Great idea, Paul. Especially as this is a smaller book, I see it as something that should be hand-crafted and very much a work of art itself. Something that the Roycrofters or other Arts & Crafts artists would put out. I'm getting a book (Patrick O'Brian's "Master & Commander") made by Ampersand Studio (https://www.ampersandbookstudio.com/) and this might be something up their alley.
The world of mock and scoff needs to hear and digest the message of "Covered in Birds." "Wait a minute." "He what?" What is it about the story that impacts so? A tingle in the spirit? A slice of awe and wonder?
Wonderful idea Paul. Recently I had the privilege of seeing a limited edition rare Harry Clarke illustrated book called the Year's at the Spring, on vellum and it was spine tingling. The illustrations were absolutely exquisite. The Book of Wild Saints could be equally beautiful.
I’m not a publisher but I do own a lot of published books. ;) Newrome Press in Columbia, Missouri has the kind of vibe that your and Ewan’s project would be perfectly suited for.
Hi Paul, Dr. Jason Baxter (The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis) is publishing his upcoming book with the new publishing wing of The House Of. Humane Letters, run by Angelina Stanford. She is a fellow EO believer and doing great work. She does the Literary Life Podcast as well. I bet they might be interested in taking a look.
“To flee from the gaze of a civilised centre that denies God and launches salvo after salvo daily against the human soul.”
“We want these stories to go out further than this Substack, and we want them to appear, too, on real paper in the real world. We want them to last.”
Aren't these two statements contradictory?
I look forward to the book. I know we aren't all destined to be wild saints. John the Baptists and Jesus both found spiritual nourishment in desert places, and, thank God, they didn't stay in the wilderness but lived among other men, preaching the Good News. We should all seek God and his wisdom for seasons, and our lives among fellow humans should have the character of wild saints. Christ's kingdom has and never will be of this world. Therefore, His followers must not be "conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Rom 12:2. We have not been called to restore ourselves and others to Adam's original state: that is impossible for us. Jesus, when he returns, will destroy this world, Satan, and all of his followers, and create a new world where we will live forever.
Whether they are contradictory depends, I suppose, on what you think your role is. To be a wild saint or to tell their stories? I am always drawn to the first of these things, but my role, at least for now, seems to be the second of them.
Must be very cool to be a writer, the people you meet and projects to work on. I'm sure this will be awesome. One thought, make an edition that is small enough to fit in a ragged pocket, withstand the rain and sun, and dirty fingers. Some wanderer may come across it in the dim future, floating down a river, buried under a pile of old clothe, tucked into a hole in a tree. What would they make of these Wild Saints 1000 years from now? What we type into a screen is lost into a blackhole but books will be around, so good luck with this one.
Paul, this is wonderful news, and the entire concept, including Ewan's distinctive artwork seems so organically and spiritually appropriate and timely. I can almost feel the tactile, vintage finish to the cover, and the deckled edges to the pages, for a reader's experience similar to opening up the beloved hand-printed volumes of yore.
I took the liberty of forwarding your post to the publisher of my forthcoming book, STM Press in Pennsylvania, whose manager is definitely an "old soul" deeply appreciative of crafts and methods of yesteryear. As he is a woodworker, writer, and artist himself, I am hopeful he will be interested, and would "catch the vision" to help fashion a superb book for you.
As they say in the monasteries, "May it be blessed!"
Good luck, Paul. I can do nothing from where I am to help you here, and am not really sure I will be able to get the book when it comes out. But it looks like something special.
It would be nice... if the book had a distinctive smell to it, like books used to have when I was little.
Thick paper, not (Bible) thin paper. Something to have, and to hold. To cherish.
Thinking wistfully about wild places, I am wondering where to find them these days, although I bet that if you headed down the Grand Canyon along its length, it would still be very wild, and would a true (hot) desert.
Thinking about what you wrote a while back about being lost/dying to the world, I had an idle thought for Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse, which Matthew Arnold wrote a while ago. La Grande Chartreuse, technically a desert in the past, at least, is in my backyard, and I just have to climb a small mountain to look down on it, like tons of other mountain tourists.
