Janus Press at Sixty

THE JANUS PRESS AT SIXTY

SAN FRANCISCO CENTER FOR THE BOOK

FEBRUARY 14 THROUGH MAY 24, 2015


SAN FRANCISCO CENTER FOR THE BOOK

FEBRUARY 14 THROUGH MAY 24, 2015


THE JANUS PRESS AT SIXTY in exhibition at the San Francisco Center for the Book February 14 – May 24, 2015

EXHIBITION COORDINATION FOR SFCB Mary K. Austin

CATALOGUE DESIGN Kathleen Burch

PHOTOGRAPHY Fletcher Manley

COPY EDITORS Samantha Hamady Terry Horrigan

PRINTING Inkworks Press Berkeley, Californiaisbn 978-1-929646-09-8

2015 by Claire Van Vliet and the San Francisco Center for the Book

375 Rhode Island Street San Francisco, California 94103

SFCB.ORG

This catalogue was designed using Tangent typefaces by Terminal Design. The SFCB logo was created by Studio Hinrichs.

A portion of the purchase price of this exhibition catalogue helps fund the operation of the San Francisco Center for the Book, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

THIS EXHIBITION MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OFKahle Austin FoundationSan Francisco FoundationSan Francisco Grants for the Arts

LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITIONMary K. AustinBarbara LuckThe St. Johnsbury Athenæum The Janus Press

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CENTER FOR THE BOOKMary K. Austin, PresidentTim BelonaxKathleen Burch, Vice PresidentColeen Curry Alan Dye Wally Jansen Mary Laird Margaret Miller Brooks Roddan Kathleen Rydar Anne Smith Dorothy Yule Duff Axsom, Emeritus Curtiss Taylor, Emeritus

SFCB STAFFCheryl Itamura Chad Johnson Malgosia Kostecka Alex Lin Jeff Thomas

EXHIBITION COMMITTEEMary K. Austin, Kathleen Burch, Sas Colby, Samantha Hamady, Jennie Hinchcliff, Chad Johnson, Alyson Kuhn, Donna Seager; Marie Dern, honorary member

ABOUT THE SFCB The San Francisco Center for the Book, founded in 1996, is a center of inspiration for the book arts world, featuring the art and craft of letterpress printing, bookbinding, and artists’ book making. We are dedicated to the art of the book!

The SFCB was co-founded in 1996 by Mary K. Austin and Kathleen Burch, who recognized a growing need in San Francisco and the Bay Area for a facility specifically designed and equipped for the book arts. The first of its kind on the West Coast, the SFCB now offers over 300 workshops and many free events every year, including the annual street fair Roadworks: A Steamroller Printing Festival.

In addition to workshops and events, there is a thriving artist-in-residence program, producing numerous artists’ books every year, and collaborations with many local non-profits, museums, and libraries. The SFCB also hosts special visits & hands-on demonstrations for students of all ages, teachers, librarians, corporate team building, collectors, visiting printers, artists, writers and designers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECADE FOUR 64

Aunt Sallie’s Lament 66

Aunt Sallie’s Lament (Altered) 68

Designating Duet 70

Dido and Aeneas 72

Narcissus 76

Bone Songs 78

Night Street 80

DECADE FIVE 86

Praise Basted In 88

Batterers 90

Beauty in Use 92

(Compound Frame) 94 Seven Poems

Deep in the Territory 96

Circulus Sapientiae / 98 Circle of Wisdom

DECADE SIX 106

The Gospel of Mary 106

Waste Incant 110

Four Months / Four Seasons 114

HELIOS 120

TATATA 122

GREED 124

JANUS PRESS 128 1955–2014 AND COLLABORATORS

COLOPHON

COVERHayden Carruth

AURA1977

Pulp-painting by Claire Van Vliet with Kathryn and Howard Clark at Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

Photography : Fletcher Manley

THE JANUS PRESS AT SIXTY 4 Susan Allen

Razerol 7 Bare Elegy The Seekonk Woods

Four Women 9

Of Gravity and Grace 11

THIS IS 12

DECADE ONE 15

An Oxford Odyssey 16

Some Trees and Bushes 18

A Little Bestiary 20

Ein Landarzt / A Country Doctor 22

Parables and Paradoxes 26

Sun, Sky and Earth 28

DECADE TWO 30

Polyurethane Antibook 30

Conversation with the Supplicant 32

Der KÜbelreiter / The Bucket Rider 34

Sky and Earth: Variable Landscape 36

Romance de la Guardia Civil Española 38

The Tower of Babel: An Anthology 40

DECADE THREE 44

Aura 46

St. Francis Preaches to the Birds 48

Herball: 52 Dialogues of the Creatures Moralised

The Dream of the Dirty Woman 54

Lilac Wind 56

The Circus of Doctor Lao 60

SUSAN ALLEN: THE JANUS PRESS AT SIXTY

6

I am a collector. I discovered the existence of the Janus Press in 1981 about halfway along the trajectory of its sixty-year history. And so, as the press founded by Claire Van Vliet in 1955 took as its namesake Janus, the Roman god of night and day, I, Janus-like, have come to know the productions of the Janus Press. The god looks through a gateway with two faces. One face looks east and one looks west; one is looking toward the new day, and one is looking toward the day that has been. This is the lens through which I view and understand the press. First, I collected what was new, and then in an effort to form a comprehensive collection for the next generation, I began collecting as many Janus Press titles as I could find from its earlier years. Finally, in the 1990s, I became a subscriber. Since then I have had the joy and pleasure of receiving every new book as it has been completed.

