The Complete Engraver
Monograms, Crests, Ciphers, Seals, and the Etiquette of Social Stationery
Chronicle Books
Available: 08/22/12
6.25 x 8.75 · 216 pages
9781616890674
CDN $42.95
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In this age of emails, texts, and instant messages, receiving a letter has become a rare treat. Engraved stationery can make a piece of correspondence, whether a short note, formal letter, or business card, even more special. Once an integral part of social life, the use of engraved stationery has become a lost art. In The Complete Engraver, author Nancy Sharon Collins brings this venerable craft to life-from the history and etiquette of engraved social stationery in America to its revival and promise of new visual possibilities. Illustrated with gorgeous, original specimens of social stationery, calling cards, and monograms, The Complete Engraver also includes an instructional section that walks the reader through the engraving process and the steps required to commission engraving work today.
Mrs. Collins is principle in her eponymous Nancy Sharon Collins, Stationer, which is part of Collins, LLC. She overseas the creation of exquisite, bespoke, hand engraved social stationery, writes about it, and talks about it every chance she can get. She also teaches graphic design and typography at Delgado Community College and is AIGA New Orleans director of Special Projects.
She has presented the subject of engraving and typography at numerous TypeCon conferences across the country, the international Atypei conference in Dublin, at the Type Directors Club in New York City in 2011, 2007, authored two articles about commercial engraving for Letterspace, Fall/Winter 2006. In May, 2012, she will present engraved letterforms at the Type Americana 2 conference in Seattle, Washington.
Mrs. Collins owned and operated the graphic design firm Nancy Feldman studio in New York City from 1978 to 2004. Clients included WaterfordWedgwood, Clinique, Prescriptives, Revlon, Charles of the Ritz, Curve fragrance, The Metropolitan Opera Shop and the Museum of Modern Art. Her specialty is two-dimensional imaging utilizing advanced technologies as well as those that are arcane.
