Presenting the third title in our Weird Shorts series Arthur Machen's masterpiece The White People.
A discussion between two occult flaneurs, Ambrose and Cotgrave on the nature of evil, of saints and sinners leads Ambrose to reveal the mysterious Green Book he possesses. The book is a dairy like document written by an adolescent girl, telling of her initiation by her nurse into an ancient pagan cult, a world of folklore, black magic and the supernatural traditions and rites of the countryside. It tells of her own spiritualist experiences first hand, in a heightened, mystical reality, with cryptic allusions to what she has witnessed...the white, green and scarlet ceremonies, the aklo letters and Mao games, the Dôls and 'voolas'.
The White People is considered by scholars and devotees of Weird Fiction to be one of the finest stories of the genre, it had a huge influence on H P Lovecraft who shaped many elements of his Cthulhu Mythos around Machen's visions and terminology. It also served as inspiration for T.E.D Klein's epic novel The Ceremonies and has influenced many other writers Alan Moore and Ramsey Campbell to name a few.
Our Lettered Edition is bound by Gillian Stewart of Juju Books.
Juju Books is a contemporary design and bookbinding practice, founded in 2017 by prize-winning bookbinder Gillian Stewart. A QEST Ambassador and graduate of Glasgow School of Art, Gillian’s background is in design, illustration and printmaking. Combined with traditional bookbinding skills gained through years of experience and intense training across Europe, Gillian seeks to make beautifully crafted objects to elevate, archive and inspire for years to come. Gillian's clients include, Idris Elba, Sir Quentin Blake, The Royal Collection at Windsor, Royal Commission for Al Ula
Suntup Editions, Robert Macfarlane and Bentley Motors.
Production spotlight:
These copies are lettered A-Z and are signed by the binder.
Printed letterpress, hot metal monotype by Ellen Bills and Pat Randle at Nomad Letterpress on our handmade Velke Losin stock which carries the Nepenthe and Losin watermarks.
The text is set in 12pt Centaur with Apothecary Serif as display
48pp
Hand Bound in quarter forest green leather with gilt stamped titles to the spine. The boards are covered in a handmade cyanotype printed paper which Gillian has made to evoke forest moss and woodland textures.
Title page printed in two colours
Letterpress printed ornaments and illustration borders
With 3 tipped-in illustrations by Samuel Araya
Housed in a handmade, lined slipcase covered in forest green cloth with green foiled key motif which incorporates Arthur Machen's monogram, designed by Aubrey Beardsley in 1895 for John Lane's 'Keynote Series'.