Thinking about la Grande Chartreuse, I had to wonder if the monks have Internet connections, and something tells me that they do, they do.
I won't say anything else on this prickly subject.
Yep. The Machine gets everywhere, but it definitely is fueled by our incorrigible need to ex-press ourselves. I did an etymology of the word "press", and found that it is related to exerting force on something, so "express" is exerting force on something to push (something) OUT, and away from oneself. Force is a tricky thing, very tricky, and we are very ambivalent about it in its relation to power. I won't go so far as to say it is a bad thing, because... it IS, and there is no way of getting rid of it.
I don't know how Mount Athos works, but La Grande Chartreuse is a religious order where silence is (self) imposed on its monks.
Since God and the devil "rest" in the details, you have to wonder how cell phones and video podcasts work out in a religious order where silence is supposed to be the rule. If you listen to podcasts on your cell phone in your cell, alone, are you breaking the rules in La Grande Chartreuse, or not ? (I think that the rabbis would love to haggle over this one.)
"Vanity" pushes me to remark that the word "cell" used to talk about the phones looks like the "cell" that the monks live in individually, and is the same word used to talk about prisoners, who, these days have the.. luxury of living in individual cells, (like the monks) in a lot of the Western world, in any case.
Visions of the monks of la Grande Chartreuse with their cell phones.
Which brings me inevitably back to Ivan Illitch and his mystic vision of monastic industriousness playing a great role in the development of Western industry, and the Machine, of course.
Great idea, Paul. Especially as this is a smaller book, I see it as something that should be hand-crafted and very much a work of art itself. Something that the Roycrofters or other Arts & Crafts artists would put out. I'm getting a book (Patrick O'Brian's "Master & Commander") made by Ampersand Studio (https://www.ampersandbookstudio.com/) and this might be something up their alley.
I should have a look at who publishe Fr. John Behr’s Becoming Human.
Brilliant idea Paul and Ewan! Just the medicine our world soul could use at this time.
Would buy a copy in a heartbeat. Praying a publisher picks this up!
Art workers guild , queen Square London might have contacts . Worth checking
The world of mock and scoff needs to hear and digest the message of "Covered in Birds." "Wait a minute." "He what?" What is it about the story that impacts so? A tingle in the spirit? A slice of awe and wonder?
Wonderful idea Paul. Recently I had the privilege of seeing a limited edition rare Harry Clarke illustrated book called the Year's at the Spring, on vellum and it was spine tingling. The illustrations were absolutely exquisite. The Book of Wild Saints could be equally beautiful.
https://www.nocloo.com/harry-clarke-years-at-the-spring/#!
It was published by Harrap & Co in 1922 who have been taken over by Hachette. Maybe they might be interested in doing a 21st century equivalent?
I’m not a publisher but I do own a lot of published books. ;) Newrome Press in Columbia, Missouri has the kind of vibe that your and Ewan’s project would be perfectly suited for.
Indeed they do!
Love it.
Maybe try a monastic press? Like Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY? Monasteries produce beautiful books!
St Tikhon's also!
Good idea! I think a monastery would be interested since these are the lives of the saints.
Hi Paul, Dr. Jason Baxter (The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis) is publishing his upcoming book with the new publishing wing of The House Of. Humane Letters, run by Angelina Stanford. She is a fellow EO believer and doing great work. She does the Literary Life Podcast as well. I bet they might be interested in taking a look.
And maybe also consider The Rabbit Room Press out of Nashville, TN
“To flee from the gaze of a civilised centre that denies God and launches salvo after salvo daily against the human soul.”
“We want these stories to go out further than this Substack, and we want them to appear, too, on real paper in the real world. We want them to last.”
Aren't these two statements contradictory?
I look forward to the book. I know we aren't all destined to be wild saints. John the Baptists and Jesus both found spiritual nourishment in desert places, and, thank God, they didn't stay in the wilderness but lived among other men, preaching the Good News. We should all seek God and his wisdom for seasons, and our lives among fellow humans should have the character of wild saints. Christ's kingdom has and never will be of this world. Therefore, His followers must not be "conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Rom 12:2. We have not been called to restore ourselves and others to Adam's original state: that is impossible for us. Jesus, when he returns, will destroy this world, Satan, and all of his followers, and create a new world where we will live forever.
