Dummy

It has taken a while, but now the dummy of the Capitals book is ready. The layout work was done my Eddie Ephraums from Self Publishing Solutions. Scans were partly done by Johan Doumont and partly by myself. I produced the prints of individual spreads on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 188g paper and then Inge van Pouck (www.boekbinderij.be) bound the whole thing very nicely together in a leporello format and put it into a slipcase. Nice teamwork.

The format is delightful. I knew already for a long time it had to be 18x18cm and this is really it. The book fits perfectly in the hand. It feels solid and compact. The accordeon binding works particularly well in conjunction with a layout which fits an abstract geographical progression, from west to east by means of a city's latitude and longitude, on each lefthand page. When leafing through the book, the basic feeling is one of progression, of a journey. The pictures are printed across the full width of a page ("aflopend") which reinforces this sense of continuity.

Over the past two days I have had the occasion to show the dummy to a fairly large number of people and the reactions are very positive. The whole concept seems to strike people as intriguing. They like to browse and fondle the book. I have also presented the dummy to an institution that may be interested in ordering a significant number of copies, as a gift. Again, reactions are promising and I sincerely hope we can make it work.

In a couple of hours I will leave for Bucharest: last leg in the Capitals journey! I hope to bring home some exciting negatives.