More shameless self-promotion

[K-tie]

I whish I've read that article before embarking on my journey into the world of bespoke. Well, well, I suppose part of the pleasure is continous learning. Thanks for the link, and look forward to the book (...and the "Dandy" magazine?).

[Mark Seitelman]

Nice introduction to custom tailoring.

[Mulberrywood]

Very smooth and entertaining writing.

[TVD]

Manton,

Maybe HarperCollins can be asked to print a proof run on larger paper, specially bound for the London Lounge? While I would usually suggest Morocco leather, in this particular case a custom weave cloth would be equally apropriate.

Congratulations to your success, and please keep us briefed about the progress. And please do not allow your editors to remove any wicked comments. After all, a libel case provides free publicity!

I am very much looking forward to the finished article.

Thomas Drastik

[jasstoltz]

Congratulations on the new title. I think it is much stronger, if less poetic, and the HC staff are correct.

That's an interesting idea, TVD, but the larger format would be unlikely. The text layout and page design is done for a specific size. If you wanted to print a second size, you would have to pay for a new page design, which would be at significant cost.

As for special bindings, the publisher would probably only consider this if the order were to be for 1000+ copies. Most publishers (I can''t speak for HC) do not do their own printing and binding, but rather contract it out to specialist companies. In the end, it is much more like MTM than bespoke. If you depart from standard options, the cost rises quickly and steeply.

[TVD]

I have no idea how modern printing machines work, but from 1550 until about 1920 most books were printed in a few additional "large paper" copies, using larger and often better writing paper. Certain works like for example the Kehl Voltaire were printed on several papers, differing in quality, size and colour.

I guess that for anything smaller than a folio (i.e quarto, octavo etc) the frames had to be rearranged in the press (although I am not a specialist in the actual printing process).

Usually there were only a dozen or so, or fifty at most, large paper copies. Different times. Martin Amies's books during the eighties and nineties always appeared in a few limited edition specially bound copies. Maybe they differed in paper quality rather than size. But their price was not prohibitively more expensive.

As with all "bespoke", the real problem is to find a craftman who specialises in it, or to convince those unused to the concept that "impossible" is a limitation of one's ingenuity rather than simply a cost issue. I am sure the London Lounge has the resources required t accomplish this if we really wanted it.

[JMurphy]

I own a number of publisher-run limited first editions that were done in quantities fewer than 250. Some are done in as few as 50 or 100. (These, of course, can be limited editions or limited first editions.)

Probably, instead of convincing the publisher to do something, a better way to handle a special LL edition would be to snatch up a number of first editions (Mr. Manton, I sincerely hope for second and third editons for you!) depending on interest level, say 25 or 50 or so. Then, we approach an artisanal bookbinder. Mr. Manton, should he care to participate, could inscribe or simply sign the books or a special page could be created (artwork, LL logo?) and tipped in. Then, these books could be bound with a custom binding of the Lounge's design and choosing. This edition could be done in a quarter-morocco, embossed binding with boards in a suiting cloth, (perhaps the next LL custom fabric) with marbled endpapers. The page edges could be silvered or gilded. A slipcover could be made, although I like the elegance of a clamshell box (maybe in an elegant tie silk?!!) with shirting fabric for the chemise and a label that references the morocco on the spine?

Just an idea. Not bespoke as the pages and typeface and design of the book itself will not change, but certainly something more than MTM.... The sky is the limit.

(edited to correct unfortunate typographical errors. )

[manton]

I personally can't tell if the interest in this runs very deep. I will say that I would prefer to channel my clothing book energies and time into a new book rather than a special edition of this one. Which is what I am just now (barely) beginning to do. If it comes together -- a huge "if" -- I can assure you that to a man you will all like the second book far more than a special edition of the first.

[JMurphy]

FWIW, a binding as I describe could be done for only one book. Collectors do it all the time to preserve special volumes.

I look forward to both books. I also enjoyed your 'biblio' on Amazon--I'm ordering several of those titles. Thank you.

[JLibourel]

Manton, I enjoyed that essay very much and learned a lot from it. However, one passage left me somewhat baffled: When you state that if a man's forearm is larger than his deltoids he needs an extended shoulder. I am curious how you could compare the forearm with the deltoid. The latter is a complex of muscles that are roughly hemispherical in the aggregate, whereas the forearm is more or less oval in its cross-section. And what relation would the forearm have with the deltoid in tailoring a suit? Did you actually mean "upper arm"? I could see that if the muscles of a man's upper arm were disproportionately large relative to the development of his deltoid muscles, special tailoring might be needed to compensate for it, but how would the size of the forearms affect the tailoring of the shoulders?

Besides, relatively few men have really massive forearms. I envy them. Nothing looks more virile to me than massive, knarled, veinous forearms. Almost anybody who trains with barbells assiduously can bulk up his upper arms, deltoids and pectorals considerably, but as one physical culture authority once remarked, "Forearms and calves you mostly get from your grandfather."

[manton]

Oops, yes I meant upper arm. Either that, or I was thinking of Popeye. Man, do I need an editor!

[Hartline]

Manton,

Did you also write "Tailcoats: An Elegy" in City Journal, 2003? Good piece.

[manton]

Yes, that was me. Glad you liked it.

[Hartline]

It is a fun read. Moreover, it shows good scholarship, which is something lacking in this type of writting generally. I like most things that quote Bloom. Hopefully, your new book will have some quotations by Harry Jaffa.

[manton]

I like most things that quote Bloom. Hopefully, your new book will have some quotations by Harry Jaffa.

No, but Bloom does appear again. Which should not be surprising. Bloom was a dandy, bespoke from head to toe. Even -- especially -- when he could least afford it. Jaffa dresses like hell and generally cares not one whit for clothes.