It is important to say that the works produced at the Janus Press with rare exceptions have always been books and broadsides. Another characterization would be “artists’ books.” By “book” I mean the codex form, or leaves of paper folded, stacked, and bound in some way between covers or in a box that holds it all together. This package allows a reader to hold the work in his or her lap or to place it on a table to turn the individual leaves in order to examine the text and artwork simultaneously. A broad-side is a single sheet of paper usually with a printed text and/or images on one side only.

In the early days of the press, Janus Press books looked quite traditional. They had standard-looking title pages with the bibliographic information bibliophiles and librarians expect to find: author, title, illustrator, date of publication, etc. The pages as they were presented early on were generally two-dimensional. Later in the life of the press a three-dimensional quality emerged.

The earliest book I have seen and collected is Some Trees and Bushes which appeared in 1959. Ruth Fine in her catalogue raisonné, The Janus Press 1955–75 (1975), calls this a “picture book”

Above:

THE CIRCUS OF DOCTOR LAO

See also pages 60–63.

7

Estelle Leontief

RAZEROL1973

Xerox images printed by Ray K. Metzker using his silver print as the matrix

9½ x 6½ inches

32 pages

Edition 150

Margo Lockwood

BARE ELEGY1980

Color Xerox image printed by Ray K. Metzker at the Xerox Reproduction Center in Philadelphia using his black and white silver print as the matrix

10½ x 6½ inches

20 pages

Edition 150

Galway Kinnell

THE SEEKONK WOODS1985

Original photographs by Lotte Jacobi

Printed from her negatives by Gary Samson at the University of New Hampshire

10¼ x 8 inches

18 pages

Edition 170

8

with lithographs and wood cuts by Van Vliet. It was printed in New Jersey before the Janus Press moved to Newark, Vermont. However, even this book and the images were a foretaste of work to come once the press found its permanent home in Newark. Sun, Sky and Earth, created in Philadelphia in 1964, demonstrates that Van Vliet had no fear of experimentation early in her career. This book has a spiral binding and is made of plastic. The die-cut circles and rectangular pages of colored acetate provide an almost infinite combination of stunning sunrises and sunsets and seasons for the reader to manipulate.

These images and themes from nature – the sun, the full moon, the sky, mountains, rocks, earth, trees, the four seasons – made their appearance early in Janus Press history, and they come back again and again in fresh and exciting ways. The use of unusual materials such as plastics and wood, handmade papers pleasing to the hand and eye, unusual non-adhesive bindings and preci-sion boxes, and representations of every illustration technique imaginable all made their appearance in Janus Press books during its first twenty years. Woodcuts, wood engravings, lithographs, relief etchings, photographs, linoleum cuts, and Xerox images, many created by Van Vliet, are all here before 1975.

From coming to know the books and from getting to know the artist, I have learned of Claire Van Vliet’s desire for connected-ness and meaning in all that she creates and publishes. The text, the images, all the materials, the bindings, everything that makes the artifact must contribute to and reinforce the sense of its whole or its essential rightness. To paraphrase the first line of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book I: Each art, whether it be literary or artistic; each practice, such as letterpress printing, papermaking, and binding; and the pursuit of a common goal in collaboration with other creative people, all seem to be aimed at producing this rightness. In the words of William Morris, the founder of a private press in another era, the aim must be the creation of something “useful and beautiful.” It is hard to examine any product of the Janus Press without coming to the conclusion that Claire Van Vliet has successfully achieved this goal often involving many others (see the list of collaborators at the end of this catalogue).

In February 1982, I had the good fortune of attending a Goudy Lecture given by Claire at Scripps College. She was in the midst of completing The Circus of Doctor Lao (1984) and showed us slides. It was to be the seventy-fifth publication of the press. Printed by letterpress on handmade paper with relief etchings

9

James Hayford

FOUR WOMEN1981

Masonite cut by Claire Van Vliet on the endpapers with moon added on the endsheet

9 x 6¼ inches

20 pages

Edition 175

10

and pochoir throughout, it was a grand folio volume, with a fold-out of the circus train that spread to six pages all tipped together. I was stunned. I never knew that a book could be so interesting and beautiful, so beautiful I had to have one. It was beyond my means at the time, but I could order Four Women (1982) by James Hayford, and I was not disappointed. The slim little volume was spare poetry about hard life. The only luxury it contained was relief print endpapers of a rocky hillside in Vermont, capped by evergreen trees and a gray, winter sky. Another early acquisition that same year that fit my criteria was Sabina Thorne’s Of Gravity and Grace (1982). How evocative of India and the Ganges are the saffron ink title, the sparse margins, and the breathtaking double-page-spread landscape of river, sleeping city, night sky, and waning moon.

