The Letter

MacGuffin

Book coverThe Letter

This publication feels like an object in itself — tactile, substantial, and full of intrigue. The cover makes no attempt to hide its materiality, instead emphasizing it, making it clear that this is a book meant to be held, touched, and explored. Inside, it feels more like a portable exhibition than a traditional publication. The interplay between image and text keeps the reader constantly engaged, each spread offering something new and unexpected.

 

The paper choices are varied and thoughtful, adding texture to the experience. From glossy to matte, each page feels different, inviting you to linger and discover new layers. The content is just as dynamic, diving into a vast world of symbols, language, and culture — grappling with everything from protest signs to internet memes, graffiti to feminist print shops. It’s a visual and intellectual journey, where every turn leads to a new corner of the written world.

 

The Letter is a book (or perhaps more fittingly, a magazine) that invites you to browse, flip through, and uncover new connections between symbols, words, and ideas. It’s not a book to read from cover to cover, but to get lost in, one spread at a time.

Edition: 2024
Date of publication: January 2024
Author: Kirsten Algera, Ernst van der Hoeven (red.)
Language: English
Translator: Liz Waters
Image editor: Kirsten Algera
Photographer: Cover: Lou Lou van Staaveren, Guus Kaandorp
Artist: Contributors: Dulcie Abrahams Altass, Kirsten Algera, Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton, Alex Balgiu, Jess Baines, Marcus Barnes, David Bennewith, Julia Born, Lou Buche, Chiachi Chao, Phaedra Charles, Ben Clark, Rasha Dakkak, Sam Dolbear, Kitty Drake, Uta Eisenreich, Paul Elliman, Jasmine Erkan, Mariabruna Fabrizi, Fosco Lucarelli, Farah Fayyad, Eliot Haworth, Keith Houston, Cathy Hu, Daphne Huisden, Guus Kaandorp, Sandra Kassenaar, Lou Lou van Staaveren, Emily King, Natalie Kitroeff, Inna Kochkina, Mari Lebanidze, Karel Martens, Klaartje Martens, Benjamin McMillan, Silas Munro, Richard Niessen, Christoph Miler, Ginevra Petrozzi, Johannes Reponen, Jordi Ruiz Cirera, Karin Schlageter, Isabel Seiffert, Aurelien Uberti, Dirk van Weelden, Amy Suo Wu, Mariëtte Wijne
Publisher: St. MacGuffin, Amsterdam
Graphic designer: Sandra Kassenaar (Amsterdam)
Lithographer: Wim de Heer, Breda
Printer: NPN Printing, Breda
Binder: Van Hees - Patist Boekbinders, Zaltbommel
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 210 x 275 mm
Number of pages: 224 p.
Print run: 10.000
Price: € 23
ISBN: 978-90-90-38756-7
Font and foundry: Churchward Newstype, Gothic 725 BT
Binding style: Genaaid gebrocheerd
Paper for interior (grammage): 85gsm Arcoprint Milk 1.5 115gsm Magno Star, Fedrigoni, Igepa
Material cover (grammage): 170gsm Freelife Vellum, Fedrigoni