09/30/2026
Collaborator Spotlight: Victoria Hall
For the lettered edition of A SHORT STAY IN HELL, we wanted every element of the book to contribute to its strange, disorienting journey through the Library of Babel.
The hand tooling on the leather binding, executed by Erin Fletcher of Herringbone Bindery, evokes the strict, repetitive geometry of the Library: two mirror image halves, ordered and seemingly endless.
But when you open the book, that order gives way to something altogether different.
The custom paste paper endsheets were created especially for this edition by Victoria Hall, a professional paper marbler based near Fakenham in Norfolk, England. Victoria has been creating fine hand-decorated papers since 1989, using traditional techniques for bookbinding, book arts, and the conservation of antiquarian books.
For A SHORT STAY IN HELL, Victoria’s paste papers create a tumble of lines that complement the colors of Grace Aldrich’s illustrations while evoking vertigo, falling, and disorientation. It is as though, upon opening the book, you begin to tumble through the chasm between the two halves of the Library.
Rigid geometry on the outside. Dizzying chaos within.
I am delighted to have Victoria’s work as part of this edition.