The high production quality and complexity of Janus Press pub lications cannot be overstated. Though Claire Van Vliet often works with collaborators to accomplish a project, she is the one who has the vision of the whole. She provides the oversight, always paying extraordinary attention to every detail of every work. In the years following the publication of The Circus of Doctor Lao, Janus Press publications in general become more sculptural and three-dimensional and less two-dimensional. A pulp-painting is incorporated in Aura as early as 1977. Then in the 1980s and later, this method for teasing an illustration out of a sheet of handmade paper is in other works, often in an accordion- fold format. Lilac Wind (1983) is three poems printed on top of a pulp-painting augmented by other printed elements, namely a sun/moon image. Narcissus (1990), another spectacular accordion fold work housed in a precisely-fitted wooden box can double as a wall hanging. Dido and Aeneas (1989), co-published with The Theodore Press, features pulp-painting and pop-up elements as does Batterers (1996) which features a folded pulp-painted land-scape. In the new century, Janus Press reached new heights of complexity and beauty with the pulp-painting/pop-up com -bination in Circulus Sapientiae/Circle of Wisdom (2001) and The Gospel of Mary (2006).

At the same time the Janus Press was bringing out these incredible works utilizing pulp-painted handmade papers, there were the books that were inspired by American quilts: Aunt Sallie’s Lament (1988), Designating Duet (1989), Beauty in Use (1997), Deep in the Territory (1999), and Aunt Sallie’s Lament (Altered) (2004). Each has its own aesthetic to suit the poem it embodies. Each is an extremely complicated piece of three-dimensional art. The design and construction of each is truly a wonder. I have a vivid memory

11

Sabina Thorne

OF GRAVITY AND GRACE1982

Masonite cut by Claire Van Vliet

9 x 7 inches

40 pages

Edition 220 . . .See pages 6 and 7 for detail of cover.

12

13

Peter Schumann Bread and Puppet

THIS IS1980

Drawings by Peter Schumann printed by offset lithography

Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington D.C., a federal agency

11 x 8½ inches

40 pages, paper bound

Edition 3,500 · paper 100, casebound

14

of receiving Beauty in Use in the mail. I opened the package not knowing what I would find inside. The spine label on the box for the work announced itself. When I opened it and began to turn the pages, a full hour passed before I could put the poetry down and return to my other business at hand. The interaction of the texts and the “quilted” pages left me amazed and in wonder at the inventiveness in the way the papers were arranged and the complexity of the structure that held all the elements together.

In all the years of its existence, the Janus Press has never shied away from controversy or from difficult political and social issues. In the 1970s and 1980s it collaborated with the Bread and Puppet Theater of Vermont. THIS IS (1980), a four-act Bread and Puppet Theater play, tells the story of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The poetry and images of Night Street (1993) examine urban themes through city views presented in a concertina format. Batterers (1996) explores the subject of domestic violence with its blood-red pulp-paper painting. Waste Incant (2007), about toxic materials and hazardous waste, is interleaved with and bound and boxed with plastic. GREED (2013) takes on economic inequality, corrupt politicians, and America’s one percent in a collage of strong images and words.

In 1989 Claire Van Vliet received a fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This award, bestowed annually on unsuspecting, “exceptionally creative women and men,” is known as the MacArthur “Genius Award.” Claire Van Vliet is none other than a genius as this exhibition of her life’s work vividly gives evidence.

SUSAN M. ALLEN

October 29, 2014

Susan M. Allen became director of California Rare Book School in March 2011. From 1999 to her retirement in 2011, she was associate director and chief librarian of the Getty Research Institute.

She was head of the Department of Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA, from January 1997 to 1999 and director of Libraries and Media Services at Kalamazoo College from 1993 to 1997. Prior to 1993, she held several posts in the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges, including head of Special Collections.

At right:

NARCISSUSSee also pages 76–77.

DECADE ONE

John Theobald

AN OXFORD ODYSSEY1955

Wood engravings by Claire Van Vliet

8½ x 5½ inches

56 pages, pamphlet

Edition 100

16

17

18

Claire Van Vliet

SOME TREES AND BUSHES1959

Woodcuts and paper plate offset prints with the cover printed by silk screen

9¾ x 6½ inches

20 pages, bound in paper wrapper

Edition 125 . . .

See page 15 for detail of cover.

