Your Personal Favorite (Fine Press) Books

We all have favorites in our lives - so to get to the point, what are your favorite (fine press) books in your collection? Not books you wish you had, but those that are actually in your collection? I realize some of us might have very large personal libraries (why is everyone looking at dlphcoracl? ;) while others might be more modest. Nevertheless, I bet we all have a few books which we think to ourselves "I'll never part with you as long as I live..." kinda like marriage, only perhaps more real.
So, please don't list large collections such as "I will never part with my LEC" yeah yeah, I want you to
LIMIT THIS TO YOUR TOP 5 BOOKS AT MOST

I'll start with one book I've already mentioned before. The Colour out of Space by Lovecraft, produced by Amy Borezo
-pictures here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/321791
It's really special. The finest fine Lovecraft book ever done. I'll post another book or two later, for now, let's here from the rest of ya...

Tough call, in no particular order:

Pastorale - deluxe edition bound in limp vellum (Whittington Press)
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville Beyond the Holy Land (Foolscap Press)
Heart of Darkness (Chester River Press)
Stardust (Lyra's Books)
Agnes Miller Parker: Wood Engravings from The Fables of Esope (Gwasg Gregynog)

edited to add Heart of Darkness
edited to bump The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson bound in custom wood boards (Old Stile Press) and replace it with Stardust

At the present time:

The Grecian Enchanted - Golden Cockerel Press
The Three Musketeers - LEC, (1932 edn)
La Divina Comedia - Nonesuch Press

There is one more, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it is! I bought it about ten years ago, and it has been in storage ever since. It is, however, a stunning work and I simply must dig it out and present it to you.

I have others that I would not willingly part with, but they are not fine press books.

Heart of Darkness by Chester River Press stands head and shoulders over my collection. By far my favorite and the hardest to acquire.

Honroable mentions to the Thornwillow Dante which I adore and pull out to run my fingers over the pages on a regular basis and the LEC The Idiot by far my favorite LEC production to read and touch. The artwork by Fritz Eichenberg needs no flowery language.

Interesting and diverse answers so far. I don’t own any of the mentioned books

My favourites in no particular order:
A Portrait of Shunkin - LEC
Rose und Blau - The Bear Press
Pushkin: Four Stories - Allen Press

This changes constantly though

Chester River's Heart of Darkness is the crown of my collection.

Amy Borezo's Colour out of Space gets honourable mention.

I'd also like to add Whittington's half-leather Pastorale into that honourable mentions list though I can foresee myself parting with it for the deluxe vellum edition at some point in the future.

Anabasis - LEC
Moon as Bright as Water - Chester River Press
Billy Budd - Married Mettle Press

Here are a few choices from some of my favourite presses.
Lennart Forsberg: Burin, box and board (special edition). Incline Press
John Craig: Venice. Whittington Press
J.G. Lubbock: Landscapes of the Spirit. Bertram Rota
Thomas Rae: Four Tales of the Clyde. The Black Pennell Press
Raissa Maritain: The Patriarch Tree. Stanbrook Abbey Press.

>5 SebRinelli:
Even though the book is in German I think it's worthwhile to show some pictures of it, as they are notoriously difficult to find. This is the ‘Vorzugsausgabe’, one of 25 copies, in an edition of 150 copies.






Shunkin is reviewed here with better picture than I could ever provide:
https://booksandvines.com/2016/06/27/a-portrait-of-shunkin-by-junichiro-tanizaki...

>4 Sorion: I’ve been hunting the Chester River Press ‘Heart of Darkness’ for years :)

>10 Bookenstein: Is this not it? http://www.deepwoodpress.com/hod.html

>11 AMindForeverVoyaging: It is, and it's really hard to find. Not many were made and not many will part with them!

>12 Sorion: That is very true. I will never part with mine.

>8 Constantinopolitan: Raissa Maritain: The Patriarch Tree. Stanbrook Abbey Press

If you ever find the time please post a separate thread with photos about this book. The Stanbrook Abbey Press has long been on my list of publishers to investigate deeply but the time never seems to present itself. One of the tops of my list to purchase when I have the funds is the Stanbrook Abbey bibliography published by the Whittington Press in full leather with the sister on the cover.

Un Coup De Des Jamais N'Abolira Le Hasard - LEC

>1 astropi: A terrific question!

Currently, in no particular order, and limited to five as requested:

Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (The Pennyroyal Press) - unwieldy but utterly, gloriously magnificent. The Gray Parrot binding in particular is a real treat.

Ann Muir: Harvesting Colour (Incline Press) - my favourite book from one of my favourite presses, featuring one my favourite artists! What's not to like?

T. S. Eliot: Four Quartets (Officina Bodoni) - understated, fine press elegance at its best. I also own the Rampant Lions Press edition, which is wonderful in a completely different way.

Arnold Hano: A Day in the Bleachers (Arion Press) - I find Arion's output to be a bit of a mixed bag, but I think they got this one absolutely spot on. The attention to detail is lovely.

Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal (Officina Athelstane) - small and perfectly formed. The Salvage Press edition is beyond my means, but this little gem will do very nicely instead.

Stealing of the Mare -- Gregynog Press

Travels of John Mandveille -- Foolscap

Temptation of St. Anthony -- Allen Press

Essays of Montaigne -- Navarre Society

Essays of Francis Bacon -- Cresset Press

>11 AMindForeverVoyaging: Thanks for the link. This books looks stunning, though I'd better stop thinking about it as it's doubtful I'll ever own a copy. Congratulations to all who do. It's interesting to note that it actually took years to sell out only 150 standard copies: it was published in 2008 but there is a statement that 'as of 9/12/13 there are only 20 copies remaining'. Can't imagine that happening today. It was 'only' $500 too, which seems a relative bargin compared to their forthcoming Wind in the Willows.

>4 Sorion: How could I have forgotten Heart of Darkness! I've updated my list.

>18 Levin40: I can't believe I was stupid enough to not buy this book upon release at $500. Instead I waited until it went on sale for $375 in December of 2011. I would never do that today.

>18 Levin40: They sold out of the whole run in December 2014. I know because I bought the last one -- #15 of the deluxe :)

What a good topic, and already many excellent suggestions (I can see that the book-buying budget is going to take another hit.). I’m a recent convert to fine press collecting, so my collection is relatively small. All the books I own are favourites and being asked to choose between them is a difficult as being asked to choose a favourite child!

Nevertheless, my 5 are:

Mabinogion, Golden Cockerel Press
The Story of the Fisherman, Foolscap Press
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Libanus Press
The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke, Arion Press
The Third Thing, Old Stile Press

(Of course, that it just my opinion today. Ask me tomorrow and the list would be different.)

The Song of Songs: Called by Many The Canticle of Canticles, illustrated by Eric Gill (Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire, UK: Golden Cockerel Press (1925)).

Glacierman,
The covers of my copy of the Nonesuch Press, Dante bowed out because the binders board could not hold up to the vellum binding. Is this peculiar to mine? Does yours lie flat?
In any case it is a beautiful book, especially the illustrations.

