolution and would die a few years before the Civil War (1783-1859). In pursuit of a profession, Irving turned to writing, publishing The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.in seven parts (1819-1820.) Well received in his home country, and, later in England, from his English publisher, the famous John Murray, this collection of literary sketches included what were to become his most famous works, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The award-winning painter, Gregory Manchess has worked as a freelance illustrator for forty-seven years on advertising campaigns, magazines, and book covers.

His work has appeared on covers and for feature stories of numerous magazines, such as National Geographic, Time, Atlantic Monthly, and The Smithsonian. Gregory’s excellent figure work has led to commissions for stamps by the US Postal Service, including the Mark Twain Stamp, the 1963 March On Washington Stamp, and the 2023 Christmas stamp series, Snow Globes.

On September 26, 2024, Manchess was inducted in the NY Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

A graduate of LCP and alumni of the University of the Arts London, Gavin started bookbinding in the late 1990's acquiring a good deal of experience working in various trade binderies in Europe, as well as alongside several master binders. In many areas, though, Gavin is largely self-taught through years of work on various projects for a wide variety of clients, from collectors and dealers, to designers, architects, artists, museums and galleries, and was featured on the PBS show “New York Originals”. Although grounded in tradition, Gavin's work has a distinctly modern design sensibility, using printing, photo-transfer and varied dyeing and airbrush techniques to achieve fresh perspective on an old craft. Gavin has taught as faculty at various art institutions in the USA, tutored several apprentices, and today takes private students at his workshop in Pound Ridge, NY.

Nomad Letterpress is run by Pat Randle from the Whittington Press in Cheltenham, from which Pat copublishes Double Dagger and prints Matrix (“the finest periodical of the book arts of the twentieth century”). Nomad Letterpress runs letterpress workshops throughout the year and specializes in high-quality book work both for clients and under their own imprint.

Nomad believes that printing and designing using the third dimension—be it with wood, metal, lino, or hardened plastics—cannot be surpassed for quality and character.