{"id":496,"date":"2021-05-28T18:53:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T18:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/decormaine.wpengine.com\/?p=496"},"modified":"2022-10-05T05:27:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T05:27:36","slug":"books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Books As Art, Two Ponds Publishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"496\" class=\"elementor elementor-496\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-179a3494 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"179a3494\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-308356e\" data-id=\"308356e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-440c4c14 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"440c4c14\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.16.0 - 20-09-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Before the 15th-century invention of the Gutenberg printing press\u2014whose movable metal type revolutionized bookmaking\u2014books were the work of a cloistered cadre of monks, artists, and calligraphers toiling painstakingly, often by candlelight, over illuminated manuscripts, so called for their glowing gold and silver embellishment. These hand-lettered and elaborately illustrated early books were commissioned and held by churches, monasteries, and mosques, by royal courts and wealthy patrons as objects of reverence, value, and mystery . . . books as art.<\/p><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Whether the nine books Two Ponds Press has produced over the past 10 years may be called \u201cbooks as art\u201d or \u201cart as books,\u201d publishers Ken Shure and Liv Rockefeller resist elucidating. It\u2019s a tension they embrace\u2014tension, the husband and wife know, being essential grist for the creative mill.<\/p><div class=\" sqs-gallery-container sqs-gallery-block-grid sqs-gallery-aspect-ratio-three-four-vertical sqs-gallery-thumbnails-per-row-2 sqs-gallery-block-show-meta sqs-gallery-block-meta-only-title block-animation-none clear\"><div class=\"sqs-gallery\"><div class=\"slide\" data-type=\"image\" data-animation-role=\"image\"><div class=\"margin-wrapper\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/liv-ken.jpg\" alt=\"Ken and Liv say they learned the art of fine press printing &quot;by osmosis.&quot;\" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/liv-ken.jpg\" alt=\"Ken and Liv say they learned the art of fine press printing &quot;by osmosis.&quot;\" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/liv-ken.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b1372305bfd84dbcc9f739\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"image-slide-title\">Ken and Liv say they learned the art of fine press printing &#8220;by osmosis.&#8221;<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide\" data-type=\"image\" data-animation-role=\"image\"><div class=\"margin-wrapper\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-ken.jpg\" alt=\"Ken at work.\" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-ken.jpg\" alt=\"Ken at work.\" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-ken.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137404f47430ff9b5a38e\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"image-slide-title\">Ken at work.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><p><style type=\"text\/css\" id=\"design-grid-css\">\n#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1622225393562_4408 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -0px; }<br \/>#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1622225393562_4408 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; }<br \/><\/style><\/p><div class=\" sqs-gallery-container sqs-gallery-block-slideshow sqs-gallery-has-controls sqs-gallery-has-thumbnails sqs-gallery-block-show-meta sqs-gallery-block-meta-position-bottom sqs-gallery-block-show-meta block-animation-none clear\"><div class=\"sqs-gallery\"><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/books-illuminated.jpg\" alt=\" \u201cThe fine press world is about craftsmanship and artists being able to express themselves in a different format,\u201d says Ken. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/books-illuminated.jpg\" alt=\" \u201cThe fine press world is about craftsmanship and artists being able to express themselves in a different format,\u201d says Ken. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/books-illuminated.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f2d3938f2abb788c49\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>\u201cThe fine press world is about craftsmanship and artists being able to express themselves in a different format,\u201d says Ken.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/river.jpg\" alt=\" Paper for The Little River \u2019s 22 soft-ground etchings was handmade in Whiting, Maine, by papermaker Katie MacGregor. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/river.jpg\" alt=\" Paper for The Little River \u2019s 22 soft-ground etchings was handmade in Whiting, Maine, by papermaker Katie MacGregor. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/river.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f2ba73273682ed4a65\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Paper for The Little River\u2019s 22 soft-ground etchings was handmade in Whiting, Maine, by papermaker Katie MacGregor.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-books.jpg\" alt=\" Two Ponds will publish its tenth book, Eat Flowers , with photographer Cig Harvey this year. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-books.jpg\" alt=\" Two Ponds will publish its tenth book, Eat Flowers , with photographer Cig Harvey this year. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-books.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f4ba327425bbe6a74c\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Two Ponds will publish its tenth book, Eat Flowers, with photographer Cig Harvey this year.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/corner-library.jpg\" alt=\" The 13\u201d X 19\u201d case bearing Nansen\u2019s Pastport features a mounted copperplate etching and translucent artist\u2019s statement; inspired by Norwegian explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, the work addresses the contemporary climate crisis. