The use of different types of paper in a paperback is exceptional enough in a literary publication, never mind these being richly illustrated and housed within a bespoke slip case. What a pleasure that it was possible to pull out all the stops to celebrate the eightieth birthday of artist Jan Cremer with this anniversary edition. Now the table of contents and blurb are placed on the spine and the back of this rugged cardboard – very Cremerian – slip case, meaning it was possible to place the photo on the back cover autonomously, i.e. without textual accompaniment. The book opens well thanks to the stitched, cold-glued Otastar® binding. The modern, extremely legible serif Bradford corresponds to the classic styling of well-published biographies, while at the same time being idiosyncratic enough not to make this look like a run-of-the-mill edition. The typesetting is equally distinctive enough that this too strikes the right note for Cremer.

However, even if this book had been printed on a single type of novel paper and had not been so attractively encased, it would still have been a very well-published non-fiction book. The crux of the matter is: if one capable captain can weigh up every facet – from cover to contents – in a single edition, the result is often more than the sum of the parts.