John R. Smith

The RISD Museum has amassed a collection of about 300 artist's books, albums, scrapbooks, and rare volumes. (The RISD Library holds an additional 900 or so artist's books.) One collector-couple's passion for books published by small British presses has swelled the number of artist's books in the Museum's collection over the past several years. The Rocket Press is among the few British establishments still operating full-time for the design and production of high quality letterpress, publishing three or four books a year on their own in addition to commissioned work.

The Vacant Frame was first published in 1899 by Robert Brough in an anthology of poems entitled Tips for Typos, or, Rhymes to Rub off Rust. The Rocket Press published the verse in 1983 as a portfolio of linocuts by John Robert Smith accompanied by the poem, beautifully housed in a box with four compartments containing the prints, Walker's Book (which is the size of a matchbox), and several pieces of metal type. The 1983 version is a book about the art of printing and bookmaking.