19

20

Edward Topsell

A LITTLE BESTIARY1961

Woodcuts by Helen Siegl

Commissioned by The Print Club of Philadelphia

12¼ x 9¼ inches

8 broadsides in a wrapper

Edition 200

21

22

Franz Kafka

EIN LANDARZT / A COUNTRY DOCTOR1962

Relief etchings by Claire Van Vliet

Typographic design by James H. McWilliams

12¼ x 8¾ inches

32 pages, casebound

20 in special binding

Edition 250

23

24 EIN LANDARZT / A COUNTRY DOCTOR

25

26

Franz Kafka

PARABLES AND PARADOXES1963

Lithographs by Claire Van Vliet

15 x 11 inches

10 folios, boxed

Edition 50

27

28

Claire Van Vliet

SUN, SKY AND EARTH1964

Die-cut acetate and cinemoid gels

7¾ x 6 inches

67 pages in plastic binding

Edition 50

29

James H. McWilliams

POLYURETHANE ANTIBOOK 1965

12 x 12 inches

Black paper-covered slipcase

Edition 10

DECADE TWO

32

Franz Kafka

CONVERSATION WITH THE SUPPLICANT 1971


13 x 10½ inches

10 unbound folios, boxed

Edition 100

33

34

Franz Kafka

DER KÜBELREITER / THE BUCKET RIDER 1972

Relief etchings by Jerome Kaplan

12¾ x 11 inches


Edition 100

35

36

Claire Van Vliet

SKY AND EARTH: VARIABLE LANDSCAPE 1973

10 x 8 inches

39 pieces of die-cut papers in folder

Edition not limited

37

38

Federico García-Lorca

ROMANCE DE LA GUARDIA ESPAÑOLA / BALLAD OF THE SPANISH CIVIL GUARD 1974

Woodcuts by Jerome Kaplan

11½ x 6¾ inches

24 french-folded pages, casebound

Edition 300

39

40

THE TOWER OF BABEL: AN ANTHOLOGY1973–5


12½ x 10 inches


Edition 100

41

42 THE TOWER OF BABEL: AN ANTHOLOGY

43The Builders of Babel

DECADE THREE

46

Hayden Carruth

AURA1977

Pulp-painting by Claire Van Vliet made with Kathryn and Howard Clark at Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill


15 x 48 inches folded panel with a wrapper 15 x 8 inches folded

Edition 50 . . .

See cover for larger photograph of Aura.

47

Following pages:

Peter Schumann

ST. FRANCIS PREACHES TO THE BIRDS Bread and Puppet

1978

Masonite relief cuts by Peter Schumann, hand colored

14¼ x 13 inches

28 pages, folded on the fore-edge, bound into boards with screw posts

Edition 100

48 ST. FRANCIS PREACHES TO THE BIRDS

49

50 ST. FRANCIS PREACHES TO THE BIRDS

51

52

W. R. Johnson and Sabina Thorne, editors

HERBALL: DIALOGUES OF THE CREATURES MORALISED1979

Woodcuts by Helen Siegl, hand colored

11¼ x 8½ inches

24 pages, casebound

Edition 150

53

54

Elka Schumann

THE DREAM OF THE DIRTY WOMAN Bread and Puppet

1980

Relief prints on pulp-painting by Claire Van Vliet on paper made by Kathryn Clark at Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

Includes a 12-inch lp of the performance


12¼ x 12 inches

10-page accordion, boxed

Edition 85

55

56

W. R. Johnson

LILAC WIND1983

Co-published with Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill where the pulp-painted paper by Claire Van Vliet was made with Kathryn Clark

12 x 7¾ inches

8-page accordion, boxed

Edition 150

57

58 LILAC WIND

59

60

Charles G. Finney THE CIRCUS OF DOCTOR LAO1984Relief etchings by Claire Van Vliet13¼ x 10¼ inches130 pages, bound with long stitch, boxedEdition 150

61

62 THE CIRCUS OF DOCTOR LAO

63

DECADE FOUR

66

Margaret Kaufman

AUNT SALLIE’S LAMENT1988

Structure design based on Hedi Kyle’s Kimono Dolls

Abaca binding strip made by MacGregor-Vinzani

11¼ x 9¼ inches

26 pages, boxed

Edition 120 . . .

Previous pages:

Detail of cover from

NARCISSUSshown on pages 76–77.

67

68

Margaret Kaufman

AUNT SALLIE’S LAMENT (ALTERED)1993–2004

Altered Chronicle Books edition

8 x 8 inches oriented as diamond

28 pages, boxed

Edition 120

69

70

Sandra McPherson

DESIGNATING DUET1989

Abaca binding strip made by MacGregor-Vinzani

7½ x 7½ inches

18 pages in boards, boxed

Edition 175

71

72

Nahum Tate

DIDO AND AENEAS1989

Co-published with The Theodore Press

Typography by Michael Alpert

Pulp-painted paper by Claire Van Vliet made with Katie MacGregor and Bernie Vinzani

11¼ x 7¼ inches

10-page accordion with 40 pages in 5 attached pamphlets, boxed

Edition 150

73

74 DIDO AND AENEAS

75

76

77

W. R. Johnson

NARCISSUS1990

Digital images by Claire Van Vliet

Abaca binding strip and papers made by Katie MacGregor

9 x 11½ inches

14 pages, boxed

Edition 120 . . .

See also page 14. See pages 64–65 for detail of cover paper.

Clifford Burke

BONE SONGS 1992

Relief prints by Ruth Fine

8 x 10 inches

40 french-folded pages, double slipcased

Edition 150 . . .

Following pages:

Barbara Luck

NIGHT STREET1993

Offset lithographs with silkscreen by Lois Johnson

Abaca binding strip made at MacGregor-Vinzani

13½ x 8½ inches

18 pages in paper over thin boards wrapper, double slipcased

Edition 90

78

79

p118-119 – DELETEp120-121 - make black pages move book pages toward fore edge

80 NIGHT STREET

81

82 NIGHT STREET

83

84 NIGHT STREET

85

DECADE FIVE

88

Margaret Kaufman

PRAISE BASTED IN1995

22 pages with 9 attached cards in quilted cover, boxed

Edition 100

. . .

