#benjamin schiff

It’s Fine Press Friday!

This copy of James Joyce’s, Dubliners, with introduction by American academic Thomas Flanagan and photogravures by Irish artist Robert Ballagh (b.1943), was published in 1986 by the Limited Editions Club (LEC), New York, in an edition of one thousand copies signed by Flanagan and Ballagh. It was in 1905 that Joyce first took his manuscript to a publisher, although he had a lot of difficulty finding someone to print his book. After many rejections a publisher accepted but demanded changes, resulting in the termination of their agreement. This drama continued for years until the book was finally published in 1914 by Grant Richards Ltd., London. 

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories that is a portrait of Dublin during a time when Irish nationalism was at its height. Joyce used his own family, friends, and acquaintances to depict the people of Dublin “in all their uniqueness, their generosity, and love of music, as well as their moral confusion and psychic paralysis” (LEC Letter number 547). This psychic and moral paralysis stems from the long history of Ireland’s subordination to British rule. 

Robert Ballagh was born and raised in Dublin and shares Joyce’s fascination with his city. His six photogravures express the sense of isolation and paralysis that exists within the stories. They are velvety and still, and rest alone in the center of the page. They themselves are isolated by the many pages of text that exist between it and the next image.

The type design also illustrates a sense of isolation, with each short story beginning with a title in a single line on the right resting in the expanse of an empty page spread, and after turning the page, another blank page, and opposite to it the beginning of the text with no header, but space for one.  

The type was printed at Wild Carrot Letterpress and Heritage Printers. The text was set in Monotype Scotch by Dan Carr and Julia Ferrari at Golgonooza Letter Foundry. Benjamin Schiff, son of then LEC owner Sidney Schiff, designed the book. The photogravure plates were made by Jon Goodman and printed by Bruce Chandler, Peter Pettengill, Catherine Mosely and Greta Lintvedt. The paper was made at Cartiere Enrico Magnani. The book was hand sewn and bound at the Jovonis Bookbindery in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Our copy is a gift form our friend Jerry Buff.

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It’s Fine Press Friday!

Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in two Acts and a Requiem, a tragedy by American playwright, screenwriter, and essayist Arthur Miller (1915-2005) is here published, with five etchings by American graphic artist, Leonard Baskin (1922-2000), by the Limited Editions Club (LEC) in a limited edition of 1500 copies signed by the playwright and the artist in 1984. 

The play, Death of a Salesman, first opened on February 10, 1949. It was incredibly popular, and is considered by some critics to be one of the best American plays. It has since been revived on Broadway five times and adapted to film ten times, and has won numerous awards. Salesman is a fine example of one of Arthur Miller’s dominant themes,the importance of the father-son relationship. It is somewhat inspired by Miller's short time working for his father. His biographer wrote:

Arthur particularly loathed the vulgarity and aggressiveness of the buyers, who treated his father and the salesmen with arrogant contempt, and he became acutely aware of the meaning of self-respect when he saw how cruelly it was abused.

The play is about the unrealistic expectations we have for ourselves and others, expectations that cause us to lose sight of what really matters even to the point of falling out of touch with reality. In this case it is the expectations a father has for his children. 

This edition marks Leonard Baskin’s third time illustrating for the Limited Editions Club. Other tiles he has worked on include, Eugene O'Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, 1982 and Aristotle’s Poetics & Politics, 1964, both of which we may feature at a later date.. The striking etched portraits are very characteristic of Baskin’s work. Baskin often works in themes of death. His etchings richly portray the mental degradation that the main character, Willy Loman, suffers from. 

This book was designed by book designer Benjamin Shiff, son of LEC owner Sydney Shiff. He selected American and English Monotype Bulmer fonts, which were set in type by Dan Carr and Julia Ferrarie at Golgonooza Letter Foundry. The text was printed at the Wild Carrot Letterpress by Daniel Keleher and the etchings were printed at The Heron Press by Bruce Chandler. The paper was made by Cartiere Enrico Magnani and the book was bound by Gray Parrot Incorporated. Our copy was a gift from our friend Jerry Buff. 

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Birthday Anniversary - Frank O’Hara, born March 27, 1926

Today is Frank O’Hara’s birthday so we thought we’d celebrate by sharing a collection of his work, Poems, published by the Limited Editions Club in 1988 featuring original lithographs by Willem de Kooning. 

O’Hara became famous as a poet in the New York School, an informal group of writers, artists, and musicians working in New York. His poetry is well known for its conversational or casual style and for capturing scenes of life in New York. Also an art critic and curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O’Hara was friends with many artists including Willem de Kooning. 

The poems featured here are titled “A Young Poet” and “America,” respectively. These images don’t give a sense of the full size of the book, which is 56cm tall (22 inches), and bound in soft black leather. The book was issued in a limited edition of 550 copies and is signed by the artist.