As the second part of its title suggests, this book sheds light on a previously lesser known aspect of herman de vries’ artistic practice: the fact that he is also a publisher. Over the course of fifty years, together with friends and acquaintances this Dutch artist published almost eighty artist’s books under the name eschenau summer press publications (and temporary travelling press publications). A total of 36 artists, poets, musicians and others worked on this series of publications. herman de vries gave them the scope to use the medium of publication entirely as they saw fit, and even though the individual parts of the series show a lot of variation, a certain cohesion can also be seen within them.

To a great extent, the design and editing of herman de vries – publisher allow the material to speak for itself. This is also reflected by the modesty of the graphic design, and by the abundant use of the ROM and ROM Monoen white fonts in the type area – both characteristic of the work of herman de vries. This grey, unpretentious book will undoubtedly intrigue those gripped by eschenau summer press publications.

The choice of non-standard page numbering through most of the book is effective, and once again follows the example of the publications as normative for the book’s design. The book opens with a series of photos of the publications, with a full page dedicated to each of these. Further into the book, each publication is then extensively presented through images and explanatory notes. The publication number in question is prominently displayed in the upper corner of the page in both parts of the book, allowing the opening series to act as an alternative table of contents. Thanks to this device, it is easy to switch between a first impression of the series of publications and a deeper dive into the specific issues. This superb editorial work means that the 77 artist’s books don’t come across as an intimidating mass, but rather as the intriguing collection that they are.