See previous pages for cover detail.

89

90

Denise Levertov

BATTERERS1996

Cover paperwork by Kathryn Lipke Vigesaa

Pulp-painted paper by Claire Van Vliet made with Katie MacGregor and Bernie Vinzani

12 x 15 inches

12 pages in cradle with wood cover, slipcased

Edition 100

91

Sandra McPherson

BEAUTY IN USE1997

8 x 9 inches

38 pages, boxed

Edition 150

92

93

94

Emily Dickinson

(COMPOUND FRAME) SEVEN POEMS1998Co-published with Gefn Press, London, and Elizabeth Steiner, Auckland

Relief prints by Susan Johanknecht

Binding structure by Elizabeth Steiner

7½ x 10½ inches

20 pages in polyethylene needlepoint canvas cover, polyethylene envelope

Edition 120

95

Margaret Kaufman

DEEP IN THE TERRITORY1999

8 x 9 inches

26 pages, boxed

Edition 120

96

97

Hildegard von Bingen

CIRCULUS SAPIENTIAE / CIRCLE OF WISDOM2001

Pulp-painted paper by Claire Van Vliet made with Katie MacGregor

12 x 5½ inches · 28 pages accordion folded with pop-ups double slipcased

Edition 120

98

99

100 CIRCULUS SAPIENTIAE / CIRCLE OF WISDOM

101


103


105

Karen King, translator Commentary by Rosemary Radford Ruether

THE GOSPEL OF MARY2006

Cover and pop-up paper pulp painted by Claire Van Vliet made with Katie MacGregor

11½ x 9¾ inches

50 pages strip bound into paper covers, boxed

Edition 150

DECADE SIX

108 THE GOSPEL OF MARY

109

110

Susan Johanknecht

WASTE INCANT2007

Images and text by Susan Johanknecht

7½ x 11½ inches

48 pages strip bound into polycarbonate covers with chemise, plexi slipcase

Edition 150

111

112 WASTE INCANT

113

Ruth Fine

FOUR MONTHS / FOUR SEASONS2009–10

Reduction linocuts by Ruth Fine

7½ x 4½ inches

Four 28-page 2-sided accordions with wrapper and slipcase

Wooden slipcase

Edition 150

114

115

FOUR MONTHS / FOUR SEASONS116

117

FOUR MONTHS / FOUR SEASONS118

119

Peter Schumann

HELIOS2010

Drawing by Peter Schumann printed duotone, offset lithography

11 x 5¾ inches

20-page accordion, casebound

Edition 150

120

121

Peter Schumann

TATATA2011

Drawings and text by Peter Schumann printed digitally

11 x 10 inches

Twenty-four 8-page pamphlets with covers in bi-fold case, slipcased

Edition 120

122

123

124

Claire Van Vliet

GREED2013

Text and lithographs by Claire Van Vliet

7¼ x 6½ inches

16-page accordion in paper over boards, slipcased

Edition 120

125

JANUS PRESS PUBLICATIONS

1955–2014 AND

COLLABORATORS Books made at Janus Press have most often been a group effort.

Along with this chronological list of projects are the names of the people

whose hands have contributed so much over the years.

Unless otherwise noted, all the titles were worked on and designed by Claire Van Vliet (she is listed only

when the visual material is by her). Jim McWilliams designed and

produced his own books.

note: Authors and artists are in italic and collaborators are in roman.

1955 An Oxford Odyssey John Theobald

1957 Messenger of Satan W.R. Johnson

1959 Some Trees and Bushes Claire Van Vliet · John Anderson

1960 Adoration of the Magi Lancelot Andrews

1961 A Little Bestiary Edward Topsell · Helen Siegl

Commissioned by The Print Club, Philadelphia

1962 Ein Landarzt / A Country Doctor Franz Kafka, Claire Van Vliet · James H. McWilliams, typographic design · Ruth Fine

Ein Landarzt / A Country Doctor Ruth Fine

1963 Parables and Paradoxes Franz Kafka, Claire Van Vliet · Robert Franco, Kai Milsted, Carl Urwald

Romance de la Guardia Civil Española Federico García-Lorca, Jerome Kaplan · Jerome Kaplan

Six Monograms James H. McWilliams

1964 Almost a Book Antonin Artaud · James H. McWilliams

Almost a Book August 9 James H. McWilliams

Disintegration of a Concept James H. McWilliams

Four Letter Word Book James H. McWilliams

N Book James H. McWilliams

Vietnam on a Stick James H. McWilliams

A Book of Prayers Helen Siegl · Frederick James

Commissioned by Christ Church, Philadelphia

Sun, Sky and Earth Claire Van Vliet

1965 Polyurethane Antibook James H. McWilliams

1966 The Poetry of Demetrios Capetanakis1967 A Selfish Giant Oscar Wilde, Helen Siegl

1968 A New Herball Nancy Willard, Helen Siegl Commissioned by Ferdinand Roten Galleries, Baltimore

1969 Easter W.R. Johnson, Claire Van Vliet

1970 Anno Domini W.R. Johnson

Felicity of Carols Helen Siegl · Tina Rose

Published by Barre Publishers

1971 Conversation with the Supplicant Franz Kafka, Claire Van Vliet · Eystein Hanche-Olsen, Annette Hollander

130

1965 Above: Jim McWilliams at the Kalle Offset Proofing Press, University of the Arts

1975 At right: Claire Van Vliet setting type in the old shop (1966-1981)

1976 Previous pages: Kathryn Clark and Claire Van Vliet laying the pressed sheets of Aura at Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

