Three gems

I stopped by the New England Book Show, an annual juried show that recognizes the year's most outstanding work by publishers, printers, and graphic designers. Three winners in particular struck me -- they were as fascinating to read as they were beautiful to look at:

"The Likes of Us: America in the Eyes of the Farm Security Administration" by Stu Cohen contains some of the famous photographs by Ben Shahn and Walker Evans and others who worked for the federal government documenting America at a difficult time in the nation's history. But as wonderful as the photographs are, what sets this book (published by David R. Godine) apart from others on the subject are the bits and pieces of text -- letters between administrator Roy Stryker and the photographers (Stryker to Walker Evans, in a letter urging him to hurry up and send his film in: "How your artistic soul must like to hear me ranting on about quantity production.") and Stryker's "scripts" of suggested shots (hitching posts for teams and horses, "specials" listed in restaurant windows).

"In the Land of the Free" by Geoffrey Forsyth is the winner of the Rose Metal Press Second Annual Short Short Chapbook contest. It is lovingly produced with a design meant to accentuate the combination of elemental and emotional in Forsyth's stories. In one story a rhinoceros appears in a man's kitchen; in another a man buys a wall. The stories are odd but beautiful; the presentation by Rose Metal Press of Brookline is simple and beautiful.

"Designing the Mentoring Stamp" by Lance Hidy is an exquisite little book about design. Several of the most important contributors to twentieth-century book and letter arts have made significant contributions to the design of the seemingly modest postage stamp -- and Hidy is one of them. The publisher, Kat Ran Press, has offices in Cambridge and Florence, Mass.

For $155, you can buy a handbound and signed copy. It's nice to know in this mass-produced and increasingly electronic-only world that 31 of the 35 deluxe copies have already been sold.