Arion Press - Don Quixote

DiscussieFine Press Forum

Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.

Arion Press - Don Quixote

1busywine
jun 2, 2011, 7:32 pm

Can a few more of you who have purchased this, or spent time with it, let me know your impressions. I know this is relative to everyone, but is it worth it to you?

Seriously thinking of subscribing to Arion, looks fantastic...what other books from them do you have, and what do you think of the books you have?

2kdweber
jun 2, 2011, 11:11 pm

I don't have the Arion Press Don Quixote but I want it. I'm seriously considering subscribing as well. I have 3 Arion Press books and I love them all.

3Django6924
jun 2, 2011, 11:46 pm

I think jveezer, the member who started this group and The Whole Book Experience blog, is the person who can best tell you about the book. I don't own it myself, but have actually seen a sample page of it, and can attest that the typography and the quality of the paper are unsurpassed in present day book production. (I'm talking about fairly large scale book production, not extremely limited editions of 30 pages of poetry printed on mould-made paper--the Arion Press Cervantes is a monumental work of one of the supreme masterpieces in literature.)

From the pictures I've seen, the overall binding and design of the work as a whole matches the standard of that sample page. The only thing preventing me from buying it is the price (though I am less enthusiastic about the illustrations, but art appreciation is a highly subjective thing, and my reservations on that score are more than offset by the choice of translation). If I get another copy of Don Quixote to go with my 1933 LEC edition, which I probably won't, it will be the 2nd LEC Cervantes, with the magnificent illustrations by Edy Legrand--and it will only be for those illustrations that I would get it as the translation is the same as in the original LEC edition.

4jveezer
jun 3, 2011, 10:16 am

it's next up on my blog and I will try to get something out by the weekend or next week at the latest. There are a couple Arion Press books already covered on www.thewholebookexperience.com

In short, I love AP books and they are well worth the money to me. In my mind, they are the closest to the Macy era Limited Editions Club in that they regularly(~3 times per year) put out beautiful editions of great literature with original artwork and meticulous production. And they are not afraid of tackling the larger works of literature that most fine presses can't handle or would take multiple years to produce. Most presses, if they could even consider a work as daunting as Don Quixote, would have to default to an old, maybe out of date, public domain translation where the AP has the wherewithal to print the latest acclaimed translation by Edith Grossman. I'm sure that affects the price as well due to copyright on the new translation.

5dlphcoracl
Bewerkt: jun 23, 2011, 1:11 pm

Over the years, I have collected nearly one-third of their 91 titles published to date. The Arion Press suffers from a flaw common to ALL private presses, namely, the uneven choice of books and material(s) they have selected for publication. Inevitably, it is a reflection of the tastes and interests of each press's founder and guiding light ---- Andrew Hoyem, in this case.

Having said that, the Arion Press has been one of the private presses least guilty of this faux pas and they have published many outstanding titles in their 30 year history. However, over the past decade following publication of their monumental edition of 'The Holy Bible' they seem to have focused on publishing books that they consider to be unjustly neglected gems, books not well known to collectors or avid readers. For the most part, they have been "misses" for me and are not books I wish to collect.

When the Arion Press publishes a work or poetry collection of undisputed merit AND they combine it with one of their trademark 'out of this world' book designs that stretches the envelope of fine press bookmaking, it is something that I cannot resist and these books are no-brainers unless the cost is truly prohibitive. Of the books I own my personal favorites are (in chronological order of publication):

1. Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott
2. Shaped Poetry edited by Glenn Todd
3. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
4. Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
5. Thirty-Three Sonnets of Guido Cavalcanti, trans. by Ezra Pound
6. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
7. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Books I am strongly considering for my next purchase are:

1. The Holy Bible
2. Paradise Lost by John Milton, if I can locate an edition for sale without the
suite of thirteen facsimile watercolor illustrations by Wm. Blake.

6kdweber
jun 22, 2011, 10:44 pm

I'd sure like to see a copy of their Flatland in its aluminum case. Unfortunately, it sold out way before I ever heard of the Arion Press.

7venkysuniverse
jan 19, 2019, 12:21 pm

I wanted to check if anyone else's copy also has pages which have a lighter print impression than others. I am quite disappointed with the overall letterpress print quality of this book set. It is not consistent and some pages's fonts are more 'bolder' than others and for this price level, I was expecting it to be flawless. Unfortunately I purchased it 2nd hand and hence can't request Arion press for a replacement copy. I have not seen this issue with any other Arion press book that I have purchased.

