Fantasies and Hard Knocks: My Life as a Printer

Richard-Gabriel Rummonds

A massive 813-page memoir illustrated with copious photographs of both books and people. It is a veritable who’s who of the Italian art scene and international literary circles of the 1970s and beyond.

Review

“. . . Fantasies and Hard Knocks: My Life as a Printer, is a massive 813-page memoir illustrated with copious photographs of both books and people. It is a veritable who’s who of the Italian art scene and international literary circles of the 1970s and beyond. It provides a valuable record of fine printing in the late twentieth century. Oh, and it’s also a cookbook: Each chapter ends with a recipe connected with the events the author has just described. It’s a truly remarkable achievement by the proprietor of Plain Wrapper Press and Ex Ophidia Press, one of the most admirable fine press printers of our era.”

James T. Jones

Editor of The Journal of the Book Club of Washington

About the Author

Richard-Gabriel Rummonds

Richard-Gabriel Rummonds is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s pre-eminent handpress printers of the late twentieth century. For almost twenty-five years, using the imprints of Plain Wrapper Press and Ex Ophidia Press, he printed and published illustrated limited editions of contemporary literature on iron handpresses, primarily in Verona, Italy and Cottondale, Alabama. His books can be found in many of the world’s most famous museums and libraries, as well as numerous private collections if fine printing.