>23 cbellia: That's normal. The boards on mine are slightly warped. I've wrapped ties around it to help control the warpage. Another common problem is a sun faded spine from carelessness.

Tough to limit to just 5. In no order:

— King Lear (Janus Press)
— Heart of Darkness (Chester River Press, standard binding)
— Phisicke Against Fortune (Foolscap Press, deluxe binding)
— Four Stories by Pushkin (Allen Press)
— Song of Songs (Bet Alpha Editions)

>25 kermaier:

Speaking of, anyone here lay out the big bucks for the Salvage Press 'A Modest Proposal?' Looked amazing but stratospherically out of my range.

https://thesalvagepress.com/a-modest-proposal

If there was any book that demanded a trade edition....

>25 kermaier: I'm currently reading The Secret Sharer. The simple, understated components of this production come together beautifully in a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts fashion. In a similar vein, my personal favorite fine presser is Arion Press' Leaves of Grass.

>23 cbellia: No warping of the boards on my edition but the spine is quite faded.
>26 MobyRichard: I like The Salvage Press and hope to buy more of Jaime's books in the future but this one was way too steep for me, I also went for the Athelstane edition.

>8 Constantinopolitan: I'm going to be a pain in the arse here and tell you to PLEASE LIMIT YOUR SELECTION TO FIVE :)
You too >25 kermaier: please remove your "runner's up" I want to be strict here because otherwise people just keep piling up the books!

>11 AMindForeverVoyaging: as pointed out by >20 gmacaree: that link exists but is completely useless. They sold out years ago, and I personally have not seen a copy for sale in years. So congrats to all who own a copy, and thanks to everyone that has posted so far. I would encourage people to please add some pics so you can share this art with all of us.

>23 cbellia: and >28 kdweber: Rather than normal, I should have said common. Copies with flat boards AND unsunned spine are unusual, but findable. I have seen flat boards on copies that have been stored in slipcases or solander boxes from the get-go and occasionally on other copies as well, which appears to be the case with your copy >28 kdweber:.

So what is being gathered here is effectively a list of the top 100 fine press books of all time. Very useful for wish list purposes.

For me:

-Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (Chester River Press)
-One of the Missing by Ambrose Bierce (Yolla Bolly Press)
-Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges (LEC)
-Torturing Mr. Amberwell by Thomas Disch (Cheap Street)
-The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe (Cheloniidae Press)

My own fine press library is small compared to most members here, but I think I've managed to put together a nice little collection so far.

>14 Sorion: Will do,

>29 astropi: Sorry about that. I've reduced my selection.

>31 wcarter: I fully agree with you on the helpfulness of these recommendations. Furthermore, what is more relevant for my personal wish list, even if these recommended books cannot all claim to be the best fine press books of all time they are a good cross-section of the best fine press books being bought by today's collectors.

In no particular order:

-Gulliver’s Travels (Cresset Press)
-The Fables of Aesop (Officina Bodoni)
-Metamorphoses (Shanty Bay Press)
-The Winged Life (Yolla Bolly Press)
-Arabian Nights and Days (Limited Editions Club)

>26 MobyRichard: I have the Salvage Press ‘A Modest Proposal’. Didn’t make my Top 5,but would make a Top 15. It’s just too big!

Glacierman & Kdweber
So I have warped covers and a faded spine (in an expensive volume, i might add) Do you know if these issues are common to Nonsuch or just to our Dante edition

>37 cbellia: That's a Dante problem. Vellum tends to warp if not adequately controlled as here and the orange dye was not colorfast.

>37 cbellia: I happened to find this regarding the Nonesuch Dante - https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-collections/2019/05/03/a-book-full-of-anxieties-.... The founder of the press himself was stressed by this one :)

Glacierman and RuefulCountenance
This may be a repetition. But I don't see my post. I previously wrote:
thank you for the information. The article on Nonesuch was very interesting.
I can't do anything about the fading of the spine, but I wil replace the binder's board with wood to tame the covers.
Incidentally; to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante, the Dante Society and NYU are sponsoring a one year read of the Commedia. two cantos per week. Look at You-tube Canto per Canto.
I am enjoying the program.

Five of my favourite private press books in no particular order:

1. “The Travels of Sir John Mandeville” (Foolscap Press, 2019).

2. “End Grain: Contemporary Wood Engraving In North America” (Barbarian Press, 1994). (It was very difficult to select just one book from Barbarian Press!)

3. “The Importance of Being Earnest” (Bowler Press, 2008).

4. “The Kelmscott & Dover Presses: An Essay” (Heavenly Monkey, 2019).

5. “A Pebble’s Journey: The Grand River Observed By Two Artists” (Gerard Brender à Brandis, 2010). Gerard is a wonderful wood engraver and “bookwright” from Stratford, Ontario, Canada who has been printing books since 1969, first under Brandstead Press and later under his own name. Some of you might be familiar with his work from “Endgrain Editions One” printed by Barbarian Press in 2000. He produced a number (around 60) of wonderful books over the years, such as “Flora” (1980), “A Gathering of Flowers from Shakespeare” (1997), “If Stone Could Speak” (1999) and “A Pebble’s Journey” (2010). He has recently updated his website https://www.gerardbrenderabrandis.ca that provides a great description of his work - from wood engraving to paper making to weaving fabric for the covers. The website also lists some of his books available for sale (all prices are in Canadian dollars). Looks like he still has copies of “A Pebble’s Journey” available - I couldn’t recommend this book more - it is a real work of art!

I have a pretty modest collection, so my choices may not be as grandiloquent as others from this thread, but either way, here are my current favorites from newest to oldest:

1. "The Moon-Bog" - Pegana Press (2019)
2. "Saturnalia" - Deep Woods Press (2012)
3. "Gymnopaediae" - Old Stile Press (1989)
4. "The Diary of a Country Priest" - LEC (1985)
5. "The Bremen Town Musicians" - Chamberlain Press (1978)

In no particular order:

- "South of Heaven" by Jim Thompson (Arion Press)
- "Colour Out of Space" by HP Lovecraft (Shelter Bookworks)
- "The Shadow Over Innsmouth by HP Lovecraft, Ichthyic edition (Heavenly Monkey)
- "Five Short Stories" by Marcel Ayme (Bird & Bull Press)
- "The Story of the Fisherman" (Foolscap Press)

>41 cbellia: That is an interesting, if short, article, but I have to make one clarification: the "stained orange calfskin" was actually vellum made from calfskin. The way it is stated makes it sound like it was leather.

>26 MobyRichard:
No way, too immodest. ;-)

>27 AMindForeverVoyaging:
Exactly, it’s quietly perfect.

>29 astropi:
My apologies — fixed.

>42 vadim_ca:
“The Importance of Being Earnest” (Bowler Press, 2008).
Yes, agree - that one’s really excellent.

>44 opto4:
"The Shadow Over Innsmouth by HP Lovecraft (Heavenly Monkey)
Batrachian or Icthyic?

