Herman Melville: Selected Poems, with art by Barry Moser.

Arion Press – Limited Edition

Herman Melville: Selected Poems, edited and with an introduction by Helen Vendler, with a frontispiece portrait of the author by Barry Moser, 1995.

Melville is primarily known as a novelist, though critics regard him as one of the most important American poets of the nineteenth century, in the tier just beneath Whitman and Dickinson. Professor Helen Vendler of Harvard, contributing to her sixth Arion book, has chosen a generous selection of the poems and written an introductory essay that discusses Melville's accomplishment as a poet and how the Civil War and his travels in Europe and the Holy Land provided themes for his writings. This volume relates to our folio edition of Moby Dick, published in 1979, using the same hand-made paper, in an octavo format; the same typeface, in a smaller point size; the same leather for the binding, in an unusual design; and the same artist, Barry Moser, who engraved a portrait of the older Melville.

Format: 9-7/8 by 6-3/4 inches, 160 pages. The types are Monotype Goudy Modern and handset Goudy Open. The paper is from the Barcham Green Mill in England, handmade in 1978 to the specifications of Arion Press, tinted pale blue, with watermarks of the mill, the press, and of a sperm whale. The frontispiece is printed from a relief block cut by the artist, who has signed each print. The binding has blue goatskin bands at the top and bottom of the cover, with titling stamped in silver, and with blue cloth between. The slipcase is covered in blue cloth, with leather label. Edition of 250 copies, $700.00.

About the Arion Press

Since its inception in 1974, the Arion Press has published 81 deluxe limited editions that are breathtaking in their scope and artistry. Combining notable literature illustrated with original artwork from prominent artists, Andrew Hoyem and his team at the Arion Press have carried on the tradition of the livre d’artiste in spectacular fashion. Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times put it best when he wrote, "The Arion Press produces some of the most beautiful limited-edition, hand printed books in the world."