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About Us
Established in 2019, Lyra’s Books is an award-winning artisan bookbinder and independent publisher based in Shropshire, UK. We specialise in high quality rebinds and low limitation fine press titles. Here is our range of services and what we offer.
About Us
Our Story
Lyra’s Books was established by bookbinder Richard Tong. We produce luxury, handmade books using traditional skills that have been passed down through many generations of binders.
Richard has worked for many years at Ludlow Bookbinders and continues to do so while running his own fine press publishing company here at Lyra’s. Being based at Ludlow provides us with a dedicated team of highly skilled binders who are capable of creating books of historic value.
In early 2018, Richard was presented the prestigious Elizabeth Soutar award for his binding of ‘American Gods’ by Neil Gaiman. He has produced many finely bound books which now grace private collections and public libraries around the world.
Fine-Press Publishing
Lyra's Press
Following the success of our limited edition of ‘Stardust’, Lyra’s Press will continue to publish fine press editions of modern titles, with an emphasis on more heavily illustrated art books, author signatures (where we can get them) and modern and unique bindings.
These books are likely to be less frequent than the Lyra’s Classics releases, but we aim for one every 12-18 months. There will always be a Numbered and a Lettered edition of these titles, often with a Standard edition depending upon the title.
Classic Publishing
Lyra's Classics
Lyra’s Classics is the second imprint from Lyra’s Books. This imprint will focus on fine press editions of public domain works. We will be bringing in new illustrators for a fresh approach to classic titles and, in the long term, create a series of books that will complement each other on the shelf. The idea is to create a library of classic works, in a more traditional style of binding.
As always, these books will be hand-bound and letterpress printed. We aim to release one or two of these titles per year. There will only be a Numbered and a Lettered edition of these titles.
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ARETÉ EDITIONS
Since the release of Stardust back in 2020, Richard has been working closely with Marcelo Anciano of Areté Editions. Marcelo co-owns Areté with our letterpress printer Phil Abel of Hand and Eye. Richard was brought on board to design and bind their first project, ‘The Case of Death and Honey’ by Neil Gaiman and has been designing and binding for them ever since.
The team of three (Richard, Marcelo and Phil) is the same core team that creates all of Lyra’s books and we are essentially one and the same. The only real difference being that Marcelo and Phil choose which titles are published by Areté and Richard chooses which titles are published by Lyra. Areté Editions is the only other publisher that Richard designs and binds for.