>25 kermaier: King Lear (Janus Press)
...sigh it's on my wish list :)

>51 astropi:
Definitely hard to come by, and I hadn’t really any hope when I lucked onto a copy.

My “probably-never-gonna-happen” wishlist still includes the Barbarian Press Pericles, the New Albion Shakespeare’s Sonnets, the Grabhorn Maundevile, and the Gill/GCP Canterbury Tales.

I have a penchant for atlases, and luxury facsimiles of Medieval editions, so my list of favourite fine press books is rather different to those above. In addition to the atlases, I will list a fine edition from an extraordinary publisher, and an extraordinary edition from a well known fine press publisher.

The Vallard Atlas – M. MOLEIRO EDITION. See here.

Universal Atlas of Diogo Homem - M. MOLEIRO EDITION. See here.

The Queen Mary Atlas - FOLIO SOCIETY LIMITED EDITION. See here.

The Battle of Waterloo 1815, A Commemorative Anthology - EXTRAORDINARY EDITIONS The Exemplary Limited Edition. See here.

Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer - THE LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB. See here.

>51 astropi: I think it’s on all our wishlists!

Five of my favorite private press books in no particular order:

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville Beyond the Holy Land (Foolscap Press)
Heart of Darkness (Chester River Press)
Poeticon Astronomicon (Allen Press)
The Story of Cupid & Pscyhe (Rampant Lions Press)
Froissarts Cronycles (Shakespeare Head Press)

edited per request

>56 ultrarightist: Hi, I'm going to be strict with you as I was with others, please REMOVE your "honorable mentions" - because the rules are FIVE and no more than FIVE period.
Thank you.

Five of my favourites in no particular order:

Through the Looking-Glass (Pennyroyal Press)
Kelmscott Chaucer facsimile (Basilisk Press)
The Wisdom of Sirach (Ashendene Press)
Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes and other Poems (Golden Cockerel Press)
Duineser Elegien, Elegies from the Castle of Duino (Cranach Press for the Hogarth Press)

>50 kermaier: The Ichthyic edition. I'll edit my post to include that information.

>45 Glacierman: Glacierman
You are right. It is a heavy vellum. I removed the binders boards, althogh very thick (actually doubled). ware still unable to keep the vellum from buckling them. I'm replacing them with thin Maple.
I'm surprised that Nonesuch would make such a poor chice of binding materials.

This is a very special book. First, I am a fan of John Muir and all the conservation work he did. Secondly, it is a magnificent work. My personal favorite Yolla Bolly Press book I have ever seen - and that says a lot. The typesetting is beautiful, the wood engravings as lovely as Barry Moser or Fritz Eichenberg. This is a BIG book (around 10.5 x 15 inches) and the paper is so THICK - we're talking like champion powerlifter thickness!




I of course was dismayed to hear that Muir had racist views. For this "reason" the Sierra Club, which he founded, was planning to remove Muir from much of the club's history. Well, now, that sparked quite the blacklash. I've read a lot of responses including here
https://www.sierraclub.org/michael-brune/2020/07/john-muir-early-history-sierra-...
and here
https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/racist-or-admirer-of-native-...
and in other places. I wanted to know if this person I admired was truly racist? As best as I can tell (if someone knows better please point me to the sources) he was *not* racist. Based on what others have researched it seems that Muir was actually sympathetic towards their plight of Native Americans especially as he learned more and his writings show that. The book itself is a classic, and really it's a way to visit back in time. I encourage anyone who is interested in American history, conservation, nature, or all of the above to read it - AND if you can ever find a copy of this book (good luck) you'll cherish it.

>59 opto4: Can you post some pics of the Ichthyic edition?

>61 astropi:
Lovely! Michael McCurdy was the man behind the Penmaen Press, and his engravings are much more readily accessible through their publications, if you like his work (I do).

>62 filox:
>59 opto4:
Yes, please! I have the Batrachian, but would love get a look at the Ichthyic.

>62 filox:
>64 kermaier:

I will post some pictures in a separate thread.

Interesting question.

I can easily list five books which are universally recognized as high points of the modern private press movement (1890 to present) but this would serve little purpose. The choices are obvious and not very interesting or revealing. Additionally, these books have become prohibitively expensive and are not really an option for many collectors.

So............

I have decided to list five other books which I consider as important and unique in my collection, books which are not nearly as well known and may be more approachable to a collector, financially speaking.

1. Walls: A Journey Across Three Continents by Tom Killion, Quail Press (1990). A remarkable journey which can no longer be attempted in the present world. The multilayer illustrations are both unique and luminous.

https://booksandvines.com/2016/06/13/great-illustrated-private-press-books-part-...

https://sites.nd.edu/rbsc/recent-acquisition-west-coast-book-artist-and-historia...

2. The Noble and Joyous Book Entytled Le Morte DArthur by Sir Thomas Malory, Ashendene Press (1913). One of the very few Ashendene Press books illustrated with wood engravings and the only one of their great folio-sized books.

3. Faust: Erster Teil by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Dr. Julius Schröder publisher (München), 1921. This was part of Dr. Schröder's adventurous series 'Meisterwerke der Weltliteratur mit Original-Graphik'. The twenty-five original etchings/illustrations by Sepp Frank are decidedly German Expressionist and they are perfectly matched and suited to this particular work. The typography (German Fraktur) and hand press printing are exceptional.

https://booksandvines.com/2011/12/08/faust-by-johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-from-ju....

4. The Life Work of Dard Hunter by Dard Hunter II, Mountain House Press, 1981-1983, 2 volumes). A loving tribute by Dard Hunter's son to the most important twentieth century figure in documenting, recording, and photographing the history of fine hand made papermaking over many centuries in many different cultures. Dard Hunter's Mountain House Press books are one of the pinnacles of the modern private press movement in the United States and this book, the final one from the Mountain House Press, is arguably the finest.

5. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. A Personal Selection from the five Editions of Edward Fitzgerald, edited by Cecile Mactaggart, Curwen Press, 2 volumes (1980). The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is private press royalty, i.e., a work of literature with numerous private press editions, all beautifully executed with exceptional illustrations. This edition is unique because Mactaggart carefully placed all of the five Fitzgerald editions side-by-side, carefully read each quatrain in each edition, and then selected the one she felt was most expressive and beautifully written. The result? The most entertaining and readable of the numerous private press editions of the Rubaiyat. The edition is printed letterpress on handmade Barcham Green paper by the Curwen Press and, in a similar vein, Mactaggart used a combination of illustrations from both Edmund Dulac and Willy Pogany, selecting the best of their work. The illustrations are again flawlessly reproduced by the Curwen Press - not surprising since this was indeed their specialty. Toss in a deluxe red full morocco binding with gilt ruling and ornamentation by Sangorski & Sutcliffe and you now have an intelligent idea fully realized.

The second volume, oblong in shape in a plain cloth binding, describes in detail Cecile Mactaggart's motivation and method in recreating this hybrid edition of the Rubaiyat, concluding with page after page with each quatrain from the five Fitzgerald editions places side-by-side for comparison. Mactaggart lists her choice from amongst the five editions alongside and highlights the differences from her choice and the other four editions in red ink. Although I own numerous fine press editions of the Rubaiyat, this is the one to own - if you can find a copy.