8dlphcoracl
jan 19, 2019, 1:21 pm

>7 venkysuniverse:

It is not just your copy.

There is indeed considerable variation in the density ("blackness") of the type, both from page to page and within the same page itself. Occasionally, the ink impression is so weak that portions of the individual letters are barely visible. There is much to like about the Arion Press edition of Don Quixote - the quality of the paper, the beautiful full leather binding with gilt decoration and, most importantly, the use of Edith Grossman's outstanding modern translation. In fact, the translation is so far superior to the others, most of which are several centuries old, that it may be thought of as "the only game in town' as far as modern private press editions of Don Quixote. Unfortunately, the presswork is simply not up to par compared to the other top-notch private presses or even compared to the earlier Arion Press publications from 1975 to 1995.

9venkysuniverse
jan 19, 2019, 3:11 pm

>8 dlphcoracl: Thanks a lot for the confirmation. I agree that the production quality is outstanding as I even love the leather bindings and that fact that it opens flat in a smooth action, which is a feat for 500+ page book. The 'density' issue stops it from being a 10/10 for me. However I am sure no other press will ever attempt to print a book of this size in letterpress, unless digitally done by someone like Erik Spiekermann. I loved his letterpress printing quality of 'Change is good'.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1671130551/change-is-good-the-collectors-fi...

10dlphcoracl
jan 19, 2019, 3:41 pm

>9 venkysuniverse:

"....no other press will ever attempt to print a book of this size in letterpress.... ".

And that is indeed the key and why I can tolerate the uneven letterpress printing - no other private press can attempt this. And the illustrations - 97 original prints by William T. Wiley - are perfect, capturing the whimsical and satirical nature of 'Don Quixote'.

11venkysuniverse
jan 19, 2019, 7:01 pm

12ultrarightist
jan 20, 2019, 1:20 pm

>7 venkysuniverse: and >8 dlphcoracl: That is disappointing to hear. I have long desired the AP Don Quixote, although somewhat lessened by my acquisition of an LEC edition rebound in exquisitely tooled full moroccan leather.

>8 dlphcoracl: I own the AP Paradise Lost, published in 2002 and thus seven years after the upper bound you identified, and I think the pressman ship is top notch.

13gmacaree
jan 20, 2019, 2:34 pm

>8 dlphcoracl: The Arion Quixote utilising Grossman's translation vexes me a great deal. It renders every other fine(ish) press DQ obsolete, and therefore if I want a good copy of the book, I'm "locked in" to Arion's. Which is ... expensive.

14jveezer
jan 20, 2019, 2:40 pm

>13 gmacaree: Well, there is always the trade edition of Grossman's translation as a reading copy. It's definitely worth it.

>10 dlphcoracl: I'll have to check my copy out when I get a chance. I scanned my TWBE review of the book and I didn't mention uneven presswork but maybe I was too infatuated to notice that flaw in the bliss of reading it.

15dlphcoracl
jan 20, 2019, 3:41 pm

>14 jveezer:

It is not subtle. Macro photos, taken at the same lighting and same distance from each page follow below, with specific comments.

16dlphcoracl
jan 20, 2019, 3:43 pm

Page with strong, even ink impression:

17dlphcoracl
jan 20, 2019, 3:45 pm

Page with weaker ink impression:

18dlphcoracl
jan 20, 2019, 3:48 pm

Strong, even ink impression:

19dlphcoracl
jan 20, 2019, 3:55 pm

Weaker, uneven ink impression. Notice:

Sentence 3: compare "tree" to "bank".

Sentence 4: uneven ink impressions in "saw", "then" and "without".

Sentences 5 and 7: the word "Sancho"

Sentence 6: the word "carefully".

20dlphcoracl
jan 20, 2019, 4:04 pm

Page with uneven ink impression from word to word. Specifically note:

Sentence 2: the words "achieved", "could" and "be".

Sentence 4: the words "when" and "said".

Sentence 5: the word "the".

Sentence 7: the word "knight".

Sentence 8: the words "compadre" and "Tomé"



21Sorion
jan 20, 2019, 5:40 pm

>15 dlphcoracl: In my mind that photos provided should not stop anyone from purchasing this. It remains a must have.

