PETER & DONNA THOMAS
260 Fifteenth Avenue Santa Cruz CA 95062 (831)
515-2757
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Choice. 2024. Peter Thomas, William Shakespeare. Santa Cruz, California, Peter and Donna Thomas. 5.25 x 7.25 x 1.5 inches. 2 scrolling pages (4 x 21.5 inches) with tri-fold pamphlet. 10 copies. $675.00 |
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Route 66. 2023. Peter Thomas, Bobby Troup. Santa Cruz, California, Peter and Donna Thomas. 1.75 x 2.75 inches. One scrolling page 21 x 2.125 inches. 33 copies. $99. This is a miniature book. |
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Paper Samples/Our lives with paper: an autobiography told through handmade paper samples 2022. A perfect bound, digitally printed, book with text and color photographs. 5 examples of the handmade paper samples are tipped in at the end of the book. 11 x 8.5 inches. 105 pages. $75.00 |
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HOPE? 2022. 12 x 8.5 x 6.75 inches. Wooden reliquary containing 12 artists' books, an informational companion book titled About HOPE?, and a vial of wildfire ash. 32 copies. $4,000. (2 copies remaining 12/1/24) HOPE? is a collaborative artists' book created by Peter and Donna Thomas, Susan Lowdermilk, and Andie Thrams investigating the complex topics of tree mortality, catastrophic wildfire, and climate change, bearing witness to the devastation they observed in western forests, honoring the importance of trees, and sharing how they found hope. |
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Peter and Donna Thomas, Bibliography, 1974 - 2020. 2021. 8.5 x 8.5 inches. Hardcover book, commercially printed, sewn pages, blue cloth binding, title on spine, color dust jacket. Published by The Legacy Press. 946 full-color photographs, 446 pages. $100.00 In 2020, Peter and Donna marked the forty-sixth year of their remarkable collaboration. This Bibliography features more than 163 editioned books by them, 374 one-of-a-kind books by Donna, and 63 unique books made by Peter, as well as books made by them in collaboration with other artists and during workshops, all illustrated in full color. This compendium of the output of their press includes not only bibliographic entries and production notes, but also personal commentaries for many of the entries, transforming a straight-forward bibliography into a kind of memoir. These annotations provide a distinctive window into the lives of these two working artists, enriching our understanding of their works in ways that go far beyond the descriptive. This Bibliography not only offers the scale and scope of their production and their evolution as distinctive American book artists, but also insight into the development of their lives as a couple, as parents, and as colleagues and professional partners. Max Yela Special Collections Librarian, Golda Meir Library. |
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Free Little Bird (2019) 7" x 3" x 1". 12 paper-doll cut accordion pages, 12 nested accordion pages. 39 copies. $375.00. 7 copies left. Nested accordion structure with background accordion cut paper doll style with flying birds. 9 linocut blocks with text and images of birds, etc. cut by Donna Thomas. Text considers issues of social justice juxtaposing an Appalachian folk song with an excerpt from Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Click here for more images and information. View a 3 minute video about this book on YouTube: |
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Only Love: Haiku by Albion (2016) by Albion Smith. (Two books in a clamshell box.) A collaborative project with a master jeweler, type designer and poet. One book contains fourteen of Smith's haiku poems, printed letterpress using Smith's hand-cut letters; the other is a digitally produced book that chronicles the making of the poetry book. 7 5/8 by 8 ½ by 1 3/8 inches. 30 copies. $550. 3 copies left. |
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Rock After Rock: Backpacking the Sierra High Route (2016) by Donna Thomas. Historic quotes about finding a route along the crest of the Sierra Nevada, plus contemporary narratives written by Donna's hiking companions while following Steve Roper's guide to the High Route. 25 digitally printed watercolor paintings, calligraphic text and hand drawn maps letterpress printed with colorful split fountain on handmade paper. Quarter bound with wooden boards and a leather spine, hand-carved mountain scene on front cover, held in "backpack" slipcase. 7 7/8 by 10 1/2 inches. 32 pages. 20 copies. $975. 6 copies left. |
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Bathed in Such Beauty: A Pictorial Ramble on the John Muir Trail (2016) John Muir. |
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The Renaissance Pleasure Faire Broadsides (2014) Texts by various authors. 17 1/2 by 12 1/2 inches. 12 folder pages. 25 copies. $875. 2 copies left. |
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Hetch Hetchy Flora - a collection of wildflowers painted on May 22, 2013 (2013) Donna Thomas. 30 copies. 11.5 by 8.25 by 1.5 inches. 20 accordion pages. $875. 2 copies left. |
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The Alder (2012) William Everson. |
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The History of Papermaking in the Philippines. (2005) Written by Peter Thomas. Illustrated by Donna Thomas. 10 3/4 by 13 5/8 inches. 50 pages. Five special copies accompanied by a suite of 7 prints from the book. 75 copies. 3 regular copies. 3 regular copies $950. 1 special copy $1,475. |
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Copies of older work acquired from collectors |
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| Bikupan / The story of
a trip to visit a hand paper mill in Sweden, with a bit of history added
in for good measure (1992). Peter Thomas. 10 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches.
