Leaves of Grass.
San Francisco: Arion Press, 2014. Small folio. (156)pp. One of 275 copies. With an Introduction by Helen Vendler. For the one hundredth publication of the Arion Press, Andrew Hoyem pays homage to his mentors, Edwin and Robert Grabhorn - whose 1930 edition of Whitman's seminal text is echoed in the present work. But while the text, format and binding pay tribute to the Grabhorn publication, Hoyem takes as his text from the 1855 first edition, from which he also reproduces the engraved frontispiece portrait of the youthful, ambitious poet. The text is set in Californian - a Goudy typeface used in the first publication bearing the Arion Press imprint in 1975 - and printed upon the Thomson Laureate platen press that Hoyem inherited from the Grabhorns, and on which he printed his Moby-Dick in 1978-79. All these elements combined to form the quintessential modern American press book, one that completely sold out upon publication. Fine in gilt stamped green morocco-backed oak veneer boards, and housed in a green cloth slipcase. Prospectus laid in. Item #32204
Price: $11,500.00