wfn.org | NCC Hosts Nov. 11 Exhibit, Lecture on Arion Handcrafted Bible

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of Churches
Attn:	Holiday Features	November 4, 2002
	Book Editor	For Immediate Release

	Religion Editor
	Arts Editor

NEW YORK EXHIBITION AND LECTURE NOVEMBER 11
ON ARION PRESS HANDCRAFTED FOLIO BIBLE
AT NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

Noteworthy for Contemporary Translation,
Letterpress Printing, Hand Binding, Hand-illumination

Arion Press, the nations premier fine printers and publishers of limited
edition artists books, will exhibit its sixtieth publication, a grand folio
lectern Bible, in New York City in November.

On November 11, A Bible for the 21st Century: Celebrating the New Revised
Standard Version and the Arion Press Folio Bible will be held at the
National Council of Churches at 6:30 p.m. Fine printer and designer Andrew
Hoyem will give a talk along with Bible translator Professor Walter
Harrelson, with a viewing of the Arion Bible and reception to follow. The
location is Sockman Lounge, Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive (enter
off Claremont Ave. between 119th and 120th Sts), Manhattan. RSVP to
212-870-2923.

Professor Walter Harrelson is a Bible scholar and chair of the National
Council of Churches Bible Translation Committee, whose work culminated in
the publication of the New Revised Standard Version Bible in 1989.  The NCC
holds the copyright to the NRSV.  Harrelson is professor emeritus at
Vanderbilt University Divinity School.

November 3 through 11, Andrew Hoyem, fine printer and publisher of Arion
Press, will be available to display the Bible and for interviews.

November 6 through 10, the Arion Press will be exhibiting its latest
publications, including the folio Bible, at the IFPDA Print Fair at the Park
Avenue Armory at 67th Street, from noon to 7 p.m. The Arion Bible can also
be seen at public collections in New York, including the New York Public
Library at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.
The Arion Press Bible

Nearly ten years in planning and production, the Arion Bible was designed by
Arion Press publisher Andrew Hoyem and set in type, printed, illuminated,
and bound entirely in-house by a team of traditionally trained craftspeople
at the Press in San Francisco. Copies of the edition of 400 are now being
bound by hand, at the rate of approximately one per week.

Noteworthy as the first grand folio lectern Bible to present the
contemporary translation and current scholarship of the New Revised Standard
Version, it is intended primarily for use in church services but also
functions for display as a work of art for individuals and libraries. In the
500-year tradition of grand printed Bibles, it is a monument to the
scriptures, fine typography, and fine bookmaking.

 With the publication of its magisterial lectern Bible, the Arion Press
enters the new millennium with the healing gift of fine art, said Kevin
Starr, historian and State Librarian of California. In the realm of book
arts, Arion Press stands at the top.

The 1,350-page Arion Press Bible measures 18 by 13 inches and weighs 35
pounds. Published in an edition of 400, it ranges in price from $7,250 to
$11,000, depending upon the purchasers choice of binding and
embellishments. Each book of the Arion Bible begins with a large red initial
letter. This alphabet of roman capitals was created by noted type designer
Sumner Stone, formerly director of digital design for Adobe.
Hand-illuminated, abstract patterns, created by calligrapher Thomas Ingmire,
embellish the initials of special copies of the Bible.

The text is printed by letterpress on Somerset, a mouldmade paper
manufactured from all-cotton fiber by the Inveresk Mill in England. Designed
for ease of reading, the text is set in Romulus, a typeface originally drawn
by the eminent Dutch designer Jan Van Krimpen between 1931 and 1937 and
later developed for machine composition by the Monotype Corporation. Named
for the legendary founder of Rome, Romulus is a letter of graceful, clean
lines and open readability.

The prose portions of the text are set on a full measure (that is, the width
of the page), while the metrical portions, such as Psalms and Proverbs, are
set in double columns, an arrangement both pleasing and practical for the
reader. The design of the Arion Bibles chapter and verse numbers serves two
functions. They are easy to spot when readers are looking for a particular
reference, and yet, the reader passes over them as nearly invisible when
reading for meaning. The pages demonstrate legibility for the reader and
aesthetic unity for the beholder.

At different stages of production, Arion Press publisher Andrew Hoyem drew
upon both traditional and modern tools. Hoyem worked with computer-based
text prepared by the National Council of Churches to ensure textual accuracy
and laid out the Bibles pages using the newest Macintosh computer. In an
unusual adaptation of computer technology, a Monotype casting machine
received its instructions from a vintage Macintosh computer, thus bypassing
the process of typing the Bibles text on the Mono-type keyboard. The type
for the Bible was cast letter by letter in the publishers historic
typefoundry, which still uses some equipment brought to California in 1915
for the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
The Arion Press is the nations leading publisher of fine-press books,
spanning classics to contemporary literature to works of new scholarship.
Many incorporate original work by such artists as Martin Puryear, Jim Dine,
Wayne Thiebaud, Barry Moser, Ida Applebroog, William T. Wiley, Richard
Diebenkorn, Robert Motherwell, and Jasper Johns. Its publications are widely
collected and exhibited by individuals and such libraries and museums as the
British Library, Museum of Modern Art, and New York Public Library.

The Historic Bookmaking Operation

A unique enterprise in several respects, the Press is the countrys largest
integrated letterpress printing and fine bookmaking facility. Here books are
produced step by step, from the casting of metal type, through design,
illustration, printing, and binding. Arion is a direct descendant of the
Grabhorn Press, with a vast collection of rare and historic types and
equipment, and also incorporates the last fully functioning typefoundry in
the nation. M & H Type (Mackenzie & Harris) was established in San Francisco
in 1915. Some of its typecasting machinery was displayed at the
Panama-Pacific Exposition and has been in continuous use ever since. In
recognition of its historic status, in 2000 the facility was designated by
the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the nations
irreplaceable cultural treasures.

###

Photos available from Arion Press and National Council of Churches.

For information or to schedule an interview, contact Andrew Hoyem or Charles
Martin at (415) 561-2542.  The Arion Press is located at 1802 Hays Street,
The Presidio, San Francisco, CA 94219; phone 415-561-2542; fax 415-561-2545;
e-mail arionpress@arionpress.com; Web: www.arionpress.com

National Council of Churches Media Contact is Carol Fouke:
212-870-2227/2252.  The NCC is the nations leading ecumenical organization.
Its 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican member denominations (communions)
comprise 50 million adherents.	The NCCs headquarters is located at 475
Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115.  Phone 212-870-2227; fax 212-870-2030;
e-mail news@ncccusa.org; Web: www.ncccusa.org