COLOPHON: The Business is Suffering was produced by Maureen Cummins in the spring and summer of 2003 with typographic assistance from Kathy McMillan. The book was typeset in Franklin Gothic, silkscreen and letterpress printed on Rives heavyweight paper, and bound in the style of 19th century business ledgers.
The project was inspired by a collection of letters found by the artist in the archive of the American Antiquarian Society, where she was in residence during the summer of 2000 as a William Randolph Hearst Creative Arts Fellow. The letters are part of the Slavery in the U.S. collection and are reproduced here by kind permission of the AAS.
Funding for the production phrase of the project came through The Puffin Foundation and Women's Studio Workshop. The book was printed on site at WSW, which is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts. Additional support came from grants to WSW from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
The Business is Suffering was printed and bound in an edition of fifty copies. Copies numbered 1-20 are held by Women's Studio Workshop. Copies numbered 21-50, plus five artist's proof copies, are in the hands of the artist.
Issued in a slipcase.
On spine of slipcase: RHD & Bro., Richmond, Va; dealers & auctioneers: letters, 1846-1863.