131

1972 Der KÜbelreiter / The Bucket Rider Franz Kafka, Jerome Kaplan · Jerome Kaplan, Susan Kronfeld, Joanne Haynes

Mother Goose Helen Siegl · Serena Naeve, Nancy Southworth

1973 Razerol Estelle Leontief, Ray K. Metzker · Ray K. Metzker, Jim Bicknell

Sky and Earth: Variable Landscape Claire Van Vliet

1974 A Fable of Bidpai Helen Siegl · Nancy Reid, Jim Bicknell

Romance de la Guardia Civil Española Federico García-Lorca, Jerome Kaplan · hardcover edition · Nancy Reid, Jim Bicknell

1975 The Tower of Babel: An Anthology Claire Van Vliet · Eystein Hanche-Olsen, Nancy Southworth, Jim Bicknell Publication assistance from the Vermont Council on the Arts, Inc.

Birthcords Susan Johanknecht · Susan Johanknecht, William Hunt

Old Mistresses Apologue Benjamin Franklin, Claire Van Vliet · special and paper edition · Susan Johanknecht

Spring Clay Susan Johanknecht · Susan Johanknecht

Whatever Happens Estelle Leontief, Claire Van Vliet · Nancy Southworth, Susan Johanknecht, Jim Bicknell

1976 Flowering Time W.R. Johnson, Claire Van Vliet · Eystein Hanche-Olsen

The Fireproof Floors of Whitley Court James Schuyler · Jim Bicknell Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

The Guest Helen Siegl · special and regular editions · Jim Bicknell

Loneliness Hayden Carruth, Claire Van Vliet · Susan Johanknecht, Jim Bicknell

The Missed Beat Thom Gunn, Simon Brett · Susan Johanknecht, Jim Bicknell Co-published with Gruffyground Press, England

Sky and Earth: Variable Landscape Claire Van Vliet · hardcover edition · Jim Bicknell

Spaghettiana Susan Kronfeld · Jim Bicknell

1977 Aura Hayden Carruth, Claire Van Vliet · Howard Clark, Kathryn Clark, Susan Hostetler, Bill Hodson, Jim Bicknell Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

1976 At left: Claire Van Vliet fixing edge of Aura on mould before couching at Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

1977 Above: Susan Johanknecht and Claire Van Vliet at the Vandercook sp15

1977 Midi / Noon Leconte de Lisle/John Theobald, Claire Van Vliet · Howard(con’t) Clark, Kathryn Clark, Susan Hostetler, Bill Hodson, Susan Johanknecht,

Victoria Fraser Co-published with Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

Chiasmadon Ted Hughes, Claire Van Vliet · Susan Johanknecht Published with Charles Seluzicki, Baltimore

The Closed Door James Reeves, Richard Shirley Smith · Susan Johanknecht, Jim Bicknell Co-published with Gruffyground Press and Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

From Actium W.R. Johnson · Susan Johanknecht

A Second Light John Theobald, Claire Van Vliet · Susan Johanknecht

Bread and Puppet: The White Horse Butcher Peter Schumann · Susan Johanknecht, Jim Bicknell

1978 From a Housewife’s Diary Janet Nyholm, Jerome Kaplan · James Houle, Victoria Fraser, Jim Bicknell Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

Bread and Puppet: St. Francis Preaches to the Birds Peter Schumann · Kaja McGowan, Solveig Schumann, Jim Bicknell

132

1977 Above right: Susan Johanknecht and Claire Van Vliet binding From Actium

1982 At right: The new and current shop

Traditional Hungarian Songs W. D. Snodgrass, Dorian McGowan · James Houle, Victoria Fraser Published with Charles Seluzicki, Baltimore

1979 Fergus Falling Galway Kinnell, Claire Van Vliet · Eystein Hanche-Olsen, Jim Bicknell

Hedge School Seamus Heaney, Claire Van Vliet · Kaja McGowan, Ursula Hofer Published with Charles Seluzicki, Salem, Oregon

Herball: Dialogues of the Creatures Moralised Helen Siegl · Kaja McGowan, Nancy Reid, Jim Bicknell

Two Poems Galway Kinnell, Claire Van Vliet · Lois Johnson, Jim Bicknell

What the Owl Said James Cortese, Claire Van Vliet · Jim Bicknell Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Art and the Wisconsin Arts Board

Winter Wind Elizabeth Jennings, Monica Poole · Barbara Luck, Jim Bicknell Co-published with Gruffyground Press, England

1980 Bare Elegy Margo Lockwood, Ray K. Metzker · Ray K. Metzker, Barbara Luck, Jim Bicknell

The Town at Dusk W.R. Johnson, Claire Van Vliet

Bread and Puppet: THIS IS Peter Schumann · Nancy Reid, James H. McWilliams Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