Note: The photographs in the link below show the book in a variant cloth binding. I believe this was a reviewer's copy. I have subsequently obtained the deluxe edition (total 200 copies) in the S&S morocco binding. The link to the edition offered by the D& D Galleries (now SOLD) shows the books in its splendid S&S red full morocco and gilt binding.

https://booksandvines.com/2014/06/30/fine-press-editions-of-the-rubaiyat-of-omar...

https://dndgalleries.com/fitzgerald-edward-translator-edited-by-cecile-e-mactagg...

One final note: in the Books and Vines articles referenced with links, the photographs will enlarge if you left-click once over the photograph. If you then left-click again, i.e., a second time, over the enlarged photo it will enlarge further providing a macro photograph view. This permits optimal visualization and assessment of the typography, letterpress or hand press printing, and the illustrations.

Five favorites on my shelf :

(1) Ulysses, Arion Press printer's edition
(2) Pericles, Barbarian Press
(3) Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Black Sun Press
(4) The Wind in the Willows, Folio Society (soon to be bumped by the Mad Parrot edition, I'm guessing)
(5) Les Miserables, Limited Editions Club

I forced myself to one fave per press, so no doubling up on one press. Very hard.

>67 jveezer: (2) Pericles, Barbarian Press
More like a dream-list than a wish-list, but yes, it is on there...

>67 jveezer: (1) Ulysses, Arion Press printer's edition

I go to your website sometimes and stare longingly at it, cry a little, and log off for the night. Alas. ;)

>58 Flaubie: I came soooo very close to owning a copy of the Basilisk Press Chaucer facsimile. I had the money, the publisher was holding a copy for me....and then my car broke down. I had to choose between fixing the car which I needed to get to work or buying the book. The car won and I still do not own that book. *sigh*

>70 Glacierman: That was a reasonable decision! Keep looking for the book, though--it is definitely worthwhile!

An unusual presentation for any book, but I love the Gregynog Press's printing of 'A Machynlleth Triad' by Jan Morris. Basically it is a book in its component parts prior to final binding, and I find it a rather special. Within the cloth-covered slipcase appears to be a rather fine hardbound book; however, appearances can be deceptive...

The 'hardback' cover actually contains the gorgeously printed 'block' which has not been attached to the cover, and is actually presented in a paper wrapper. The whole production is an education in its own right.

Now for the printing itself: first-rate as to be expected, made even more interesting as I actually saw some of the printing process itself whilst I was staying at Gregynog. The typeface is Monotype Bell, printed on Zerkall paper. It was fascinating chatting to David Esslemont during my visit, and the whole visit was an eye-opener into what Fine Printing is all about.

The overall feel of the paper and quality of printing is light years away from 'Folio' standard, not to mention properly 'tipped in' illustrations.

Anyway - enough of my rambles. This is my first post on the group - I hope I haven't bored too many people!

>9 SebRinelli: Utterly gorgeous. I love the lighting shewing the 'impression' of the letters - many thanks for taking the trouble to photograph it. It looks to be a magnificent volume.

>72 JacobKirckman: An excellent introduction to the group!

In order of publication:

More Papers Hand Made by John Mason (c. 1966) - Twelve by Eight Press

Flosculi Sententiarum: Printers Flowers Moralized (1967) - Gehenna Press

This Bitterly Beautiful Land (1972) - Roger Beacham

Manhattan: An Elegy, and Other Poems (1990) - Center for the Book, University of Iowa

A Vision of Order (2011) - Whittington Press

>75 DenimDan: Nice "uncommon" choices :)
I would love to see some pictures.

>76 astropi: Thanks! I'm not savvy enough to pick up new releases from a lot of the fine presses popular here, although I very much like learning about them.

If I can figure out how to post some pictures, I'll start a couple new threads. I always wanted to start a John Mason Appreciation thread. His papers are incredible, and the guy was hilarious.

However, A Vision of Order is nearly impossible to photograph, with its foldouts and massive format. It doesn't even fit on my bookshelves!

>77 DenimDan: it's pretty straightforward
https://www.librarything.com/topic/177029
a lot of websites give you the URL code directly after you upload and you can basically just copy that

Let's see if those instructions succeeded in making my attempted links work...

1. Jewish Artists of the Early & Late Renaissance. Gehenna Press 1993.

2. Novum Psalterium Pii XII. Brother Antonius, 1955.

3. Descriptive Bibliography of the Books Printed at the Ashendene Press. Ashendene Press, 1934.

4. Printing with the Handpress. Allen Press, 1969.

5. Papermaking By Hand in America . Mountain House Press, 1950.

Ashendene Press Thucydides
Arion Press Paradise Lost
Limited Editions Club A Season in Hell

Doves Press Emerson?
Limited Editions Club Opium Eater?

Last two are hard to narrow down...

http://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/48/32/4832bc0d93881d3636c744677674469...
Essex House Press took over Kelmscott when they closed. I don't believe they are as expensive as Kelscott Press but their work is just as good.

I'm a relative neophyte to this world and am still learning to pick out editions I am going to like (a costly form of experimentation). So several entries on the list may have changed by this time next year. But my top 5 so far are:

The Letterpress Henry V (Folio Society). I could have picked any of the Letterpress Shakespeare editions, which are all well-executed examples of the craft of bookmaking/printing. Henry V takes the prize as my favourite Shakespeare.

Britten's Aldeburgh (Whittington Press). I have the C state. It's another very well-made book with excellent internal design by John Craig. I also have Venice by the same author/publisher, which came highly recommended, but I haven't yet had a proper chance to look at it.

The Great Gatsby (LEC). Gatsby is one of my favourite novels and I therefore wanted to find a nice edition, with a good menu to choose from. I settled for the LEC thanks to it's bold binding design, daring illustrations, and tasteful typographical design. The book feels pleasingly solid and I love the slightly more square than usual octavo format.

A Lakeland Diary (Fleece Press). Two things stand out about this book, which was printed at the Whittington Press. First, I love the russet cloth and autumnal marbling of the binding. Second, the quality of the printing is excellent and the detailed engravings really come to life as a result. I have a sorry ex-library edition that I bought from a thrift store for £10, but its quality shines through the wear and tear that it has suffered like a gold coin unearthed in a freshly ploughed field.

A German Idyll (The Golden Cockerel Press). I have struggled to get excited about Golden Cockerel, but I am fond of this combination of H. E. Bates and Lynton Lamb, the latter's illustrations being neatly integrated into the text. Something about it just says "classic private press".

My four favourites are:

Birds Drawn For John Gould by Edward Lear – Folio Society

The Man Who Planted Trees – Limited Editions Club

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov – Arion Press

The Fall by Albert Camus – Allen Press

I'm relatively new to collecting, but here is my list:

Don Quixote (Arion Press)
The Fisherman and his Soul (Grabhorn Press)
Pushkin, Four Stories (Allen Press)
Beauty is the Beginning of Terror (Thornwillow Press)
Letterpress Shakespeare Othello (LE, Folio Society)

Edited to limit to letterpress and limit to one book per publisher; prior version included one of my favorite standard FS titles, The Third Policeman, referenced in response 85 below (and it is a great book)

>84 LBShoreBook: The Third Policeman is a gem of a book. One of my favorites as well.

