LEAVES OF GRASS
San Francisco: The Arion Press, 2014. Limited Edition. An exquisitely produced edition of Leaves of Grass, issued as the one hundredth publication of The Arion Press. Letterpress printed in Goudy Californian on Langley paper from the Barcham Green Mill in England, with watermarks of the mill and of Arion Press. "The text is that of the 1855 first edition, just a dozen poems, far fewer than the "Death-bed Edition of 1891-92, which is the body of poetry known today...Our choice of the first edition text was based on two considerations. First, we wished to differentiate this, the one-hundredth book of Arion Press, from the Grabhorn Press masterpiece of 1930 for Random House, which used the text of the 1891-92 edition. Second, we wished to present the version of Whitman's poetry that so astonished and impressed Ralph Waldo Emerson and many other discerning readers then and since with its highly original approach. No one had ever read such revolutionary poetry before, and this book established Whitman as a major poet. In tribute to the Grabhorn edition, we used a similar format, production methods, and materials, but with a new design" (Bibliography of the Arion Press, p.267). With a new, lengthy introduction by literary critic and Harvard professor Helen Vendler, and the full text of Emerson's July 21, 1855 letter to Whitman, after his first reading of Leaves. A masterful work, sold out in advance of publication, and a stopper for collectors of the press. Arion 100. Item #6000
One of 275 numbered copies, this being copy no.72. Folio (36.5cm); oak plywood boards and quarter green goatskin, with titling and decorative elements stamped in gilt on spine; publisher's matching green cloth slipcase; [iv],[6],7-155,[5]pp, with title page and colophon grass illustrations by Rochelle Youk, and a portrait of Whitman (age thirty-four), preceding the preface. Fine in a very Near Fine slipcase, with some trivial external wear, and a small, faint stain along the upper edge.
Price: $12,000.00