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uwmspeccoll · 18 days

Text

It’s Fine Press Friday!

Today we’re taking a look at our 1987 Limited Editions Club release of poet, diplomat, and Nobel laureate Octavio Paz’s (1914–1998) Three Poems. Published as a bilingual Spanish-English edition of selections from The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987 (translated by Eliot Weinberger, the primary translator of Paz’s work into English), this prodigious publication measures 56 cm and features lithographic illustrations by abstract expressionist painter and printmaker Robert Motherwell (1915-1991). The text was handset at Stamperia Valdonega (Verona, Italy) in Bauer Bodini Bold and Bauer Bodini Bold Italic typefaces, both of which were cast by Fundicíon Tipográfica Neufville (Barcelona, Spain). Lithographs were printed at Trestle Editions on hand-made Japanese papers and text was printed at Wild Carrot Letter Press (Hadley, MA), Stamperia Valdonega, and The Heritage Press on mould made paper from Cartiere Enrico Magnani (Pescia, Italy). It was hand-sewn and bound at the Garthegaat Bindery.

The book was designed by Benjamin Shiff, LEC book designer and son of Sidney Shiff, who had purchased the debt-ridden Limited Editions Club in 1979. Under the leadership of Shiff, a one-time Wall Street broker, the LEC gained a broadened subscription base, increased the quality of their publications, diversified their roster of artists, and returned to profitability.

Though minimal and modern in presentation, the production of this edition plumbed the depths of printing history. The Magnani paper mill was established on the banks of the Pescia river (known for its clear water- a necessity for paper production) in 1404, half a century before Gutenberg’s printing press was first put to commercial use. And the Fundicíon Tipográfica Neufville (operational 1885-1995), also known as Neufville Typefoundry, was the biggest 20th century supplier of the printing industry in Spain. After a number of ownership transfers, the company, alongside Bauersche Gießerei (a German typefoundry, operational 1837-1972), was succeeded by Bauer Types, which would leverage ownership of the rights to many of the original typefaces from both foundries to lead the way from lead type production to digital typography.

--Ana, Special Collections Graduate Intern

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