Barbara Hodgson has established a reputation as an author of both fiction and non-fiction books whose narratives are embroidered by her own inventive typography, collages and original art. But known only to her personal correspondents are the postage stamps she has produced as well, often in conjunction with the publication of a new book.
The book (3.25 x 5.25 inches, 28 pp.) features 10 stamps, each tipped to a verso with a brief commentary about the stamp by Barbara on the facing recto. She also created 10 appropriate (and equally bogus) postmarks with which the stamps have been (roughly) cancelled. The text was set in Gill Sans and Bembo types, and printed with the handpress on Rives Lightweight.
Due to the limited number of her earliest stamps still available, the edition consists of just 35 copies, press numbered and signed by Hodgson. There are two states:
Copies 1–5 (and 3 A.P. copies) include two pieces of original art used to create one of the stamps, sewn in at the back of the book, accompanied by a brief description of the pieces handwritten by Hodgson. These copies are extra bound in full leather by Claudia Cohen, with a box.
Copies 6–35 were bound at HM: sewn on tapes and put into a limp case made from Reg Lissel’s semi-transparent vellum paper, lined with a printed sheet, and issued in a slipcase.