>1 astropi: In no particular order:
The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury, The Limited Edition Club, 1974
I Sing The Body Electric Ray Bradbury, Subterranean Press 2007
The Werewolf of Paris Guy Endore, Centipede Press 2009
2001 A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke, Folio Society 2016
Alas Babylon Pat Frank, Easton Press 2005
I Am Legend Richard Matheson, Gauntlet 1995

>86 unclebob53703: I'm going to be very picky here, as I was with everyone, so please limit yourself to no more than five choices.

>87 astropi: Does fine press have to mean letterpress? Others have posted FS books without issue; also would their LEs be fine?

I’ve been considering my list and wasn’t sure if the FS LEs of Alice and TWITW would qualify.

>88 U_238: I was originally thinking letterpress. You're right though, a few have posted non-letterpress editions and I did not specify letterpress, so it wouldn't be fair to do so now.

>89 astropi: Thanks. I also agree it would be fair not to disqualify them.

Restricting myself to books I own (as specified) and to one book per publisher (as several others have, pleasingly to my mind) leaves me not a lot of wiggle room, but I’ll also go for five different decades:

War and Peace - litographs and drawings by Barnett Freedman, The Limited Editions Club (Glasgow University Press) 1938
The Sonnets of William Shakespeare - Valenti Angelo illuminations, The Heritage Press (NY) 1941
Hamlet - with Valenti Angelo linocuts, Peter Pauper Press 1950
Beowulf - Becca Thorne illustrations, Folio Society 2010
Stardust - Vess illustrations, Lyra’s Books 2020

(Beowulf not letterpress.)

>91 GusLogan: The FS Beowulf is a great publication. I wonder how many of them were printed. Mine is a third printing. I believe that I got it on sale at a significant discount but even at full price it was an incredible value. I'd love to see FS do more books of this quality and price point.

Like others in this thread, I’m a relatively new collector and only started pursuing private press works within the past 15 months. So the bulk of my collection is biased toward a handful of publishers at this point. All that being said, following the rules outlined by >1 astropi:, here are the current favorites from my library as it is:

Undine (Limited Editions Club, 1930)
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville Beyond the Holy Land (Foolscap Press, 2019)
Stardust (Lyra Books, 2020)
The Door in the Wall, Fascimile (The Folio Society, 2016)
The Golden Key (Pegana Press, 2015)

>93 const-char-star:
Nice choices! Tell me about The Golden Key, how many pages is it? I am a fan of Pegana Press, their Lovecraft and Dunsany is spectacular :)

>94 astropi: I’m also a big fan of Pegana’s work; their Dark Dreamlands books were among the first private press books I added to my library (very much looking forward to their third volume).

Pegana’s Golden Key is a charming little book of 44 pages, sharing many elements in common with their other books: fantastic presswork, unassuming cloth binding, printed spine label, inset front titling and patterned endpapers (like their Dunsany books).

The papers and illustrations are the major highlights, in my opinion. Pegana used four different colored papers throughout the book (by Hahnemühle and Canson), changing from pink to yellow to light green to blue as the story unfolds. Illustrations were commissioned from Charles van Sandwyk, including 3 interior illustrations and a watercolor frontispiece (printed on what I assume is Modigliani paper) signed by the artist. I know van Sandwyk’s recent work with Folio Society has drawn criticism from this forum, but I feel his whimsical style was a great fit for this particular story.

>6 wongie: I have Dark Dreamlands I, and it is excellent. Is their Dunsany series in the same league?

>96 ultrarightist: I’d say so. The Dunsany Lost Tales books are in a smaller format, but the presswork and binding designs are very similar. The books are light on illustrations compared to Dark Dreamlands, each volume having just a frontispiece illustration. That said, the story selection is what makes the series special. Pegana Press works with the Dunsany estate to curate the selection of stories in each volume, all of which were previously uncollected or unpublished (i.e “lost”).

>97 const-char-star: agreed entirely!
Beautiful books, and the stories as far as I know you won't find anywhere else...

>97 const-char-star: and >98 astropi: Noted, and thanks

Thought I’d revive this thread as it’s been a couple years so there may be new members willing to contribute (myself for example), and other who may want to update/revise their list…Here’s mine in no particular order:

1. Thoughts From the Letters of Petrarch (on parchment) - Petrarch Press
2. Don Quixote - Arion Press
3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Pennyroyal Press
4. Paradise Lost - Arion Press
5. The Splendour of a Morning (deluxe) - Barbarian Press

>100 Nightcrawl: What a superb thread! I shall be having a good read through today and will give my personal ’top five’ later.

>100 Nightcrawl:

That is an exceptional list, not a loser in the lot. FWIW, I believe the Arion Press edition of Paradise Lost is somewhat overlooked and unappreciated. It has some similarity to the 1932 Bruce Rogers edition The Odyssey of Homer, with both books demonstrating flawless book design in which all of the elements combine to make a beautiful, harmonious book.

>102 dlphcoracl: Thank you! That is high praise for Arion’s Paradise Lost and I quite agree. The typography and design were given the utmost thought. (Just look at that title page!) And the binding is austere and in complete service of the interior: thick boards, a beautifully curved spine, and superior construction to maximize durability and longevity.

Interestingly, PL was what I would consider my first true fine press book, having mainly only dabbled in Folio Society and Suntup before acquiring, and still to this day there are few (if any) in my collection that surpass it.

I'm a bit of an oddball collector, with a lot of stuff in the more affordable range as opposed to the premium titles. And I tend to favor active presses over historical ones, as I like to support on-going work. Anyway, here's my alphabetical top ten at the moment:

Aesop Fables (Prelo Prints)
Enūma Eliš (No Reply Press)
Lohengrin: A Tale of the Swan Knight (Tudor Black Press)
Phisicke Against Fortune (Foolscap Press)
The Seafarer (Old Stile Press)

EDIT: Truncated to five, I missed that part of the original post. The elided entries are en-spoilered below for the curious. ^_^


Sensuous Lines (Fleece Press)
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (Extraordinary Editions)
The Light-house (Aliquando Press)
The Life of Zeno (Larkspur Press)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Corvus Works)

Here are my top five, in what I believe was the order of their acquisition, earliest to latest:

Peter Scupham ‘Natura’ (Gruffyground Press)

John Carey ‘Vegetable Gardening’ (one of twenty deluxe copies). Rampant Lions Press

Colin Franklin ‘Printing and the Mind of Morris’ (one of six deluxe copies on vellum). Rampant Lions Press

Jean Giono ‘The Man Who Planted Trees’ (The Limited Editions Club)

*PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE*
Eleanor Wilner ‘Everything is Starting’ (one of four deluxe copies). Kat Ran Press

EDIT NOTE: Just changed the formatting of the above, as I noticed LibraryThing automatically put in some random links to unassociated books on their site!?

