“A holy book of the nation, along with the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence,” - poet laureate Robert Hass on Leaves of Grass To mark their one-hundredth publication the noted fine press publisher Arion Press has chosen the 1855 first edition of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Chosen in part as a tribute to the publisher's predecessors Edwin and Robert Grabhorn, whose masterpiece was their 1930 edition of the Whitman poem. “I thought Arion Press might do something with Whitman’s poetry that was different as to the text and yet pay tribute to the 1930 edition by using a similar format,...
Dead Feminists Live On
Keep the Change: No. 16 in the Dead Feminists seriesThe Dead Feminists is a broadside series created by the dynamic duo of Jessica Spring and Chandler O'Leary.Jessica of Springtide Press and Chandler of Anagram Press unite to resurrect feminists from days gone bye whose messages still ring true when looking at the current political and social landscape. The series has been going strong since 2008. The broadsides are letterpress printed from hand-drawn lettering and illustrations in limited editions. The size of each edition corresponds to the subject matter. The edition of "Gun Shy" featuring Annie Oakley was printed in an edition of...
Slightly Foxed: The Well-Made Book Lives On
The headline reads: Outfoxing the digital revolution.The story in The Telegraph profiles Slightly Foxed, a second-hand bookshop, publisher of a popular beautifully produced reader's quarterly and publishers of Slightly Foxed Editions."Slightly Foxed have stepped aside from the ebook stampede to publish beautifully bound hardbacks that recall a bygone age – and sell like hot cakes," and too boot they only publish memoirs that are out of print but not out of copyright, and all include new prefaces that are reproduced in the quarterly magazine.Each clothbound pocket hardback includes colored endpapers, headband, tailband and a silk ribbon marker. Each is published...
Making Books in California: Five Contemporary Presses on View
"During the last 50 years, the conception and production of the book has evolved into an art form that exceeds all former standards for the book as object. Book arts have become a mature medium, and California artists and printers are leaders in the fine arts of the book," - Roberto G. Trujillo, head of Stanford Library's Department of Special Collections.Currently on view at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University is the exhibit, The Art of the Book in California: Five Contemporary Presses. Featuring nearly 50 books the exhibit highlights some of the amazing book art and fine press work...