By Claire Frank
Looking for an unusual alternative to a traditional book? Consider a litograph.
Litographs are decorative prints created with text from classic novels such as Peter Pan, Les Misérables, and Pride and Prejudice. The designs, created by 18 artists across the globe, are made exclusively of words and can usually hold the story’s entire text (up to 75,000 words). The text is clean and legible, allowing people to read entire novels on the posters.
The Litographs company was founded in 2012 by American entrepreneur Danny Fein. The company, which is based in Plainville, Massachusetts, ships worldwide in hopes of promoting literacy through a unique and interesting medium. Fein’s company is partnered with International Book Bank, sending a new book to a community in need whenever a litograph is purchased. It also offers discounts to libraries in order to encourage reading, especially amongst students.
Although Litographs are not sold exclusively on their website, www.litographs.com, the website offers the highest amount of designs. Litographs sold elsewhere tend to be slightly cheaper, but they are not part of the partnership with the International Book Bank and therefore don’t ensure the donation of a new book to a community in need.
There are 79 litograph designs currently available, and new designs are released every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribers of the webpage receive $10 coupons off each litograph on the day it launches. Each poster comes in two sizes, 24 x 36 inches or 18 x 24 inches, and either in black and white or in color. The prints are individually created with a printing press, which means no two prints are exactly the same.
On January 31, 2013, Litographs began releasing t-shirts, which are also created with a printing press in a process called all-over printing. The t-shirts are in black and white and come in unisex and women’s deep V-neck options. There are currently six designs available: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, On the Origins of Species, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
