Publisher Mark E. Fischer and late Publisher Emeritus Gabriel Rummonds relaunched Plain Wrapper Press in 2021. Sadly, Rummonds passed away on Friday, August 23, 2024, at age 93. Over the prior three years, however, he had worked tirelessly to revive the press, which continues to publish fine-press editions in the tradition that he established over 50 years ago.

The newest edition is Pilgrims & Guests, 12 poems by Ruth Lilly Award-winner W.S. Di Piero, with three watercolors by Fulvio Testa. Printed letterpress on Somerset Book mouldmade paper, and handbound by Sandy Tilcock. Calligraphy by Jerry Kelly. Design by Gabriel Rummonds and Sandy Tilcock. Enclosed in a clamshell box.

Photographs of Pilgrims & Guests and broadside (sold separately).

Book $500.00

The Practice Room broadside (unframed) $100.00

Uncle Umberto’s Orchard is a short story by four-time Pushcart Prize-winner Frederic Tuten, with two multi-color screenprints developed by Gary Lichtenstein based on original paintings by Tuten. Custom handmade paper by Papeterie Saint-Armand. Design by Gabriel Rummonds. Both a standard and a special edition are available.

Photographs of Uncle Umberto’s Orchard.

Standard $700.00 (in a slipcase)

Special $1,100.00 (in a box, with a third screenprint)

Declaration of Sentiments is a 175th-anniversary re-publication of the fiery manifesto that emerged from the 1848 women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Two high-impact, three-color images by Susan Lowdermilk, and a new introduction by Carnegie Mellon’s Lisa Tetrault, Ph.D.

Photographs of Declaration of Sentiments, an 1848 women’s rights manifesto.

$390.00

The Kallima Butterfly, three poems and a photogravure by John D. Wagner, was published in 1921. Both editions printed letterpress on handmade Velké Losiny paper by Sandy Tilcock. Handbound by Jace Graf at Cloverleaf Studio. Design and calligraphy by Jerry Kelly.

Photographs of The Kallima Butterfly book by John D. Wagner

$180.00

In the works for this year is the bilingual CELLINI: Casting The Perseus/La fusione del Perseo by Benvenuto Cellini, with a new introduction by Professor Michael Cole of Columbia University. Photography by Guggenheim Fellow Robert Mahon. Design by Gabriel Rummonds and Sandy Tilcock.

On March 1, 2022, the publishers and book designer Jerry Kelly spoke to The Grolier Club about the Plain Wrapper Press relaunch. Link to video.