Bread and Puppet: The Dream of the Dirty Woman Elka Schumann, Claire Van Vliet · Kathryn Clark, Nancy Southworth, Tamar Schumann, Jim Bicknell Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

1981 The Seasons Kenneth Lohf, Claire Van Vliet · Nancy Reid, Catherine Hall, Nancy Southworth Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

Four Women James Hayford, Claire Van Vliet · Nancy Reid, Nancy Southworth, Tamar Schumann, Jim Bicknell, Susan Johanknecht Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

133

1983

Above: Kathryn Clark draining a sheet of before couching

At left: Claire Van Vliet pouring clouds on a Lilac Wind sheet at Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

134

1984

Top right: Barbara Luck and Claire Van Vliet printing the box cover for The Circus of Doctor Lao

Middle right: Claire Van Vliet, Nancy Southworth, and Laura Pizzo sewing The Circus of Doctor Lao

Bottom right: Jim Bicknell making boxes for The Circus of Doctor Lao

1982 Of Gravity and Grace Sabina Thorne, Claire Van Vliet · Nancy Southworth, Tamar Schumann, Barbara Luck, Susan Johanknecht Published with assistance from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

The Janus Press Miscellany · Many participants made their own contributions

1983 Lilac Wind W.R. Johnson, Claire Van Vliet · Kathryn Clark, Jim Bicknell, Nancy Southworth, Judi Conant Co-published with Twinrocker Handmade Paper Mill

1984 The Circus of Doctor Lao Charles G. Finney, Claire Van Vliet · Susan Johanknecht, Barbara Luck, Tamar Schumann, Jim Bicknell, Nancy Southworth, Laura Pizzo

1985 The Seekonk Woods Galway Kinnell, Lotte Jacobi · Gary Samson, Christy Bertelson

1986 Floralia Sandra McPherson, Claire Van Vliet · Susan Johanknecht, Tamar Schumann Co-published with Trace Edition, Portland, Oregon

The Clandestine Muse John le Carré · Ottmar Peters, Pam Smith, Linda Wray Co-published with Charles Seluzicki, Portland, Oregon

1987 A Landscape With Cows In It Clifford Burke, Ruth Fine · Barbara Luck, Linda Wray

1988 Aunt Sallie’s Lament Margaret Kaufman · Hedi Kyle structure · Tamar Schumann, Linda Wray, Judi Conant

1989 Designating Duet Sandra McPherson · Tamar Schumann, Linda Wray, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson, Anna Hepler

Dido and Aeneas Nahum Tate, Henry Purcell, Claire Van Vliet · Typography by Michael Alpert · Katie MacGregor, Bernie Vinzani, Linda Wray, Tamar Schumann, Judi Conant Co-published with Theodore Press

1990 Eat Book Katherine Meynell, Susan Johanknecht · Susan Johanknecht, Linda Wray Co-published with Gefn Press, London

135

1988

At left: Linda Wray and Tamar Schumann working on Aunt Sallie’s Lament

136

1992

Above: Stephanie Westnedge preparing a Bone Songs sheet for binding

1993

Top right: Stephanie Westnedge collaging poem onto Night Street page

Middle right: Lois Johnson and Claire Van Vliet working on design for Night Street

1994

Bottom right: Ruth Fine working on Summer Day/Winter Night

1990 Narcissus W.R .Johnson, Claire Van Vliet · Katie MacGregor, Bernie(con’t) Vinzani, Joe Marc Freedman, Linda Wray, Shawn and Judi Conant,

Mary Richardson

1992 Bone Songs Clifford Burke, Ruth Fine · Audrey Holden, Linda Wray, Stephanie Westnedge

1993 Night Street Barbara Luck, Lois Johnson · Lois Johnson, Stephanie Westnedge, Audrey Holden, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

1994 Summer Day/ Winter Night Ruth Fine · Stephanie Westnedge, Audrey Holden, Tamar Schumann

Lady Freedom Among Us Rita Dove, Claire Van Vliet · Audrey Holden, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson Published as the four millionth volume of The University of Virginia

1995 Praise Basted In Margaret Kaufman · Audrey Holden, Jo Marc Freedman, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson, Lulie Larus, Stephanie Westnedge, Ariel Conant, Lucy Gratwick, Ruth Johanknecht, Anne Stannard, Lillian Avery, Rachel Somers, Kathy Norris, Helen Hayford

1996 Batterers Denise Levertov, Claire Van Vliet, Kathryn Lipke Vigesaa · Kathryn Lipke Vigesaa, Katie MacGregor, Bernie Vinzani, Jack Sumberg, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

Tumbling Blocks Claire Van Vliet · Audrey Holden

1997 Beauty in Use Sandra McPherson · Audrey Holden, Lulie Larus, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

1998 (Compound Frame) Seven Poems Emily Dickinson, Susan Johanknecht · Susan Johanknecht · structure by Elizabeth Steiner · Audrey Holden

