Description
The Essence of Beeing
by Michael Lenehan
with illustrations by Alice Brown-Wagner
The Essence of Beeing is an account by Michael Lenehan of two beekeepers: one who has hives on the roof of his apartment building in the city, and one who keeps bees on his farm in the country. In the process of describing the beekeepers and their work, the book tells a great deal of what is known about bees and honey. It was written by Michael Lenehan, former executive editor of the Chicago Reader, where it appeared originally in 1977. The full text is free to read on the Reader website. Mr. Lenehan has contributed many pieces to the Reader during his more than 30-year association with it; he has also published elsewhere, notably in the Atlantic Monthly. Here, Alice Brown-Wagner has illustrated the text with drawings of the tools of beekeeping.
The laid-back style of the narrative belies well-packed information. … It is a delightful essay. … Binding and type were well and sensibly chosen. Any beekeeper would enjoy this for a generous present—as has, indeed, this reviewer. Others may find it tempts them toward one of the world’s absorbing occupations.
—Colin Franklin, Bookways
The text of this book is set in Cooper Oldstyle, the only book-weight Roman typeface designed by Chicagoan Oswald Cooper. Lower-case letters are 14 point; capitals and numerals are 12 point. The overall layout is borrowed from The Book of Oz, a tribute to Cooper which was published by the Society of Typographic Arts in 1949. The paper is Roma from Fabriano. Binding is by Ann Repp. Work was begun on the book in 1980. Bob McCamant designed it, set the first few pages, and printed most of the pages of type. Kate Friedman set a few more pages. All the rest were set by Alice Brown-Wagner. Albert Richardson drew the bee ornaments and the drop capitals. Cheryl Towler printed most of the bee ornaments. Jennifer Hughes came along at the end and finished everything. Martha Chiplis hand colored what was left of the drop caps, facilitated the die-stamped dust jacket, and hand cut the honeycomb shapes. 45 pages, 9¼ x 12 inches. Published in 1992 in an edition of 200 copies, numbered but not signed.
