{Ed. Note: Updated on June 16, 2016 after amore careful review based on comments from a Books and Vines reader.}
It is amazing that after 51 years of publishing fine books, Lewis and Dorothy Allen still had it within them to publish, as their 56th publication, Rappaccini’s Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Along with two final books published after this one (Michelangelo: His Sonnets, and The Life of Dante by Giovanni Boccaccio), the Allens’ brought their brand of private press hand-done craftsmanship to a nice close. While the scale of these final productions were downsized from their great folio’s of earlier years, the spirit driving the production remained the same. As one astute Books and Vines reader pointed out to me, various typographic and press-work errors are unfortunately quite common in this work (something that did not exist to such extent in earlier years). None-the-less, as part of the closing chapters of the Allen’s substantial career, I find the work quite charming. It is wonderfully unique, reflecting its hand-made nature, and the spirit, if not the execution, of the Allen’s earlier days.
Rappaccini’s Daughter starts with essays appraising Hawthorne by Edgar Allen Poe, Henry James and Anthony Trollope. It is interesting, illuminating and somewhat rare reading essays from such great writers praising one of their kind (bringing to mind Balzac’s famous praise of Stendahl). Rappaccini’s Daughter explores good and evil, referencing and alluding to the Garden of Eden and Dante’s Divine Comedy. The story takes place in Padua, where scientist Giacomo Rappaccini tends to a very unique garden; one that is full of poisonous plants. His innocent and sweet daughter Beatrice (an obvious Divine Comedy allusion), raised taking care of the garden, has grown resistant to the poisons though is herself poisonous to others. A young student falls in love with Beatrice, with ultimately tragic consequences. There are many interpretations and theories on the meaning of this story. Hawthorne seems to be warning about consequences when men play God under the guise of scientific progress. This is a similar theme to many other works that appeared in the first part of the 19th century, including Frankenstein. For those interested, here is excellent analysis on different meanings one could read into this story.
Rappaccini’s Daughter is an excellent short story and is enjoyable to read. The binding, of a colorful Italian pattern, on cotton tapes, by Cardoza-James Binding Company, is beautiful. As always, the Allens’ use of multiple colors on each page makes for a visual delight. The wood-engravings by John DePol, printed directly from the end-grain boxwood, nicely enhance the text. The paper is all rag, mould made Rives, imported from France. Like always with books from the Allens’, it is printed damp, in this case on their 1882 Albion hand press. The Allens’ believed that the most important trait of the books they published is that they were always printed on dampened paper. Bruce Rogers once said, ‘the punching of types into the softened paper then raises printing from a two to three dimensional medium; the hand press requires damp paper to be fully effective…‘. The Allens’ certainly believed this and it is hard to argue with the results when you hold their works in your hand and experience the full tactile ‘three dimensional’ sensation.
Rappaccini’s Daughter was first published in 1844, but it’s finest presentation was to wait nearly 150 years for this edition from Lewis and Dorothy Allen!
About the Edition
- Appraisals of Hawthorne by Edgar Allen Poe, Henry James and Anthony Trollope
- Wood-engravings by John DePol, printed directly from the end-grain boxwood
- There are at least two colors on every text page
- Handset in Romanee and Cancelleresca Bastarda, both designed by Jan van Krimpen of Holland
- The paper is all rag, mould made Rives, imported from France
- Printed damp on an 1882 Albion handpress
- Bound in colorful Italian pattern, on cotton tapes, by Cardoza-James Binding Company
- 100 pages, 11″ x 7 “
- Limited to 115 copies
Pictures of the Edition
(All pictures on Books and Vines are exclusively provided, under fair use, to highlight and visualize the review/criticism of the work being reviewed. A side benefit, hopefully, is providing education on the historical and cultural benefits of having a healthy fine press industry and in educating people on the richness that this ‘old school approach’ of book publishing brings to the reading process. Books and Vines has no commercial stake or financial interest in any publisher, retailer or work reviewed on this site and receives no commercial interest or compensation for Books and Vines. Please note that works photographed are copyrighted by the publisher, author and/or illustrator as indicated in the articles. Permission to use contents from these works for anything outside of fair use purposes must come directly from the copyright owner and no permission is granted or implied to use photo’s or material found on Books and Vines for any purpose that would infringe on the rights of the copyright owner.)
I finally got around to reading my copy of the Allen Press “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, and I must say I’m quite disagreeably surprised! Although the design is beautiful, the binding superb, the paper luxurious, the typefaces elegant and the illustrations pleasing — the typography and press work are far below the Allens’ usually lofty standard. Both the text and the colored running headers suffer from uneven inking and/or inconsistent printing pressure. The text is so thoroughly riddled with typographical errors — including misspellings, missing words, punctuation mistakes, spacing errors, missing hyphens and typesetting gaffes — that the overall effect is distracting, and fatally mars the experience of reading a fine-press book. Also, the critical essays are preceded by a one-page biography of Hawthorne (I assume written by one of the Allens), that is so cursory, poorly written and abruptly concluded, that I thought it might have been a stray leaf inadvertently bound in at the wrong place.
In stark contrast, the Allens’ “Four Stories” by Pushkin, published only four years earlier in 1987 (and also illustrated by De Pol), is nearly flawless. I glean from their respective colophons that “Rappaccini” was hand-set at the Allen Press, while the Pushkin was set by Mackenzie-Harris. Perhaps the Allens were, sadly, a bit past doing it all themselves by 1991?
Ho hum. Another beautiful book from the Allen Press – but what else would one expect? Remarkably, the Allens handcrafted this book and printed it on the hand press one page at a time, as they did with all of their books, when they were in their early 70’s. Although the physical demands of printing on the handpress combined with their advancing age may have resulted in their publishing smaller and thinner books, the quality and care devoted to each book was unwavering and this book is no exception. Beautiful book design, use of top quality hand made papers and custom fabrics, and flawless typography.
For Books & Vines subscribers and lurkers who have yet to add an Allen Press book to your collection, you are missing out on one of life’s affordable pleasures.
An incredible undertaking. And beautiful engravings.
I obtained a copy of this beautiful book a few months ago, but haven’t read it yet. (I don’t think I’ve read the story since high school!) I’m very much looking forward to the essays.
When I saw your lovely slipcase, I was momentarily mystified, as my copy came to me in the original glassine wrapping paper and ribbon in which the Allens had mailed it — and my copy was not so regally caparisoned. Nice custom work!
I now have three of the Allens’ quarto-format productions, and there’s a certain practical perfection about them. I wonder if their folio productions are as satisfying in the hand….
Kermaier:
The Allen Press “great folio series” – beginning in 1959 with Joseph Conrad’s ‘Youth’ and culminating with publication of ‘Persian Stories From the Arabian Nights’ in 1980 – constitutes one of the greatest achievements in American private press printing in the twentieth century. The books are jaw dropping and are remarkably affordable (as private press books go) accounting for their quality and scarcity. Only 100 to 120 books were printed for each new publication.