First Voyages

Our first Chester River Press publication was The Chesapeake Voyages of Capt. John Smith. This book was the brainchild of Jim Dissette. The year 2007 was the 400th anniversary of the 1607 Jamestown, Virginia settlement. In 1608 John Smith set off in a small boat with a crew of fourteen to explore the Chesapeake Bay. He made two voyages around the bay, recorded in his Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles, published in 1624. His journal of the voyages is a fascinating account of exploration, a real-life adventure story.

We had decided to venture into the fine letterpress printing world, and we were searching for an appropriate topic to launch our ship. Jim's idea was the perfect subject: timely, of local interest, and exciting. The plan was to reproduce Capt. Smith's journal of the two voyages, seek a noteworthy scholar to write a foreword for the book, and entice an artist to illustrate the journal. Our first choice to write a foreword was Adam Goodheart, Director of the Starr Center for the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown. Our choice for an artist was Marc Castelli, renowned maritime artist, and a resident of Chestertown. We were aiming high, especially for a fledgling press. To our amazement and delight, they both enthusiastically agreed to participate.

So we set to work, obtaining permissions to reproduce maps, deciding on paper and binding, editing the journal slightly to smooth out the presentation, writing an introduction and synopsis of the voyages, working with Marc to select drawings, captioning the drawings, and nudging things along to completion. Jim Dissette designed the book and printed it hand letterpress with Chad Pastotnik of Deep Wood Press. Kathleen Jones provided expert editing, and there is no better editor on the planet. We limited the edition to 100 copies, in slipcases, with two maps, six drawings, and quarter-bound in blue goatskin leather and Japanese silk/rayon. We published in November, 2007.

What a beginning. We sold our last copy a month ago. Practically unheard of for a publication of this sort, and certainly an auspicious launch. We still receive requests for copies regularly.

So Chester River Press was born, and we are certainly savvy enough to realize that this initial success is not the norm in fine press publishing. We were biting our nails all through the project, and will continue to do so throughout our new projects. But to create a beautiful volume so obviously attractive to the public was immensely satisfying.