36 pages. 119 copies. Quarter leather. $425. (Slip case extra). |
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Papermaking in Seventeenth Century England (1990). Peter Thomas. The diary entries written by John Evelyn and Celia Fiennes, recording their visits of paper mills during the late 1600's, are preceded by short biographies and accompanied by commentary on the author's observations. 6 3/4 by 5 inches. 42 pages. 200 copies. Full leather with slipcase. $395 |
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| A Tale of Life (1984). Peter Thomas. A story about the cycle of life, with a full page linocut by Donna. 15 by 10 1/4 inches. 8 pages. 75 copies. $200. |  |
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The Fire of the Dragon Yudur (1981). Peter Papermaker/Peter Thomas. The text is a fairy tale written by Peter, illustrated by Donna, hand set then printed on Peter's handmade paper, and hand bound by Donna. 8 1/4 by 5 3/8 inches. 12 pages. 75 copies $295. |
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Out of print fine press and artists' book: |
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Goodbye Bonita Lagoon, A Papermaker’s Elegy. 2023 Peter and Donna Thomas, Guy Van Cleave. 11.75 x 9 x 1.5 inches. Total verso/recto count is 80 pages. 30 copies. $975.00. Sold out An eco-lament, filled with hidden treasures, for what seems to be the possible inevitable loss of the temperate tidal lagoon that sits between our home and the ocean. |
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Paper Samples 2022. 46 paper folders with samples of handmade paper. One perfect bound digitally printed book titled Paper Samples/Our lives with paper: an autobiography told through handmade paper samples. Both held a wooden file box. 10 (high) x 14 (wide) x 5.375 (deep) inches. 6 copies (5 for sale). $3,400.00 |
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Memento Mori (2018) by Euripides and Peter Thomas. 9 1/2 by 3 5/8 by 1 inch. 26 pages (13 leaves). The text combines Latin phrases exploring a theme first found in Euripides's tragedy Alcestis, "No one can say for certain they will still be living tomorrow." Full bound in black Moroccan leather with Peter's woodcut on a panel on the front cover. 20 copies. $495.00 Sold out |
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Evidence: Overruns & Ephemera 2021. 16 x 12 x 2 (or 3) inches. One 8-page pamphlet and two 4-flap portfolios (one containing sample pages from our printed books and the other containing press ephemera) in an archival clamshell storage box with printed label. 30 copies. Copies 1-10, 16 x 12 x 3 inches; copies 11-30, 16 x 12 x 2 inches. Copies 1-10, $975; copies 11-20, $850; copies 21-30 $625. All copies sold. This is a gathering of samples of printed pages from our limited editioned books and press ephemera, made as a companion to The Legacy Press' recently published trade book: Peter and Donna Thomas: Bibliography, 1974-2020. See more images and information. |
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Sometimes I Pretend (2014) by Naomi Shihab Nye. 4 1/4 by 10 3/8 by 4 1/4 inches. One scrolling page. 35 copies. $695. All copies sold. |
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To Err is Human (2014) Latin aphorism. 5 ¾ by 6 5/8 by 1 1/4. 5 copies. $695.00. All copies sold |
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The Tuckenhay Mill: People and Paper (2016) Peter Thomas. 4-6 items in clamshell box. All copies have: Introductory pamphlet, letterpress printed, 1. They Made the Paper in Tuckenhay Mill - interviews with retired hand papermakers, a 100-page digitally printed book with the text of the interviews. 2. Flash drive with audio files, transcriptions and videos from original interviews. 3. Vintage handmade paper samples and printed ephemera from Tuckenhay Mill. (1- 21 have pamphlet titled Handmade Paper in Tuckenhay Devon. 1-15 copies have pamphlet titled Three Hundred Years of Paper Making). 13 by 9 7/8 by 2 3/8 inches. Copy 1-10 have all 22 samples and both additional booklets. $sold. Copy 11-15 have 21 samples and both additional booklets. $sold. Copy 16 has 21 samples and one additional booklet. $sold. Copy 17-20 have 18 samples and one additional booklet. $1150. Copy 21-28 have 18 samples. $970. Copy 29-30 have 17 samples. $970. All copies sold |
