I’m just back from the press, where Chanishka and I were invited this morning to view the proofs of the new dust-jacket for Vol. I before they went ahead and printed it.
Like most presses, it was some distance out of town, but we found the place without trouble. They weren’t quite ready for us, so we sat for a while in the manager’s office till the backroom boys sent up the okay. While we waited, we were shown an uncut, sewn copy of Volume II, which was then taken away to be bound and sent back, still coverless, for my inspection and approval. It looked great to me, but Chanishka’s the man with the expert eye; he looked it over thoroughly and pronounced it ‘shape’. I took a few photos of it to show you: here they are. I think you’ll agree with us that it looks pretty good.
Then we were taken back into the bowels of the press and showed a proof of the dust-jacket for Volume I. The main question we were being asked was, ‘Are the colours right?’ They were fine, actually, but Chanishka did detect a slight irregularity (caused, I think, by some diffraction effect) in the barcode that’s printed on the back of the jacket. A couple of phone calls and the problem was soon solved. Here’s the jacket proof, still on the machine, and slightly out of focus thanks to my poor photographic skills. The one in the foreground is an enlarged proof; an actual-size, uncut version is seen at the rear.

So, il fait progrés, as the French say. Chanishka and I will go back in a few days to approve the second DJ, the slipcase and sundry other components. So far, we’re still on (revised) schedule. Wish us luck!
All the best, as ever, Richard
Looks great Richard. The wait will be worth it.
I would assume incorrectly that you have had to print abroad. This is most encouraging news. Thanks for keeping us updated.
MB