Oak Knoll

Beautifully printed by hand by Russell Maret in an edition of 80 copies, 60 copies of which are hand number with five being Artist's Proof copies. This copy is thus, being labeled 'AP2'. The Plates were printed on a Brand New etching press manufactured by Conrad Machine Co; The Argument on a Vandercook Universal III and an FAG Control 405. The text is set in Pisolino and Sans Pisolino, both of which were designed by Russell Maret. The text and plate papers were made specially for the book by Travis Becker at Twinrocker Handmade Paper. The suminagashi paper used on the standard edition binding was made by Tadao Fukuda; the marbled paper on the deluxe binding by Stephen Pittelkow. The Kelmscott Crown & Sceptre paper used in the color studies volume was made in 1923 by J. Batchelor & Sons. The text was proofread by Nann Parrett and Susan Schlechter. Nancy Loeber assisted in the printing and production. Amy Borezo designed and executed the binding at Shelter Bookworks. Annie Schlechter iinspired and advised the project.

"Character Traits, draws inspiration from the tradition of writing manuals and calligraphic model books, in which various lettering styles are displayed in short, epigrammatic texts. The title was chosen to evoke the two primary motivations of the book: to explore the traits of alphabetical characters that are digitally native and thus free from the technological limitations of typographic lettering (i.e. metal type), and to do so in a series of texts that are chosen because they illuminate various human character traits. -Russell Maret"

Russell Maret is a book artist, author, and alphabet designer working in New York City. He has produced over fifty books and manuscripts, most of which deal with alphabetical form, geometry, and color theory. His alphabetical works play with the gray area between legibility and abstraction, exploring the relationship between alphabetical form and textual content. His books are represented in public and private collections throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Bodleian Library, the Meermanno Museum, and the Herzog August Bibliothek.