Mussenlust

De huismus in 50 gedichten en 150 tekeningen van Peter Vos

Book coverMussenlust
Book coverMussenlust
Book coverMussenlust
Book coverMussenlust

This sparrow book is brilliant. Sparrow man Peter Vos (1935-2010) drew the birds his whole life long, working his pencil sketches up at home in fine strokes in pen and watercolour. Designer Karen Polder took the dimensions for this book from Vos’s sketch pad, put them on transparent paper and then followed each leaf with the elaborated illustrations in exactly the same format. The result is more than just the conceit of laying the sketch over its elaboration. In this sturdy format the sparrow poems have an uncommon expanse of paper at their command – the book is, after all, a great deal larger than the average verse collection. Instead of an imbalance, however, this creates a fine tension, thanks in no small measure to the effective typography. The choice of a simultaneously elegant and sturdy sans serif (Bilo Bold Monday, a 2018 design by Pieter van Rosmalen), here set in quite a large body size, echoes the lines of Vos’s drawings and has no difficulty coping with the luxurious expanse of paper. This interplay of toughness and refinement has been pursued through all the decisions in design and materials. The result is a harmonious but never boring book which has also been immaculately printed and bound. A big book for a little bird: a monument to the sparrow.

Edition: 2018
Date of publication: September 2018
Author: Jean-Pierre Geelen and 48 poets
Language: Dutch
Final editor: Peter Müller
Image editor: Saïda Vos-Lokhorst, Karen Polder
Illustrator: Peter Vos
Artist: Peter Vos
Publisher: Uitgeverij Müller, Den Haag
Available through: Webshop, bookshop
Graphic designer: Karen Polder (Den Haag)
Lithographer: Saïda Vos-Lokhorst, Karen Polder, Utrecht, Den Haag
Printer: ArtLibro | Coers & Roest, Arnhem
Binder: Boekbinderij Abbringh, Groningen
DTP: Karen Polder, Den Haag
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 200 x 280 x 10
Number of pages: 136
Print run: 1,500
Price: € 29.50
ISBN: 978 90 81388 72 6
Font and foundry: Bilo, Bold Monday
Binding style: Sewn hardback with flat spine, over greyboard, black marker
Paper for interior (grammage): 90gsm. EOS 2.0, 60gsm. IBO1, Igepa
Endpapers (grammage): 140gsm. Muskat brown, Igepa
Material cover (grammage): 118 grs. Environment Desert Storm, Igepa
Special features: Cover: digital printing in opaque white and black