22dlphcoracl
Bewerkt: jan 20, 2019, 6:51 pm

>21 Sorion:

And that is precisely what I have said in >8 dlphcoracl: and >10 dlphcoracl: - clearly, it did not prevent me from acquiring it nor do I want to sell it once I noticed the flaws in the printing. Neverhteless, this is certainly not the finest hour for the Arion Press and it is clearly not up to the high standards they had in their first two decades. Over the past two decades, the quality and been uneven with distinct high points and some mediocre offerings.

23johnaba
jan 20, 2019, 6:38 pm

It happens to the best of them. I have noticed the same problem in other books, including ones from Barbarian Press and Pennyroyal Press. I’m not knowledgeable enough to understand why this occurs, but it happens.

24ultrarightist
Bewerkt: jan 21, 2019, 3:43 pm

>22 dlphcoracl: Where would you place AP's edition of Paradise Lost in terms of pressmanship?

25dlphcoracl
jan 21, 2019, 4:31 pm

>24 ultrarightist:

The letterpress printing in the AP's Paradise Lost is an example of their finest work. Additionally, the book design is simple and elegant using top-notch materials throughout. This is one of Arion's best efforts over the past twenty years. See photos below.

26dlphcoracl
jan 21, 2019, 4:33 pm

Arion Press 'Paradise Lost' (2002).

27dlphcoracl
jan 21, 2019, 4:34 pm

Arion Press 'Paradise Lost' - macro photo.

28ultrarightist
jan 21, 2019, 5:00 pm

>25 dlphcoracl: Thank you. I own a copy, too. I wanted to know if your expert opinion matched my own regarding the quality of the edition, and it does.

29RATBAG.
dec 23, 2019, 12:08 pm

>5 dlphcoracl: Can you tell me more about The Big Sleep? And how is the binding for Invisible Cities? Does it hold up well?

Scary to see a metallic binder design like the office ones you see very much often.

30jveezer
sep 30, 2021, 12:36 pm

Was wandering through the AP website to see if it would jog my memory on a detail and noticed their Don Quixote is showing "Temporarily sold out. Restocking in late 2022." That's curious. I guess I assumed or had heard that it had sold out but maybe not. Is this a new state separate from the 400 copies printed in the first printed? Did they have unbound sheets from the original print run? Or copies left in inventory?

In any event, the fact that Oak Knoll has a set for $2,500 was what sent me looking.

31kdweber
sep 30, 2021, 3:45 pm

>30 jveezer: I assume they just haven't bound all of the copies. $2500 sounds like a very good price, did you buy it?

32jveezer
sep 30, 2021, 3:53 pm

>31 kdweber: I was a subscriber when it came out so I have a copy. Love having the Grossman translation in a private press book. Just passing on what seems like a good deal...

33SDB2012
sep 30, 2021, 8:56 pm

>30 jveezer: is it on the Oak Knoll website? Maybe it already sold. I can't find it.

34ChampagneSVP
sep 30, 2021, 9:24 pm

>30 jveezer: “Is this a new state separate from the 400 copies printed in the first printed? Did they have unbound sheets from the original print run? Or copies left in inventory?”

I believe they only bound part of the limitation initially. I bought my copy this summer and got one of the last two copies available at the time and mine is in the high 200s. I assume there are about 100 left to bind.

35jveezer
okt 1, 2021, 12:54 am

>33 SDB2012: It was in their catalogue for Rare Books LA. It does look like it sold...Here's the link:

https://rarebooksla.getmansvirtual.com/oak-knoll-books/don-quixote

36SDB2012
okt 1, 2021, 7:47 am

>35 jveezer: Thanks! Probably for the best. That one has been on my wish list for a long time. That's the lowest price I've seen but I'm not actively looking.

37punkzip
okt 4, 2021, 11:23 pm

When the AP Don Quixote is reprinted in late 2022, am I correct in assuming that the price will be $2800 for subscribers? Deciding whether to wait for this vs secondary market, but the downside seems to be having to buy 3 other books at the time as well as subscribe for a year.

38SDB2012
okt 5, 2021, 7:28 am

> That is correct. I think they printed all the sheets at one time but bind them in batches.

39LBShoreBook
Bewerkt: okt 5, 2021, 11:35 am

>37 punkzip: I read on another thread that they don't increase their prices - so a book that has not sold since 1992 is the same price as when it was released in 1992. I suppose inflation eventually alters the cost/benefit ratio to sell the back catalogue (that is my current approach anyway). This strongly suggests the books will remain $4K for non-subscribers and $2.8K for subscribers. It is a fantastic edition by the way.

40EthanoMMG
dec 16, 2021, 6:48 am

Deze gebruiker is verwijderd als spam.