Jim Rimmer and the Pie Tree Press
Designer, illustrator, and typographer, Jim Rimmer (1934–2010) is warmly remembered as a central figure in Canada’s fine press movement. The designer of numerous digital fonts, he had the special skills to design, engrave, and cast several fonts in metal. In addition to the printing and design work that he did for many other fine press publishers, Rimmer’s own Pie Tree Press published four gorgeous limited edition books. Bruce Peel Special Collections houses a copy of each of these hand-printed books which are illustrated with Rimmer’s own linocut images:
- Shadow River: Selected and Illustrated Poems of Pauline Johnson (1997)
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1998)
- Leaves from the Pie Tree: Memories from the Composing Room Floor (2006)
- Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (2008)
Collection Formats: 20th Century, 21st Century, Books, Fine Press Books, Limited Edition Books -- click to see other collections with this format
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Deluxe limited edition designed, illustrated, and printed by Jim Rimmer, with an introduction by Crispin Elsted. New Westminster: Pie Tree Press, 1998 (PR 4572 C535 1998a folio).
Johnson, E. Pauline. Shadow River: The Selected and Illustrated Poems of Pauline Johnson. Illustrated and hand-printed by Jim Rimmer with his typography students at University College of the Fraser Valley. New Westminster: Pie Tree Press, 1997 (PS 8469 O38 S52 1997 folio).
Two cards from a set issued by Jim Rimmer in 1981 showing "rare and elsewhere unobtainable ornament pieces" available at his type foundry included with Rollin Milroy's A Visit with Jim Rimmer. Vancouver: HM, 2023 (Z 232 P59 M55 2023).
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Illustrated and printed by Jim Rimmer. New Westminster: Pie Tree Press & Type Foundry, 2008. No.12 of 75 copies (PS 1306 A1 2008 folio).
A selection of metal types designed by Jim Rimmer included in Rollin Milroy's A Visit with Jim Rimmer. Vancouver: HM, 2023. No.40 of 40 copies (Z 232 P59 M55 2023 folio).
Haig-Brown, Roderick. Alison’s Fishing Birds. Illustrations, design, composition, and presswork by Jim Rimmer. Vancouver: Colophon Books, 1980. No.17 of 25 copies (QL 795 B57 H149 1980 c.2).