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/corner-library.jpg\" alt=\" The 13\u201d X 19\u201d case bearing Nansen\u2019s Pastport features a mounted copperplate etching and translucent artist\u2019s statement; inspired by Norwegian explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, the work addresses the contemporary climate crisis. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/corner-library.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f558b08870fd88bc34\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>The 13\u201d X 19\u201d case bearing Nansen\u2019s Pastport features a mounted copperplate etching and translucent artist\u2019s statement; inspired by Norwegian explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, the work addresses the contemporary climate crisis.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/study.jpg\" alt=\" Boundaries was a collaboration between presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco and photographer Jacob Bond Hessler. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/study.jpg\" alt=\" Boundaries was a collaboration between presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco and photographer Jacob Bond Hessler. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/study.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x1667\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f7b9da204095dae144\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Boundaries was a collaboration between presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco and photographer Jacob Bond Hessler.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-bird.jpg\" alt=\" Illustration from The Little River . \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-bird.jpg\" alt=\" Illustration from The Little River . \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-bird.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f8847f4d572f287295\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Illustration from The Little River.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bookcase.jpg\" alt=\" Metal etching plates. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bookcase.jpg\" alt=\" Metal etching plates. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bookcase.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137f95696ff337d68381e\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Metal etching plates.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/detail-photography.jpg\" alt=\" Cooking curiosities in the library, from Liv\u2019s collection. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/detail-photography.jpg\" alt=\" Cooking curiosities in the library, from Liv\u2019s collection. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/detail-photography.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137fbdd145d78bca1d247\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Cooking curiosities in the library, from Liv\u2019s collection.<\/i><\/h6><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"color-overlay\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\"><p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-detail_desk.jpg\" alt=\" Artwork and antiques speak to the publishers\u2019 eclectic interests. \" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-detail_desk.jpg\" alt=\" Artwork and antiques speak to the publishers\u2019 eclectic interests. \" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-detail_desk.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137fca1cb5c5795814e09\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p><div class=\"meta\"><div class=\"meta-inside\"><div class=\"meta-description\"><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><i>Artwork and antiques speak to the publishers\u2019 eclectic interests.<\/i><\/h6><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><h6 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cThe lunatic fringe\u201d is how Ken and Liv refer to their medium, a quotation from a dear friend and mentor, late American sculptor and printmaker Leonard Baskin, whose own groundbreaking fine-art Gehenna Press Ken has represented since 1985.<\/h6><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A full collection of Gehenna\u2019s work occupies half a wall of the purpose-built, two-story granite library that stands opposite Ken and Liv\u2019s hilltop Camden home. The rest of the library is dedicated to Two Ponds materials, as well as personal interests, such as Liv\u2019s collection of antiquarian and contemporary cookbooks and titles by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, first husband of Liv\u2019s mother.<\/p><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Antique and limited-edition books have been a longtime interest of Ken\u2019s, who for 41 years coowned midcoast antiquarian book and ephemera shop Goose River Exchange. Customers included historian David McCullough, actor Gabriel Byrne, and Baskin himself.<\/p><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It\u2019s a \u201cdense\u201d and rarefied network of papermakers and artists, writers and binders, photographers and collectors who make a fine-art press possible, Liv explains. Their field of collaborators stretches from a 400-year-old papermaker in the Czech Republic, which crafted specially watermarked paper for their inaugural title, to a bookbinder in Massachusetts who sewed, in North Atlantic salmon leather, artist and designer Anneli Skaar\u2019s interpretation of a 1920s refugee passport for the 2020 book <em>Nansen\u2019s Pastport<\/em>. Sixty copies of that book were printed, a typical run for Two Ponds. The deluxe edition, featuring a removable, bronze melted Nobel Peace Prize sculpture, sells for $4,000.<\/p><div class=\" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none \" data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"><figure class=\" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic \" style=\"max-width: 2500px;\"><div class=\"image-block-wrapper\" data-animation-role=\"image\"><div class=\"sqs-image-shape-container-element has-aspect-ratio \" style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 66.68000030517578%; overflow: hidden;\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gazelle.jpg\" alt=\"An Alphabet of Extinct Animals, from Chevington Press, whose work Two Ponds also represents.\" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gazelle.jpg\" alt=\"An Alphabet of Extinct Animals, from Chevington Press, whose work Two Ponds also represents.\" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gazelle.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x1667\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b137bfb9da204095dadb01\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/div><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\"><div class=\"image-caption\"><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"><em>An Alphabet of Extinct Animals<\/em>, from Chevington Press, whose work Two Ponds also represents.<\/p><\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">For <em>The Little River<\/em>, which \u201cnearly killed the artist,\u201d Liv recalls, summoning thoughts of those toiling monks, Michael Kuch conceived and printed the book\u2019s soft-ground etchings using natural materials\u2014apple seeds, pine needles, real butterfly wings\u2014to illustrate the text, a lost manuscript from beloved children\u2019s book author Margaret Wise Brown. The story was discovered among Brown\u2019s personal effects at the Vinalhaven home she left her fianc\u00e9, Liv\u2019s father, upon her unexpected death in 1952. The edition, which sold out, features a facsimile of the author\u2019s handwritten notes, including three possible endings, and \u201cfield notes\u201d on Liv\u2019s connection to the woman for whom she is \u201csomething of an alternate ending.\u201d<\/p><div class=\" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none \" data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"><figure class=\" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic \" style=\"max-width: 2500px;\"><div class=\"image-block-wrapper\" data-animation-role=\"image\"><div class=\"sqs-image-shape-container-element has-aspect-ratio \" style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 150%; overflow: hidden;\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/liv-ken-two-ponds-press.jpg\" alt=\"Partners in life and in publishing.\" \/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/liv-ken-two-ponds-press.jpg\" alt=\"Partners in life and in publishing.\" data-image=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/liv-ken-two-ponds-press.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x3750\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"60b1376ff2e51470075eb3ce\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/div><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\"><div class=\"image-caption\"><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Partners in life and in publishing.<\/p><\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Two Ponds books are labors of love, or perhaps like lovers themselves: selfish of time and begging for intimacy, for interaction, pleading to be read and touched. It\u2019s a costly affair. A deluxe edition of <em>The Last Ship from the River of the Northern City<\/em>, featuring woodcuts and an original watercolor by luminist painter Stephen Hannock and lyrics by Sting, goes for $20,000. This is the double-edged sword of art, and once of books: Its preciousness puts it out of reach; being out of reach, it is precious.<\/p><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Luckily, today, one needn\u2019t take monastic vows to experience such illuminated manuscripts. Libraries and museums, such as the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Athenaeum, and Yale University, are the biggest collectors of Two Ponds Press. Bowdoin College Library will host a 10th-anniversary exhibition of the press\u2019s work in 2022.<\/p><p class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It\u2019s worth a pilgrimage to one of these institutions, with special dispensation to run one\u2019s finger over a hand-tooled spine, to feel, as Liv puts it, \u201cthe bite of the press.\u201d And to answer for oneself the age-old question: book as art, or art as book?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ken Shure and Liv Rockefeller, publishers of Two Ponds Press, bring an artistic eye to publishing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":1616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[77,398,397,395,396,394],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Books As Art, Two Ponds Publishing - Decor Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Books As Art, Two Ponds Publishing - Decor Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ken Shure and Liv Rockefeller, publishers of Two Ponds Press, bring an artistic eye to publishing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Decor Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-28T18:53:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-05T05:27:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/two-ponds-press-interior-scaled-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathryn Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathryn Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kathryn Williams\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1251360633709a86e93ef632058576c5\"},\"headline\":\"Books As Art, Two Ponds Publishing\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-28T18:53:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-05T05:27:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\"},\"wordCount\":844,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"art\",\"books\",\"fine-press publishing\",\"Ken Shure\",\"Liv Rockefeller\",\"Two Ponds Press\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\",\"name\":\"Books As Art, Two Ponds Publishing - Decor Maine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-28T18:53:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-05T05:27:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/art\/books-as-art-two-ponds-publishing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Books As Art, Two Ponds Publishing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.decormaine.com\/\",\"name\":\"Decor Maine\",\"description\":\"Magazine. 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