1999 Deep in the Territory Margaret Kaufman · Audrey Holden, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

137

1996

Above: Bernie Vinzani pulling a sheet for Batterers

1997

At left: Lulie Larus and Audrey Holden making paste papers for Beauty in Use

2000 The Sixth Mass Extinction (for volumes of vulnerability) Claire Van Vliet · Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

2001 Circulus Sapientiae / Circle of Wisdom Hildegard von Bingen, Claire Van Vliet · Katie MacGregor, Stephanie Westnedge, Lulie Larus, Audrey Holden, Ellen Dorn Levitt, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

2002 Woven and Interlocking Book Structures Elizabeth Steiner, Claire Van Vliet special and trade edition · Margery Cantor, Linda Lembke, Audrey Holden, Lulie Larus, Ellen Dorn Levitt, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

2003 RISE Alan Loney, Claire Van Vliet · Bernie Vinzani, Fletcher Manley, Ellen Dorn Levitt, Audrey Holden, Judi Conant, Mary Richardson

2004 Aunt Sallie’s Lament (Altered) Margaret Kaufman · Ellen Dorn Levitt, Audrey Holden, Mary Richardson

2006 The Gospel of Mary Karen King, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Claire Van Vliet · Katie MacGregor, Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Ellen Dorn Levitt, Margery Cantor, Richard Holmquist, Dan Carr, Julia Ferrari

2007 Waste Incant Susan Johanknecht · Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Ellen Dorn Levitt

2008 Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808–1987 Maureen Green · Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Mary Richardson, Ellen Dorn Levitt, Emily Corrow

2009–10 Four Months / Four Seasons Ruth Fine · Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Mario Messina

2010 HELIOS Peter Schumann · Ellen Dorn Levitt, Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Judy Bourque, Ken Poach

GONE Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Claire Van Vliet · Eystein Hanche-Olsen, Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden

2011 TATATA Peter Schumann · Ellen Dorn Levitt, Fletcher Manley, Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Judy Bourque

2012 ABC Judy Fairclough Sgantas · Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden, Mary Richardson

2013 GREED Claire Van Vliet · Audrey Holden2014 Eclipses Leland Kinsey, Claire Van Vliet · Ellen Dorn Levitt, Eystein

Hanche-Olsen, Audrey Holden IT WAS LIKE THAT Judith Haswell · Ellen Dorn Levitt, Audrey Holden

138

2012

At right: Katie MacGregor in Janus paper studio with sheets for The Silences Between, forthcoming in 2015

2014

Above: Andrew Miller-Brown printing The Silences Between

BROADSIDES1982 Fresh Wind in Venice James Wright , Claire Van Vliet · Kathryn Clark

The Color of Night W.R. Johnson , Claire Van Vliet · Kathryn Clark

“When I write . . .” John Updike , Claire Van Vliet Commissioned by Beverly Lynch for the American Library Association

1984 Death of the Horses by Fire Tess Gallagher, Peter Schumann Co-published with Charles Seluzicki, Portland, Oregon

1985 The Geese Galway Kinnell , Claire Van Vliet · Katie MacGregor, Bernie Vinzani

For Tess Ray Carver, Claire Van Vliet · Bernie Vinzani Co-published with William B. Ewert, Concord, New Hampshire

1986 Brockport Sunflowers William Heyen , Peter Schumann Co-published with William B. Ewert, Concord, New Hampshire

1989 Old Quilts Margaret Kaufman , Claire Van Vliet · Amanda Degener, Barb Schubring Co-published with Minnesota Center for the Book Arts

1991 Pandora’s Box Margaret Kaufman , Claire Van Vliet · Stephanie Westnedge Co-published with Dartmouth College Library Graphic Arts Workshop

Sappho Johanna Prins , Peter Schumann · Catherine Hall

1992 From Arctic Dreams Barry Lopez , Claire Van Vliet · Amanda Degener, Mary Lyn Nutting, Stephanie Westnedge

The Sound Barbara Luck · John Risseeuw, Jeanne Plo

Contribution to A Dance of Death Cabbagehead Press

1997 From Finland Judith Haswell · Audrey Holden, Lulie Larus

2005 A Scribe of Kloster Eibingen W. R. Johnson , Claire Van Vliet · Katie MacGregor, Andrew Miller-Brown, Ellen Dorn Levitt

Handmade Definition of Obsurity Sandra McPherson · Andrew Miller-Brown, Audrey Holden

2006 U. S. Constitution George W. Bush · Ellen Dorn Levitt

Aristotle on War Andrew Miller-Brown

139

2014

At left: Audrey Holden checking it was like that in the bindery


This catalogue was produced by the San Francisco Center for the Book with an essay by Susan M. Allen, photography by Fletcher Manley,printed by Inkworks, and designed using Terminal Design’s Tangent type by Kathleen Burch and Claire Van Vliet.

FEBRUARY 14, 2015

The Janus Press was started in Monterey in 1954 by Claire Van Vliet with the first publication on Valentine’s Day 1955 in San Diego.

The Janus Press prints limited editions of (mostly) contemporary poets with original images in paper and all the printmaking media.

The exhibition at the San Francisco Center for the Book was coordinated by Mary K. Austin to celebrate the Sixtieth Anniversary with the selection of six books from each of the six decades.


Janus Press at Sixty

Documents

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artists book

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