Call It Sleep by Henry Roth, with period photographs.

Arion Press – Limited Edition

Call It Sleep by Henry Roth, with forty-eight photographs taken in New York City around 1907-13, the period of the novel, by various photographers, 1995.

Largely ignored when it first appeard in 1934, Call It Sleep was republished in 1964 to overwhelming acclaim and rose immediately to the top of the bestseller lists, selling over a million copies. Today it is universally recognized as a masterpiece of American fiction, and has been hailed by Alfred Kazin as "the most profound novel of Jewish life by an American". Although written in English, it mixes the language of the streets with the Yiddish of the home, while using Hebrew to convey mystic aspects of Judaism. Henry Roth, now approaching ninety years of age, has recently published to laudatory reviews the first two volumes of his second novel.

Format: 10-1/4 by 7 inches, 434 numbered pages, plus 48 unnumbered pages for the photographs. The types are Monotype Bulmer and handset Kabel Condensed. The paper is German mouldmade Zerkall. The photographs are printed in duotone offset lithography. The binding has a dark green goatskin spine and gray-green cloth sides, with the same cloth for the slipcase. The binding cloth is decorated with the brick walls, windows, and door of a tenement. Numbered and signed by the author. Edition of 300 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."