Growing and Thriving in Decorah

Business Spotlights

Legend among fine printers now calls Decorah home

"I've always wanted to know if she (the Queen of England) keeps the books at her bedside stand." David Esslemont, Bookbinder and Publisher
Solmentes Press

David Esslemont and his wife, Kris Schanilec, were living in the Twin Cities area when they began their search for country property about three years ago.

David , who grew up in northeast England, said the quest involved looking seriously at sites in southeast Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa, and less seriously at sites in Vermont and Massachusetts.

The goal was to find a setting with minimum distraction but including a good quality of life so his at-home business could flourish.

But nailing down exactly what it is David does isn’t easy because he’s so versatile. In short, he is an artist, a designer, printer, bookbinder and publisher.

"I'm a little unique in some respects because I do a little bit of everything," the entrepreneur said, adding there are probably only a handful of people nationwide who do what he does with art and books.

David and Kris, along with their 2-year-old son Thomas, moved to their 32-acre farm about seven miles north of Decorah last fall. The farm features a house built in the 1880s, and David plans to convert one of the outbuildings to a work studio.

David, who will participate in the Northeast Iowa Artists’ Studio Tour in October, currently is working on providing art for a book about poet John Keat’s "To Autumn." Each page of art illustrates one line from the poem.

So what is his market? Who patronizes him? "It can be anybody, literally," he said, adding that one such
patron of his books is the Queen of England.

A good example of a book David has been instrumental in crafting is "All in Good Time," an autobiography by English watchmaker George Daniels. David designed, printed and bound the book, which is bound in full goatskin with gold tooling.

The book cover contains a small piece of a watch made by the renowned George Daniels.

Only 27 of the books were made, the same number of watches made by Daniels. Cost per book? $6,000 each.

David, who said he is an artist first and foremost, said his Old World art is not threatened by modernity. In fact, he said the use of the Internet means he can market to the "worldwide community."

Although you won’t find one in a Borders or Barnes & Noble bookstore, David’s books nonetheless are possessed by book collectors all around the world.

Universities are also big customers. The University of Iowa bought his archive 3 years ago and other collectors include the University of Indiana, the University of Wisconsin and Boston Public Library.