Whether they are contradictory depends, I suppose, on what you think your role is. To be a wild saint or to tell their stories? I am always drawn to the first of these things, but my role, at least for now, seems to be the second of them.
Good luck! Have you tried Aeon Books?
Must be very cool to be a writer, the people you meet and projects to work on. I'm sure this will be awesome. One thought, make an edition that is small enough to fit in a ragged pocket, withstand the rain and sun, and dirty fingers. Some wanderer may come across it in the dim future, floating down a river, buried under a pile of old clothe, tucked into a hole in a tree. What would they make of these Wild Saints 1000 years from now? What we type into a screen is lost into a blackhole but books will be around, so good luck with this one.
That's the kind of vision I have too...
North Atlantic Books https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/publish-with-nab/
Paul, this is wonderful news, and the entire concept, including Ewan's distinctive artwork seems so organically and spiritually appropriate and timely. I can almost feel the tactile, vintage finish to the cover, and the deckled edges to the pages, for a reader's experience similar to opening up the beloved hand-printed volumes of yore.
I took the liberty of forwarding your post to the publisher of my forthcoming book, STM Press in Pennsylvania, whose manager is definitely an "old soul" deeply appreciative of crafts and methods of yesteryear. As he is a woodworker, writer, and artist himself, I am hopeful he will be interested, and would "catch the vision" to help fashion a superb book for you.
As they say in the monasteries, "May it be blessed!"
~ Ralph
Good luck, Paul. I can do nothing from where I am to help you here, and am not really sure I will be able to get the book when it comes out. But it looks like something special.
It would be nice... if the book had a distinctive smell to it, like books used to have when I was little.
Thick paper, not (Bible) thin paper. Something to have, and to hold. To cherish.
Thinking wistfully about wild places, I am wondering where to find them these days, although I bet that if you headed down the Grand Canyon along its length, it would still be very wild, and would a true (hot) desert.
Thinking about what you wrote a while back about being lost/dying to the world, I had an idle thought for Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse, which Matthew Arnold wrote a while ago. La Grande Chartreuse, technically a desert in the past, at least, is in my backyard, and I just have to climb a small mountain to look down on it, like tons of other mountain tourists.
Thinking about la Grande Chartreuse, I had to wonder if the monks have Internet connections, and something tells me that they do, they do.
I won't say anything else on this prickly subject.
I wrote some time ago about my shock seeing monks on Mount Athos with smartphones. The Machine gets everywhere.
Yep. The Machine gets everywhere, but it definitely is fueled by our incorrigible need to ex-press ourselves. I did an etymology of the word "press", and found that it is related to exerting force on something, so "express" is exerting force on something to push (something) OUT, and away from oneself. Force is a tricky thing, very tricky, and we are very ambivalent about it in its relation to power. I won't go so far as to say it is a bad thing, because... it IS, and there is no way of getting rid of it.
Going along down this path...
I don't know how Mount Athos works, but La Grande Chartreuse is a religious order where silence is (self) imposed on its monks.
Since God and the devil "rest" in the details, you have to wonder how cell phones and video podcasts work out in a religious order where silence is supposed to be the rule. If you listen to podcasts on your cell phone in your cell, alone, are you breaking the rules in La Grande Chartreuse, or not ? (I think that the rabbis would love to haggle over this one.)
"Vanity" pushes me to remark that the word "cell" used to talk about the phones looks like the "cell" that the monks live in individually, and is the same word used to talk about prisoners, who, these days have the.. luxury of living in individual cells, (like the monks) in a lot of the Western world, in any case.
Visions of the monks of la Grande Chartreuse with their cell phones.
Which brings me inevitably back to Ivan Illitch and his mystic vision of monastic industriousness playing a great role in the development of Western industry, and the Machine, of course.
Give me a book over a cell phone any day.