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Piute Creek (2017) by Gary Snyder. A scrolling book. 11 by 9 by 1 3/4 inches. 30 copies. $950. sold out |
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The Tarantella Rose (1995). Previously unpublished poems by William Everson. 7 linocut illustrations by Donna. Letterpress printed with Weiss type on Peter's handmade paper. modified limp vellum binding using Peter's handmade paper. 7 special copies have hand colored and quarter bound, red moroccan and origami folded handmade paper.10 5/8 by 7 5/8 inches. 38 pages. Copies 1-75. sold out |
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River (2015) A poem by Jay Leeming 11 1/2 by 5 3/4 by 1 1/2 inches. 5 copies. $sold |
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To Err is Human (2014) Latin aphorism. 5 ¾ by 6 5/8 by 1 1/4. 5 copies. One copy left. $695.00. |
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Not Paper. (2010) Peter Thomas. 8 3/4 by 5 inches. This book is About the paper-like materials that are not paper. Letterpress printed with wood type, Centaur and Neuland, 8 samples tipped in. Full bound in antique oasis goat leather. Clamshell box. 20 accordion pages. 48 copies, $645. Sold out. Click here for more images and information. |
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Wandering (2011) T. S. Eliott. 7 by 5 inches. The text is an excerpt from the poem "Four Quartets". 2 lino cuts, printed letterpress in many colors. A flap book binding structure. 14 copies. $195 sold out. Click here for more images and information. |
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The Pencil (2010) Peter Thomas. 8 ½ by 5 ½ inches . This book tells a brief history of the pencil, and has a display of vintage advertising pencils in a pencil cedar wood holder. Text hand written and colored with pencil. Tri-fold binding, with oasis goat leather spines and paper printed with multiple-layered multi-colored wood type. 12 pages. 30 copies. Sold out. Click here for more images and information. |
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| Meditations at the Edge: Paper and Spirit (1996). Dorothy Field's observations of how paper has been used in the Orient to connect the physical and the spiritual worlds. Four illustrations by the author. Letterpress printed in Centaur on Peter and Dorothy's handmade papers. 42 pages. 11 1/4 by 4 1/2 inches. 14 special copies have pages mounted on wooden dowels housed in a wooden pagoda. 12 1/2 by 16 inches. 1-14 sold, 14-100 $350. Sold out. |   |
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Papermaking in the Philippines: Overseas File 664 from the
Archivo General de Indias, Sevilla, Spain. (2005) Edited
by Peter Thomas. 8 1/8 by 7 1/8 inches, 36 pages. This is the full
translation of the text referred to in Appendix One to our History
of Papermaking in the Philippines. $75. |
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The Wandering Book Artists' Collaborative Broadsides (2011) Peter and Donna Thomas. 13 ¼ by 11 inches. Twelve broadsides created during our "Wandering Book Artist" trip around the country, plus a booklet describing each printing experience. Translucent folder in clamshell box. 14 pages. 50 copies. $875. Click here for more images and information. Sold out. |
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