Mostly Modern Poetry:
1 -MICHAEL CAREY: The Noise the Earth Makes
Mr. Carey’s first book of poetry was front-page news in the Wall
Street Journal. . . In the grand tradition of the Iowa poet/farmer. .
.Title-page drawing is by Iowa artist John Smalley.
Iowa Poets Series
$22 hardcover, 60 pages, printed offset
2 - WILLIAM DICKEY: The Sacrifice Consenting
Poetry: "Dickey writes a rare and enviable sort of poem, truly humorous
and serious at once." The San Francisco Review of Books: "The quality
of the poems and the stature of the poet justify this royal treatment."
(Type handset in Centaur.)
Sacrifice Consenting
$17 hardcover, 58 pages, printed letterpress
$95 handmade paper, handsewn, signed deluxe edition, quarter-leather binding, special order only
3 - WILLIAM DICKEY: King of the Golden River
Dickey has won about every literary award except the Nobel and the
Pulitzer. This book won the award Best Book of Poems by a Pacific Coast
Poet.
$12 softcover, 80 pages, printed letterpress
$22 hardcover, handprinted cloth cover
4 - WILLIAM DICKEY: Six Philosophical Songs
Six brilliant musings in the personae of Louis the 14th, the Chocolate Soldier, General Gordon, Vatel the Chef, et al.
Obviously I like the poems of William Dickey. I feel that at its best,
his poetry has the balance, the intellectual and physical zest of John
Donne. (Type handset in Garamont.)
$8 hand-tied chapbook, 16 pages, printed letterpress
5. PAULINE EDWARDS: Pauline’s Rhubarb Cook Book
Handsome book of 171 recipes that include cakes, cobblers, crunches,
ice cream, jams, mousse, muffins, tortes, yogurt, wines, and, of
course, 32 pie recipes. Book has pie crust recipes, tips on freezing
rhubarb and other useful information.
Rhubarb Cook Book
$12.50, spiralbound, 96 pages, printed laser
6. ANNE LEO ELLIS & MONICA LEO: Marcel and the Dirtball
Resident cat resists the alley kitten that Peter brings home. A cat
tale with a happy ending when the trio walk into the rosy sunset.
Anne Leo Ellis wrote the charming story. Her credits include Dabble
Duck, a Reading Rainbow selection - (published by Harper and Row), and
The Dragon of Middlethorpe (published by Henry Holt).
Monica Leo made the woodcuts. Miss Leo is puppeteer/designer for
Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre. She is a graduate of the University of
Iowa and has studied with Josef Beuys at the State Art Academy in
Dusseldorf, Germany.
Marcel and the Dirtball
A 36-page, limited edition book; printed letterpress using hand-set
Optima type and the artist’s original woodcuts; 6 colors of ink
printed on mellow yellow paper; page size is 8 1/2 by 11 inches.
$18.50 softcover
$28.50 hardcover
7. DENNIS HANSEN: Barnswallows
". ..poems in this volume are directly related to farming. . .
Hansen takes a poet’s sensibility further into the sheer
mechanics of farming than any other good poet I know."
Wapsipinicon Almanac
This is the 4th book in the Iowa Poets Series.
Iowa Poets Series
Hardcover: $22
Softcover: $12
8 - JAMES HEARST: A Country Man
47 late poems by Iowa’s pre-eminent poet / farmer. Need I say
more! Hearst was one of those rare poets who got better as he grew
older.
A Country Man
$12 softcover
$22 hardcover, 62 pages, printed letterpress
$35 deluxe numbered edition of 60 on Rives
9 -JACQUELINE HOEFER: Imagining the Garden
Joan Bunke wrote in the Des Moines Sunday Register:
". ..humor, insight, a celebration of living. But it is in her poems about love and loss that she writes her best lines." (Type handset in Centaur.)
$18 hardcover, 52 pages, printed letterpress
10 - GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS: Sonnets: 1877- 89
The decision to set these sonnets
without line breaks resulted in some long lines and two of the sonnets required a fold-out page. America:
"Meticulously produced, it is a visual tribute to both the poet’s and the printer’s crafts."
The book includes 4 unfinished sonnets. (Type handset in Centaur.)
