In this episode of the EXTRACTS Podcast, I share a piece that Claude wrote in 2012 for The Claude Fredericks Foundation—a deeply considered reflection on what it meant to publish books by hand, with care, integrity, and lasting purpose.
This essay was originally part of a newsletter Claude and I created to celebrate his work as a printer and the ideals that shaped The Banyan Press. It’s rich with his voice, his values, and his quiet determination to make beautiful things in an often indifferent world.
Work like yours fills me with hope, while almost everything else tempts me to despair…
—Thomas Merton, in a letter to Claude, 11 August 1961
This episode accompanies this week’s Substack post, The Great Fountain: Claude Fredericks and the Early Days of The Banyan Press which traces the origins of The Banyan Press through Claude’s own journal entries from April 1947.
If you’ve ever wondered what it meant to devote a life to printing serious literature with care, clarity, and conviction—outside the noise of the commercial world—this piece offers a quiet, thoughtful answer.
For paid subscribers: Along with full access to this week’s journal entries, commentary, and archival material, you’ll also receive a special bonus—a private link to a 106-image photo album featuring decades of Claude’s printing work. These photographs, taken by me in the archives of The Banyan Press at the Getty Research Institute, offer an intimate look at the care, beauty, and craft that defined his life in print.
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