>104 Shadekeep: Your first two certainly get my vote!

>100 Nightcrawl: The vellum Petrarch is a particularly stunning volume!

It was fun trying to come up with a top 5. I opted for:

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock - No Reply press - Avec Audace
T. E. Lawrence Letters to E.T Leeds - Whittington press - one of 20 with inlaid leather
Hero and Leander - Golden Hours press - Original Binding
Spitsticks and Multiples - Fleece press - Special edition
The Pilgrim's Progress - Cresset press

Would I have made the same list yesterday or tomorrow? Probably not, but here are the 5 I currently can't help stopping to admire when I walk past the bookshelves:

The King of The Alps - Lone Oak Press
Of Woodland Pools, Spring-holes & Ditches - Lone Oak Press
At Low Water - Pie in The Sky Press
The Book of Sand - Nawakum Press
A Ghost Story of Christmas (A Christmas Carol) - Caliban Press

Almost three years and many acquisitions later, I have to say that A Portrait of Shunkin is still one of my favourites if not the favourite book on my shelf.

My other current books on the Top 5 list are:
Snow Country - LEC
Preludes (2nd ed) - No Reply for its austere beauty
Good & Evil in the Garden - Heavenly Monkey
Rose und Blau - Bear Press

Slight change since my previous post (and confined it to the traditional definition of fine press):

Sylvae - Midnight Paper Sales

The Man Who Planted Trees – Limited Editions Club

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov – Arion Press

The Fall by Albert Camus – Allen Press

The Wind in the Willows - Hand & Eye Editions (one of the numbered edition with some hand water-coloured illustrations)

On another day that might change and books like

The Golden Asse - Ashendene Press
Pushkin, Four Stories - Allen Press
A Sphinx‘s Guide - Double Elephant Press
Arranging Furniture - Greenboathouse Press
or Nohow On - LEC

could be on that list…

>104 Shadekeep: My friend, per the rules established in the OP, only FIVE books! *grin*

To my original short list from above:

The Grecian Enchanted - Golden Cockerel Press
The Three Musketeers - LEC, (1932 edn)
La Divina Comedia - Nonesuch Press

please add:

Enuma Eliš - No Reply Press
Diary of the Delphic Oracle - Edizioni La Ginestra

Check back in two years. My selections may have changed by then!

My collection has shifted quite a bit from my answer above. Today's answer:

Consider the Lobster, Ascensius Press
Spitsticks and Multiples (Deluxe Edition), Fleece Press
Sudden Immobility (Deluxe Edition), Barbarian Press
Pushkin, Four Stories, Allen Press
Herman Melville, Selected Poems, Arion Press (I am a Melville fanatic)

>115 LBShoreBook: The paper used in the AP Melville volume is exquisite. The same paper used in AP's Moby Dick.

>108 DMulvee: Ooooh, Hero and Leander in the original binding -- that's a tough one to come by! I have Dr Faustus and The Jew of Malta in the cheaper/remainder binding, and they're pretty great.

>117 kermaier: With there only being three titles by the Golden Hours press I would like to pick up the other two (in particular The Jew of Malta). However I’m holding out for original binding and so this could be a foolish decision! I’m not sure how many exist though I had read a claim that there were less than 50 of each title

>114 Glacierman: Diary of the Delphic Oracle! An exquisite volume by the finest printer out there (in my humble opinion)

>104 Shadekeep: I kindly ask to please limit to your top 5 books... I'm being a stickler here :)

I have to say, Phisicke Against Fortune (Foolscap Press) is just amazing. I think I paid $200 for my copy some years ago. It appears that now on the second-hand market the only thing available is the prospectus...

>110 SebRinelli: & >112 SebRinelli: Hey, that's cheating :)
TOP 5 ONLY please! although I can definitely understand that over time our top 5 can certainly change.

>115 LBShoreBook:
Herman Melville, Selected Poems, Arion Press (I am a Melville fanatic)
It's on my wish list. How did you like his poetry? I've read some of it, I will say, "intense" is a good adjective.

My current list:

Mapping Golgotha (Gwasg Gregynog) – remains my top favourite
1984 (SJPP)
The Case of Death and Honey (Arete numbered)
2020 vision (Nomad Letterpress)
Melinda by Neil Gaiman (Hill House) – not quite fine press, but a gorgeous edition

>121 astropi: I've come to appreciate his poetry with time. I am currently reading Clarel in a reading group and we broke it up over 12 weeks - there are about 12-15 of us. My enjoyment of Clarel has given me the impetus to revisit some of his other poetry, including the Civil War battle pieces. I think of his poetry like an aged Cabernet - the nose is strong when you open it, but if you sit with it and savor over time it opens up to you. I personally love it. I noticed your observation of Phisicke to Shadekeep - I was directed to a fine copy for sale a few months ago at the original sale price, so these do come up occasionally. It was definitely worth the purchase.

Edited to add a random section from Clarel, Part 3, Canto 1:

What REVERIES be in yonder heaven
Whither, if yet faith rule it so,
The tried and ransomed natures flow?
If there peace after strife be given
Shall hearts remember yet and know?
Thy vista, Lord, of havens dear,
May that in such entrancement bind
That never starts a wandering tear
For wail and willow left behind?

My list for today. Following the sage advice of dlphcoracl, this list is focused on mostly accessible titles for the collector. In other words I leave off the titles that my wife says "You paid what for a book?!"

"Four Poems of the Occult", Goll, Yvan. The Allen Press, 1962. Illustrated by Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp, Fernand Leger, and Yves Tanguy. 130 copies.

"Lac Des Pleurs: Report from Lake Pepin", Schanilec, Gaylord. Midnight Paper Sales, 2015. Illustrated by Gaylord Schanilec. 119 copies.

"William Blake’s Water-Colour Designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray", Keynes, Geoffrey. Trianon Press, 1972. Illustrated by William Blake. 518 copies.

"The Republic of Dreams", Schulz, Bruno. Nawakum Press, 2019. Illustrated by Thomas Wood, printed by Foolscap Press. 36 copies.

"Three Lions and the Cross of Lorraine", Heaney, Howell et al. Bird & Bull Press, 1992. With a leaf, ca. 1495, from Wynkyn de Worde's edition of Bartholomaeus Anglicus' De Proprietatibus Rerum laid in. 138 copies.

>124 Sport1963: If "Lac Des Pleurs" is on your more modest list (I believe a $7,800 book), I would love to see a list of your top titles!

>113 Glacierman: >121 astropi: My apology, I missed that part of the original post in my haste to reply. I've truncated the list, and for posterity's sake hidden the removed entries in a spoiler tag. I'd hate for any of those fine printers to feel slighted by the reduction!

>114 Glacierman: I very nearly included Diary of the Delphic Oracle myself. And it was really hard to leave out Factotum Pers, because Geert is one of the finest printers working today. That they're not in English is the only reason Over de vijftig tafelmanieren or Openbaring van Johannes didn't make the top five.