$12 softcover, 60 pages
$20 hardcover, handprinted covers, printed letterpress
11 -ADRIANNE MARCUS: Lying, Cheating & Stealing
The subtext of the poems is divorce. In "Thieves", Ms. Marcus writes:
"Only steal what is worth remembering." San Jose Mercury-News:
"..
.she wins us over quite legitimately, by pointing out the strange
meanings that hide in the human facilities we all know about but are
busy trying our best to keep hidden." The final poem, "Rocktruth," is one of my favorite modern poems. (Type handset in Optima.)
$10 hand-tied chapbook, page size 13 by 7 1/2 inches, 20 pages, printed letterpress
12 - JULIE MCDONALD: Chautauqua Summer
In this graceful novel, the acclaimed Iowa writer takes us on the
Chautauqua circuit for a summer in the 1920s. The adventure and romance
provide "a rite of passage" for 17-year-old Lucinda "Lem" McClure - who
plays clarinet in an all-girl orchestra.
Title-page drawing by Iowa artist Sherry Rogers.
Chautauqa Summer
$12 softcover, 100 pages
$22 hardcover, printed laser
13 -FREDERICK MORGAN: The Fountain and Other Fables
"Mr. Hudson Review" wrote these 11 fables for the Press. According to The Virginia Quarterly Review:
"Whether
solemn, playful, or ironic, the narrator achieves the tone of an
ancient genre. Full of emblematic landscapes, magic and mystery, the
outcomes of these fables range from happy to horrible to puzzling."
This book was printed in 1985 but never released for sale because of
type damage during shipment. The corrections weren’t carefully
proofread which resulted in 7 typos - and an errata. Several "friends
of the press" have requested I make the book available. The Fables are
too beautiful and too true to be kept a secret.
$20 hardcover, 70 pages, printed letterpress
14 - FLOYD PEARCE: Tesson’s Orchard, A Historical Romp
A 138 line satirical, pastoral, poetical, historical account of one of
the three Spanish land grants within what became the state of Iowa. Des
Moines Sunday Register:
"In Tesson’s Orchard he explores, with bemused wit and rueful sense of fatality. . . A rich gift."
Three woodcuts by Iowa artist Elaine Ball. (Type handset in Centaur.)
Tesson's Orchard
$10 softcover, 24 pages, printed letterpress
$35 printed on Rives, Moriki endsheets, handsewn into handmade coverpapers
15 -W. D. SNODGRASS: Heinrich Himmler: Platoons & Files
Quintessential book by the Pulitzer poet, written in the persona of
Himmler. Type handset, one letter to a cell, on specially printed grid
paper. Des Moines Sunday Register:
"The book is almost the perfect wedding of form and content." Citation of Merit, Chicago Book Clinic.
Himmler Files
$15 softcover
$25 hardcover, printed offset and letterpress
$150 rag paper, hinged, post-bound, special order only
16 - ANN STRUTHERS: Stoneboat and Other Poems
The reviewer in Iowa Woman wrote:
". . .humor and intensity of vision. . .masterful in both closed and open form poems. . .the voice is clear and original." Robert Dana, Des Moines Sunday Register:
"What I like about so many of the poems is their texture of absolute authenticity."
This classic is the second title in the Iowa Poets Series. (Type handset in Centaur.)
Iowa Poets Series
$14 softcover, 60 pages
$22 hardcover, printed letterpress
$35 deluxe signed & numbered edition of 50 copies printed on Rives, handmarbled covers
17 - MONA VAN DUYN, HOWARD NEMEROV (et al): Reading Ourselves to Sleep
Des Moines Sunday Register:
". . .droll, handsome chapbook contains 6 poetic, sardonic, occasionally wintry reflections on reading detective novels."
Six poems by five St. Louis poets - including 2 Pulitzer winners. (Type handset in Centaur.)
Reading Ourselves to Sleep
$10 hand-tied chapbook, 20 pages, printed letterpress on Ingres
18 - CARL VAN VECHTEN: Ex Libris
This booklet contains dust jacket blurbs from 18 of Van Vechten’s
books. (Carlo wrote his own blurbs.) A must for all Van Vechten
aficionados! A native of Cedar Rapids.
