"Deep Peace..." Celtic Notecards

"DEEP PEACE  of the running waves to you

DEEP PEACE  of the flowing air to you

DEEP PEACE  of the shining stars to you

DEEP PEACE  of the quiet earth to you

DEEP PEACE  of the gentle night to you

DEEP PEACE  of the God of peace to you"

~

Our roots are showing here at St Brigid Press. From our name to our green-themed color scheme, we don't mind sharing a bit of our Celtic lineage. Which is why we were honored to accept a commission for notecards featuring this ancient Irish blessing. From occasions of joy to expressions of sorrow, the gift of peace is always welcome.

Letterpress printed on our 100-year-old foot-treadled presses, these "Deep Peace" cards are made of thick, 100% cotton Holyoke Paper. The typeface is the beautiful "American Uncial," which was first designed in 1943 by Victor Hammer, and is resonant of millennia-old scripts. We hand-set each metal letter and space, and added lovely penline flourishes from the Dale Guild Type Foundry for ornament. Inks are oil-based and color-fast.

These "Deep Peace" cards are now available in our online STORE, as well as at Stone Soup Books and Cafe in Waynesboro, Virginia, in singles or packs-of-three (all with matching envelopes).

For whatever occasion, these notecards offer the beauty and peace of their heritage, along with the care and craft of their creation.

With thanks, and all best from the Press,

St Brigid Press

PS: Listen to Emily Hancock tell NPR's Martha Woodroof how St Brigid Press got its name: (48-second interview)

Winter Notecards

Greetings All,

Inspired by the Blue Ridge Mountains that surround us and the deep starry skies that glisten above us, we are glad to offer our new series of greeting cards for the winter season: "Peace Be."

Originally commissioned by Blue Ridge Life Magazine, these cards were designed and letterpress printed in our shop from vintage wood type, metal type, and a hand-carved linoleum block. Cardstock is thick, 110lb, 100% cotton paper, in Pearl White with matching envelopes. Printed in rich blue ink on the 1914 Chandler and Price foot-powered press.

Limited edition. $4 each, or $12 per set-of-four.

Only available online, order direct from our STORE.

Autumn blessings,

St Brigid Press

"Hope is the thing with feathers..." Poetry Broadside

Warm Summer Greetings from St Brigid Press!

We are inaugurating our SBP Poetry Broadside Series with a limited-edition print of this beloved poem by Emily Dickinson, decorated with an original block carving by SBP printer Emily Hancock. When Dickinson first penned this verse around 1861, America was in the initial throes of civil war, and through the century-and-a-half since, its themes of courage and ever-available hope have remained relevant, revelatory, and inspiring. (Read the full text of the poem at the end of this post.)

The text-body of "Hope is the thing with feathers..." has been hand-set in Victor Hammer's wonderful American Uncial typeface, with hand-set Lombardic Capitals illuminating the opening word "Hope," in forest-green oil-based ink. The broadside is letterpress-printed with the 1914 Chandler and Price treadled press, on lush Rives 100% cotton mouldmade paper. Decorative Thai kozo-and-banana-bark paper frames the title and the carving. The decorative feather was hand-carved here at the Press, and printed on the Rives paper with warm brown ink. Ready for framing, the broadside is matted with forest-green acid-free board, and backed with sturdy acid-free foamboard (mat is lightly affixed to the backing board with archival artists' tape).

Produced in a limited edition of 40, with 30 available for purchase. $35 each. Finished size: 12"x16". To order, please go to the SBP Online Store. For more information, Contact Us.

With thanks, and good Summer wishes to all!

St Brigid Press

~

FULL TEXT of the poem by Emily Dickinson:

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

~

"Tasting the Wild Strawberry: Blue Ridge Haiku"

Warm Greetings from St Brigid Press!

We are delighted to announce the publication of artist and author Nancy Maxson's second collection of poetry ~ Tasting the Wild Strawberry: Blue Ridge Haiku.

Nearly sixty new haiku evoke the beauty and surprises of a life lived in these Virginia mountains. With humor and deep insight, Maxson gives us a poem's-eye-view of her journey through the seasons of a year; in the Introduction, she elaborates upon the artful and spirited aesthetic which inspired this work.

The book's design and hand-crafted execution seek to reflect the nature of the poetic form, as well as Maxson's mindful sensibility. Each edition is 6-inches square, with black covers of Nepalese Lokta paper, decorative interior papers of red Thai Unryu, and a warm-white text block of bamboo paper. Binding is in the traditional Japanese style of 4-hole stab binding, with red linen thread. Cover and interior art is from Maxson's original watercolor, "The Strawberry Seeker." Produced in a limited edition of 100 numbered books.

Available now in the St Brigid Press Store, and, for those of you near Waynesboro, Va, at Stone Soup Books and Cafe. For more information, contact us at stbrigidpress[AT]gmail.com.

Best wishes to all for a lovely summer!

St Brigid Press

The First Day of Summer at St Brigid Press

Come, shamanic bee,

turning light into sweetness:

pollinate this dawn

~

Warm Greetings, Friends,

The above haiku is the opening poem of Summer in a new book by Nancy Maxson, Tasting the Wild Strawberry: Blue Ridge Haiku, forthcoming from St Brigid Press. In this, her second collection of poetry, Maxson explores the seasons of the year and of the heart in fifty-six wonderfully distilled, 3-line gems. Known throughout the region for her fine watercolor paintings, we are thrilled to collaborate with Maxson to produce this limited-edition, letterpress printed, hand-bound collection of her written work.

Below are a handful of photos from some of the stages of creating Tasting the Wild Strawberry. If you are in the Waynesboro, Virginia, area, please drop by Stone Soup Books next Saturday, June 29th, for Maxson's art opening and book launch reception. Books will be available for purchase at Stone Soup and through our website here, as of the 29th.

Very best summer wishes to all,

St Brigid Press

Printing Presses at St Brigid Press

Greetings Friends! With the pressroom here at SBP now rounded out with four vintage presses, we thought you might like a closer look at the marvelous machines that do the heavy work of printing everything from coasters to books. I've created a new page on this site that gives a brief description and a couple of photos of each press.

To learn a little more about the 3000+ pounds of cast iron and steel, click here: Printing Presses at SBP.

With thanks, and all best to all,

St Brigid Press