>124 Sport1963: Wow... as EdmundRodriguez said, I'd love to see your "more expensive" titles :O

"William Blake’s Water-Colour Designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray", Keynes, Geoffrey. Trianon Press

That's a magnificent edition. I wonder if anyone knows how it compares to the FS facsimile?

>125 EdmundRodriguez: Fair point. "Lac Des Pleurs" is an exception to the accessibility rule, and the main reason I slipped the "mostly" qualifier into the sentence. "Four Poems of the Occult" can also get a bit pricey. Both books are worth every penny...you will not be disappointed.

Another take.

When I first answered this in >66 dlphcoracl: three years ago, I deliberately included several that were off the beaten path. This time around, I will list five Desert Island books I consider amongst the best in my collection, books I would not want to be without.

1. Walls: A Journey Across Three Continents by Tom Killion, Quail Press, 1990. The more things change, the more they stay the same. This was also on my previous list in 2020 and nothing has changed. Truly an astonishing book.

https://booksandvines.com/2016/06/13/great-illustrated-private-press-books-part-...

2. The Play of Pericles by Wm. Shakespeare, Barbarian Press, 2011. A rare tour de force of scholarship, superb wood engravings and innovative book design.

3. The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke by Wm. Shakespeare, Cranach Press, 1930. Same as above.

4. The Maine Woods by Henry David Thoreau, Ascensius Press, 1998.

5. Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Browning, George D. Sproul, 1901. One of about a dozen books in Sproul's "St. Dunstan Editions" series, printed on vellum pages with extensive hand-illumination and given elaborate bindings by Trautz-Bauzonnet of France. These books must be seen and held to be believed. See links for examples.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/books-manuscripts/fine-bindings/_Elizabeth-Barre...

https://www.pirages.com/pages/books/ST19437/vellum-printing-illuminated-edmund-s...

Advance notice: I will modify my list upon receipt of my copy of Consensus Press's Tale of Sinuhe when it is released next year. Don't know which one of the existing five will go, but one of them definitely will!

I've only been collecting fine press books for about eighteen months or so and my collection is very Fleece Press heavy. It was all the positive talk on this forum about Spitsticks and Multiples that set me off down that path, and I'm very pleased with the books and the ephemera that I've bought.

1. Spitsticks and Multiples. Fleece Press.
2. Bookplates of Richard Shirley Smith. Fleece Press. One of forty copies with the extra prints.
3. A List of Wharfedale Flies. Fleece Press. Deluxe Edition. (The work that must have gone into tying all of those flies!)
4. 2020 Vision. Nomad Letterpress.
5. An Albion in the Antarctic. St. James Park Press. (Facsimile Edition)

>131 TheTotalLibrarian: Here’s to your growing collection! Great to see ‘20:20 Vision’ and the facsimile of ‘An Albion in the Antarctic’ in there. Both are superb and both are on my shelves also!

>122 BorisG: do you have 1984 in hand?

>118 DMulvee: A quick search turned up a set of all 3 Golden Hours Marlowe titles, in original binding, for 3,000 GBP… ;-)

I’m feeling nostalgic for England, since I moved to the US last year and haven’t yet had a chance to return. So all five of my favourites from my shelves (at least today) are from British presses, past and present:

Ashendene Press Spenser (1923-1925). Magnificent folios with wonderful presswork

Cresset Press Bacon (1928). Designed by Bernard Newdigate, with every essay beginning with a stunning hand cut title by Joscelyne Gaskin

Gregynog Press History of St Louis (1937). Wonderful hand-coloured armorial shields on many pages—taking after the Shakespeare Head Froissart but much more readable!

Parvenu Press Sonnets of Dark Love (2000). Haunting woodcut text and images about the anguish of forbidden love

Tern Press Meditation III:183 (2008). The opposite of Lorca! Sunny lithographs by Nick Parry of churches on the Welsh-English border with beautifully printed stanzas by Traherne

>135 newdigate: The Cresset Bacon is the only one of these I own, but it’s an absolute stunner of a book!!

>133 SDB2012: Yes! It’s an absolute tour de force. I was a bit stunned and speechless going through it the first time.

>122 BorisG:
>137 BorisG:

Congratulations!

This will prove to be one of the finest and most original private press books of the 21st century. You will rarely, if ever, see this book in the secondary market at auction or available from fine & rare booksellers.

>138 dlphcoracl: It is a fine press book the likes of which is rarely published by anyone, late alone a one-man operation. It is a very handsome and impressive volume!

>139 ChestnutPress:
>138 dlphcoracl:
>137 BorisG:

I can't wait to have it in my hands!

>137 BorisG:

Who did you use for shipping from London to Israel?

Agree with all the above – it’s an extraordinary achievement, I feel very lucky to have bought a copy.

>141 dlphcoracl: I collected in person from James’s print room

>75 DenimDan: It's surprising that this was three years ago. And oh my, how tastes change! I still own all those from 2020, although I've sold and traded a good chunk of my collection since. If I were to give my favorite 5 with no caveats, 3 or 4 would be Perishable Press books. So I'll limit this one to favorite 5 from different presses.

1. "Travelling / Gabberjabb #7" (Perishable Press, 1996). This one took Hamady 5 years, off and on, and it is a wild ride, as is the whole Gabberjabb series (there was one more after this). A Dadaist whirlwind that plays with any number of textual, design, and reading conventions, "Travelling" includes two of Hamady's previous books set as run-on blocks of perfectly justified prose; a short story called "The War of the Footnotists and Endnotists" that has its own notes with the previous Gabberjabbs' ~280 footnotes reprinted in totally readable 6-point (again, justified); and a colophon that also serves as a job letter from the newly emeritus Hamady. All of that is about 10% of the whole book. Unmatched printing and typography on dozens of different papers (including Hamady's own handmade, called "Shadwell"). An array of hand embellishments throughout, the book is collaged, ticket-punched, grommeted, time-clocked, et al. I've spent who knows how many hours with this book, and I still haven't scratched the surface. If I were asked for my desert island book from my library, it'd be this one.

2. "A Merz Sonata" by Jerome Rothenberg (Emanon Press & Women's Studio Workshop, 1985). Rothenberg's homage to Kurt Schwitters embedded within the inspired design and art of Debra Weier, the printer. Set in Futura (Schwitters' favorite face) with some well-place blackletter, the poem feeds into Weier's array of pop-ups, etchings, and rubber-stamping. Beautiful handmade endpapers with pieces of tickets mixed in, with another laundry list of embellishments. I cannot help but smile when I read this one.

3. "Flosculi Sententiarum: Printers' Flowers Moralized" (Gehenna Press, 1967). This one was on my 2020 list. Brilliantly conceived book, which features apothegms and floral ornaments. The ornaments were from Bruce Rogers' collection (which at Yale, I believe, and may still be there), and the type, Centaur, which of course is Rogers' design, is set in compositions that highlight the best of its features. The French handmade paper is from 1905 and seems completely appropriate. The man of hour here, though, is pressman Harold McGrath, who was Leonard Baskin's go-to letterpress printer throughout his career. His inking and impressions are stunning, especially with the aged paper. Everything about this book is beautiful.