Ex Libris
$8 hand-tied chapbook, 24 pages, printed letterpress
19 - JAMES BROUGHTON: Tidings, Poems at the Land’s Edge
Published in 1965, Tidings was the first book of poetry from this
press. There are still a few copies moldering in boxes. Harry Stiehl
wrote in Ramparts:
"[James
Broughton] works with a verve and a reckless wit, as if he were the
Fairbanks of poets. A delicacy, gentlemen, which may prove
indestructible." Marianne Moore wrote in the New York Herald Tribune:
"James Broughton also ‘thinks’, he has something to say about the self." Poetry:
"The poems have bite, wit, irony, riddle, charm." Library Journal:
"Fine delicate poems about the sea and about man. The poems are varied, usually quiet, rhythmic, witty."
I have learned much about book production since this book was printed,
but I still love my first born. I find it difficult to destroy these
books with their fine poems. A bargain! And with the celebrated
bookmark that has taken on a life of its own. (Type handset in
Garamont.)
Tidings
$15 linen hardcovers, 70 pages, printed letterpress
Local History:
FLOYD PEARCE: Editor,
Hired Hands, Books 1 & 2
These two books are an oral history of farm laborers interviewed by the
ad hoc Hired Hands Committee of Cumberland. The 45 people interviewed
recount rural life and farming practices during the 20th century. The
editor has taken special pains to reproduce the exact diction of all
people interviewed. The books are especially strong on the transition
from horse power to steam and petroleum. In his Introduction, Brian
DeVore writes:
"This is also an invaluable record of certain aspects of farming and rural living that will be foreign to younger readers."
Partially funded by Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the
Humanities. The Pterodacyl Press is distributing these books as a
courtesy for the Hired Hands Committee. The Committee will use all
proceeds for Cass County high-school-graduate scholarships. Special
Citation of Merit by Humanities Iowa.
20 –Hired Hands, Book One $15, softcover, $25 hardcover, 96 pages, printed offset
21 –Hired Hands, Book Two $15, softcover, $25 hardcover, 104 pages, printed offset
22 - WILBUR SARSFIELD: Reminiscences of a Long Life
Published for Marne, Iowa’s 125th anniversary, this is an
informal history of Brighton Township from the 1880s to 1912 - when
Sarsfield moved to Story County. Sarsfield (1883-1980) was born into
that most remarkable of all generations. His story spans farm
mechanization, automobiles, general use of telephones and electricity,
sound recording, movies, radio, television - and the Apollo moon
landing. He recounts a splendid day at the Barnum and Bailey Circus, a
Bible-thumping sermon by Billy Sunday, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
Show. . .
There is a much later scene in the Lasker Iron Works in Chicago (the
six Lasker brothers were once blacksmiths in Marne) and Seymore Lasker
talks to Sarsfield about government contracts; one of his contracts was
for the first space capsules.
All very good stuff, told by a farmer who was literate, human, and a close observer.
$12 softcover, illustrated, 64 pages
$22 hardcover, printed laser
23 - LAFE YOUNG: A History of Cass County, Iowa
Lafe Young
wrote this, the first Cass County history, in 1877. It is crammed with
early incidents, many statistics, and several remarkable characters.
Young was a remarkable man. After he moved from Cass County, he was a
newspaper correspondent, reporting the Spanish-American War in Cuba,
where he befriended Theodore Roosevelt. He was with the Taft party
during the trip to the Phillippine Islands when the U. S. governmet
"took over" the Islands. In 1913, while a reporter in the Balkans, he
was imprisoned as a spy by the Austrian government. He published and
edited the Des Moines Capital, and was a popular speaker.
$15 softcover
$25 hardcover
24 - FLOYD PEARCE: Guides Notes to Hitchcock House
Hitchcock House was a station on the Underground Railroad in southwestern Iowa. The guides
use these notes as a basis for their tours. The house is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places, the Network to Freedom,
and was recently designated a National Historic Landmark.
Underground Railroad
$ 5, a 32 page hand-tied chap book
25 - FLOYD PEARCE: Southwest Iowa Underground Railroad Tour
The text covers an 80 - mile Underground Railroad Tour from Nebraska City, NE, to Lewis, IA,
Routes of the Underground Railroad, existing Underground Railroad
stations and selected burial plots of area abolitionists are covered.
Underground Railroad
$5, a 32 page hand-tied chap book
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