Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman was once described by Italo Calvino as "postmodern before there was even a modernism to be post about." Among the printerly tricks in Tristram Shandy is an almost entirely missing chapter, which is only signified by a jump of nine pages in the page count, a third of blank paper on the page, and a sentence opening the next chapter that tells us (the readers) that all we missed was "the visitations at ****."
These fine prints are laid out as an uncut bookmaker's imposition spread. They imagine what Sterne's four asterisks might refer us to or defer us from. Every print is uniquely marbled following either the colour scheme or Turkish Spot pattern used by Sterne for another printerly trick in Tristram Shandy: the so-called 'marbled page', or what Sterne calls "the motley emblem of my work." Screenprinted on top of all that colour is a white paratext, including page numbers and crop marks, that create an image of the missing action.
This edition was produced in association with the Laurence Sterne Trust, Coxwold. The marbling was done by Kate Brett of Payhembury Marbled Papers, Cambridge, and the screenprinting by Joshua Robertson of White Duck Editions, Bath.
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