4. "Manhattan: An Elegy and Other Poems" by Amy Clampitt (Iowa Center for the Book, 1990). As close as Kimber Merker ever came to an artist's book, the star here is Margaret Sunday, whose almost whimsical wood engravings (little looping lines) are printed in four colors throughout, which given the size of this book (folio, which was not common at all for Merker) and the length (~sixty pages) is a feat in itself! The poems are very hip, some rather sad; oddly these little squiggly lines start playing with the visual plane of the text and page. It took something like 265 press-runs, which is wild.

5. "Wheeling" by Ruth Laxson (Press 63+, 1992). Laxson is on the Mt. Rushmore of late-20th c. for artist's books, and hers carry over fine printing with the advantages of what theorists call "the democratic multiple" (the kind of cheap offset books that made artistic statements, beginning with Ed Ruscha). Set primarily in Franklin Gothic, the text of "Wheeling" considers the history of the automobile in America, tying in consumerism, class, religion and a whole host of other things that one wouldn't associate with cars. The typography harkens back to constructivism and dadaism; there are multiple pop-ups, shaped poetry, puns and nonsense, childlike scrawls and scribblings. I find something new to enjoy every time I pick this one up. It certainly doesn't use the finest of materials, and no one would put Laxson and, say, McGrath in the same conversation. But it's a provocative little book, completely brilliant and absolutely crazy. I think I paid less than $40 for it.

My current five favorite fine press books are:

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four - St James Park Press (2021)
2. Don Quixote - Arion Press (2009)
3. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville - Foolscap Press (2019)
4. Phisicke Against Fortune - Foolscap Press (1993)
5. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Taller Martín Pescador (2013)

>144 Dr.Fiddy: Excellent list! From everything I’ve seen/heard so far, no surprise that 1984 shoots right to the top spot.

Taller Martin Sir Gawain came very close to making my top 5. Such a gorgeous production.

>145 Nightcrawl: Thanks. Yes, Sir Gawain is really special. Also, to avoid that Foolscap Press takes almost all of my top 5, I included it over Brief Loves That Live Forever, which is also a gorgeous production 😊

>146 Dr.Fiddy: I’ve no doubt a top five list could easily be comprised of nothing but Foolscap. I currently only own Phisicke, but there are quite a few on my want list. Chief amongst them being Mandeville. It pains me to know that it was in stock for so long while I was unaware of its existence. Well, maybe one day…

>147 Nightcrawl: Likewise, have Phisicke and covet Mandeville. At least now we are on guard for future releases.

>148 Shadekeep: That’s the same way I see it. There should be an announcement in the coming months. Let’s keep our eyes peeled.

>147 Nightcrawl: The Story of The Fisherman is a stunning alternative to Mandeville.

It is hand-colored throughout, with sprawling foldable tapestries, and while the printing in paper is a level below Mandeville, it has a much more lavish binding.

>149 Nightcrawl: Last I heard, it sounded like they were planning on debuting the new title at the February ABAA book fair, so I'd expect news to collectors to go out slightly before then.

>147 Nightcrawl:
>148 Shadekeep:

When Larry and Peggy announced 'The Travels of Sir John Mandeville' and posted the book description and photos on their website in early 2018, I was certain in would go OOP in 1-2 months, especially at their price of $1,200. I never expected this book would take well over one year to eventually sell out. Predictably, it has now all but disappeared from the secondary market and is recognized as the unique book that it is.

Weird but https://www.foolscappress.com/ currently directs to a website called 'Art for Living'...wonder if they lost the domain name or it's just redirecting to the wrong site.

>152 MobyRichard: The site it redirects to looks quite dodgy (generic nonsense + expired SSL certificate). If a domain expires the owner should have at least 30 days to reclaim before it goes back to the pool.

When I go to http://www.foolscappress.com/ I see the normal site

This is really weird… are they even aware https redirects to another site?

>154 ChampagneSVP:
>155 bacchus.:

Yes, I can get to foolscap if I do unsecure http.

It's trying https that redirects me.

They didn't lose the domain, it's just misconfigured. Their web designer website, https://www.willglen.com/, has the same issue. Ironically, https://art-of-living.com doesn't load. All three are hosted by the same provider, In Motion Hosting. I emailed Lawrence to inform him of the issue.

New to this forum and a big thanks to all for all the posts and suggestions.

My current top five--and I wanted to list many others!:

_Beast in the Jungle_, Henry James (Allen Press, 1963)

_Sequence, Sometimes Metaphysical_, Theodore Roethke (Stone Wall Press, 1963)

_The Owl King_, James Dickey (Red Angel Press, 1977)

_Ikagnak_, Robert Peters (Kenmore Press, 1978)

_Enuma Elis_, Babylonian, (No Reply Press, 2021)

Andrew

>158 abgreens: Some very fine inclusions there!

Daphnis & Chloé, by Longus, issued by Gonin, 1937, with many wood engravings by Aristide Maillol
La Commedia, Dante, issued by Alberto Tallone, 1967-68, in 3 volumes
Η Καινη Διαθηκη: Novum Testamentum, John Baskerville, Clarendon Press, 1763, 4to edition

You can add What a Word Dreamt from Sutton Hoo Press to my list in >3 Glacierman: above.

Oh! And No Reply Press' Enūma Eliš.

I love this thread. People’s collection tastes and favourites, and how they (sometimes) change over time, are fascinating. My top five is still the same though, listed below in what I believe was the order of their acquisition, earliest to latest:

Peter Scupham ‘Natura’
(one of 225 copies)
Gruffyground Press, 1978

John Carey ‘Vegetable Gardening’
(one of twenty deluxe copies, from an edition of 500)
Rampant Lions Press, 1989

Colin Franklin ‘Printing and the Mind of Morris’
(one of six deluxe copies on vellum, from an edition of 505)
Rampant Lions Press, 1986

Jean Giono ‘The Man Who Planted Trees’
(one of 300 copies)
The Limited Editions Club, 1995

*PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE*
Eleanor Wilner ‘Everything is Starting’
(one of four deluxe copies, from an edition of 50)
Kat Ran Press, 2002

I've just spent a few hours diving deep into these wonderful threads, and I've learned a lot about presses that I knew little of. I make books and so I love finding new printers of interest, thank you to this group of hugely varied, but deeply passionate collectors. This particular thread has been enlightening. I'd like to throw a few books into the mix. I don't have a favourite five, or ten, but these were all quite affordable – some were gifts from the makers – and for me (for various reasons but mostly for the merit of their printing) fly very close to the sun. No particular order.

'Paths', Grapho Editions
'Romance de la Guardia Civil Espanola', Janus Press
'Jonah', Russell Maret
'Hercules', St James Park Press
'Ornata', Evergreen Press

>163 Jamie_Murphy: A great selection, Jamie, with four out of five certainly getting the thumbs up from me!