New York Observer (6/2/97)

[davemarc]

> From: Sherwood, Harrison <hsherwood at btg.com>
> >----------
> >From: 	davemarc Subject: 	New York Observer (6/2/97)
> >
> >While the author was tending to such needling matters [getting the
"right"
> >ampersand for the cover], 
> 
> Gales of derisive laughter!
> 
> While the "Mason" and "Dixon" on the cover appear to be an "antiqued"
> version of Granjon Roman, that ampersand is unmistakably from an
> _italic_ face!
> 
> Jeeezis, Henry Holt ought to _know_ better! It's Rule Number One, man!
> 
> _Never_ let your author design his own cover!
> 
Just to keep the ball a-rollin', I offer the prequel to my earlier post,
pointing out also that the article's author is Warren St. John.

***

When it came time to sell his masterpiece, Mr. Pynchon had some specific
ideas about how the people at Holt should behave.  Last summer, after he
had made final changes in the text with his editor Ray Roberts, Mr. Pynchon
turned his attention to the book's packaging.  He had several lengthy phone
conversations with Raquel Jaramillo, a 33-year-old art director assigned to
design the book jacket.  He explained that he wanted the jacket to feel
like old parchment and insisted that its typography correspond to the
novel's 18th-century setting.

Ms. Jaramillo, one of the very few Henry Holt employees who interacted
personally with Mr. Pynchon, said he was cordial and, "He's obviously
someone who cares about book covers."

In July, Mr. Pynchon stopped by Holt's 18th Street offices to see Ms.
Jarmillo's preliminary designs.  Under a veil of secrecy, Mr. Pynchon met
with Ms. Jaramillo, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Nauman [the Holt CEO], in Mr.
Nauman's office.  Ms. Jaramillo had come up with a striking cover:  the
words "Mason" and "Dixon," wrapped around the novel in an authentic
18th-century typeface she'd scanned from a book of the period, the letters
magnified to reveal an eerie green halo caused by the hot-type printing
method of the original.  The book had an acetate overlay that gave it an
antiquarian feel.  Mr. Pynchon liked what he saw, but there was a problem: 
Ms. Jaramillo hadn't been provided with one of the tightly guarded copies
of the manuscript and had not known the title was "Mason & Dixon," rather
than "Mason and Dixon."  Mr. Pynchon, a kind of ampersand zealot, wanted
one on the cover of his novel--and not just any ampersand, but a special,
elusive ampersand that Ms. Jaramillo couldn't find.  So she kept looking. 
They had lengthy talks, she said, discussing details like "how far up the
ligature of the ampersand the curlicue should go" before Mr. Pynchon
finally found the one he was after, in a tawny old manuscript he'd come
across in his research.  He photocopied it and sent it to Ms. Jaramillo,
who made it the centerpiece of the cover design.  Mr. Pynchon
enthusiastically approved.

***

I haven't read the whole issue of the Observer, but it looks pretty good
overall.  

davemarc