First, ask yourself whether you have the bellows for this lens with its ~760mm flange focal distance -- I happen to use a 1200 T ED Nikkor , but have a meter rail for my Arca Swiss view cameras. You'll also need two tripods- one at each end for stability.
And closer-than-infiinity focusing will increase the need for both bellows and rail (you'll need ~1960mm for 1:1(this is telephoto, so its not just 2x FFD. You'll also have to worry about exposure compensation when you get to >1/10 image size on ground glass due to exit pupil effects).
You'll find the coverage on the (600 and 800 and ) 1200 elements are much greater than Nikon listed in the literature. 1200 will cover 12x20 (you're contact printing, so any thoughts of poorer resolution at the edges just isn't an issue...and there isn't any observed) although I much prefer the Schneider Fine Art XXL 1100 instead due to contrast.
I've used the 1200 T ED with 8x10 to produce some nice detail images within the Grand Canyon in color....there is nothing like pulling a distant object into the 8x10 frame...
This lens has a nice set of companion rear elements - 600 and 800. They'll cover 7x17 as well as the specs showing 8x10....which means you have a lot more rise and fall on 8x10 than the literature states.
YMMV. Anyone else own these want to comment? (If you don't own them and/or haven't used them, don't bother arguing specs vs actual coverage....)