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Wood engraving by Simon Brett
(from Prothalamion and Epithalamion, 1997)

Sarah Race's award-winning short documentary on Barbarian Press!

In 2015 Sarah Race asked if she might make a short film about us and the press, and the
result, her first film, won the Hot Docs short subject award, and went on to be shown in
many independent film festivals in Canada, the States, and internationally. Now we are
able to make it available to those who might have missed it. Please click on this link.

* * * * *

On Pastoral Elegies

I was especially impressed by the design and binding of [Pastoral Elegies] … [Having] the slipcase and spines of the book and folder in the same silk and with flat spines works really well in presenting the book as a single slab. The thin strips of green paper behind the central grey panel on the front cover are very effective and the binding has a more contemporary feel which works well with some of the more antique touches in the typography, together adding to the timeless feel. In fact, as I was looking through the book, it was the feeling of timelessness that came to the fore. … I am very pleased to have both these poems in an edition which gives them space to breathe and which is such a pleasure to hold and read.
Richard Barnett, Subscriber

On The Marriage of True Minds

The Marriage of True Minds is another triumph for you. The selection of poems seems inspired, and the engravings beautiful and appropriate. It is a splendid tribute to a clearly happy marriage and a lifetime of work in your magnificent press. The layout, the printing, the binding [are all] in perfect harmony. Thank you once again for making these beautiful and important books.
Bruce MacKeen, Subscriber

On Wayzgoose Pamphlet Two: The Dingbat...

Your Wayzgoose Pamphlet on the Noble Dingbat is a delight from start to finish.
Robert Bringhurst, Poet, Typographer, and author of The Elements of Typographic Style

On Sudden Immobility: Selected Poems of Molly Holden

I received your magnificent book. I really don’t know what to say. It is stunning. What a triumph for all of you. This is no slim volume of poetry. What an expansive, glorious tome!
B. MacKeen





 

‘From the beginning, publishing private press books that collectors actually want to hold and read, over and over again, has always been the Barbarian Press stock-in-trade.’ Jack Katz, Subscriber

Barbarian Press
the continuing saga...

On November 30, 2023 our first grandchild, Michael Daniel, entered the world. In typical Barbarian style, we are celebrating his arrival with a new book to be published in late Autumn, 2024. It is a selection of odes, lyrics, and sonnets by William Wordsworth devoted largely to childhood experiences and the natural world. By the end of this year, we also expect to launch a new series of short story chapbooks and continue our ‘Loose Canons’ pamphlets featuring neglected poets.

Pastoral Elegies, our edition of Thomas Gray’s ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’ and Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘The Deserted Village’ illustrated by renowned English wood engraver Christopher Wormell, came into print this summer and has received a warm reception from our subscribers. Copies are still available for sale.

Meanwhile, Bordering on the Sublime: Ornamental Typography at the Curwen Press continues to move inexorably and gracefully forward. As of August 2024, nearly 200 pages have so far been printed, with a further 50 or so of the main text to complete, along with the appendices consisting of a bibliography, a facsimile of Sarah Clutton’s 1960 essay on type ornament, and a catalogue of type flowers used in the book. We now project publication by late 2025.

PLEASE GO TO ‘BOOKS IN PRINT’ AND ‘BOOKS FORTHCOMING’ TO SEE IMAGES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THESE PUBLICATIONS AND MORE.

Utile Dulci

Now in Print!

Pastoral Elegies

An Avian Alphabet

Wayzgoose Pamphlet Number Two

Wayzgoose Pamphlet Number One



Barbarian Press
Crispin & Jan Elsted, Proprietors
12375 Ainsworth Street
Mission
British Columbia V4S 1L4
Canada

Tel: (604) 826 8089
Email: barbarianpresspublishers@gmail.com

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