1jveezer
The Black Sun Press Les Liaisons Dangereuses was long one of my holy grail books after the first time I saw it at an antiquarian book fair in San Francisco. The main attraction were the illustrations by Alistair, that I found decadently amazing, and a perfect fit for the novel as I thought of it. I'd read it once in the Folio Society edition (tr. Dowson, illus. Hawthorn, 1979 photo-litho reprint, not the 1962 letterpress alas) and also have the Nonesuch edition (tr. Dowson, illus. Laborde). I also saw the movie at some point decades ago and mostly remembered how creepy it was.
A while back I managed to acquire a nice copy of the Black Sun and am finally getting around to reading it for a review on the Whole Book Experience. That will be coming when I finish the last hundred or so pages, get the writing and photos done, and get it posted, hopefully in the not to distant future.
But one of the things that I can't keep to myself before the review is the sheer number of typos in the book. I feel like I've shifted to reading it like a copy editor, which they obviously did not have. I've counted 42 in something like 300 pages. That's got to be a record for any book I've ever read, private-press, fine-press, or trade. I'll still cherish this edition despite those flaws as the story still reads fine, with my reader's brain able to note them without getting annoyed and losing the plot.
Anyone else have any Black Sun editions? Is this something that was common to them? Maybe they all went to collectors rather than readers, so these things weren't noticed?
They did some amazing books, some of which are quite pricey (I won't be getting Tales Told of Shem and Shaun: Three Fragments from Work in Progress at $8500 despite my Joycean proclivities), and have a very interesting and tragic history.
A while back I managed to acquire a nice copy of the Black Sun and am finally getting around to reading it for a review on the Whole Book Experience. That will be coming when I finish the last hundred or so pages, get the writing and photos done, and get it posted, hopefully in the not to distant future.
But one of the things that I can't keep to myself before the review is the sheer number of typos in the book. I feel like I've shifted to reading it like a copy editor, which they obviously did not have. I've counted 42 in something like 300 pages. That's got to be a record for any book I've ever read, private-press, fine-press, or trade. I'll still cherish this edition despite those flaws as the story still reads fine, with my reader's brain able to note them without getting annoyed and losing the plot.
Anyone else have any Black Sun editions? Is this something that was common to them? Maybe they all went to collectors rather than readers, so these things weren't noticed?
They did some amazing books, some of which are quite pricey (I won't be getting Tales Told of Shem and Shaun: Three Fragments from Work in Progress at $8500 despite my Joycean proclivities), and have a very interesting and tragic history.
2housefulofpaper
>1 jveezer:
Just looked at the press' Wikipedia entry and see they were based in Paris. Assuming they didn't do their own presswork, could the typos be due to non-English speakers setting the pages? I think I remember something similar affecting the first edition of Ulysses.
Just looked at the press' Wikipedia entry and see they were based in Paris. Assuming they didn't do their own presswork, could the typos be due to non-English speakers setting the pages? I think I remember something similar affecting the first edition of Ulysses.
3abysswalker
>1 jveezer: Black Sun Press was the brainchild of expat American Harry Crosby, who was a Morgan family heir and... on the intense side. From Wikipedia (sources there):
He ended up dying in a suicide pact with a lover.
Both of them were attracted to the bohemian lifestyle of the artists gathering in Montparnasse. Even by the wild standards of Paris in the 1920s, Crosby was in a league of his own. The couple lived a hedonistic and decadent life, including an open marriage and numerous affairs. They drank "oceans of champagne" and used opium, cocaine, and hashish.Doesn’t sound conducive to careful proofreading. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume he was high out of his mind a lot of the time.
He ended up dying in a suicide pact with a lover.
4abysswalker
Actually, perhaps responsibility lies with Harry’s wife Caresse. Here’s a bit from Wolff (1976):
Wolff (1976). Black sun: The brief transit and violent eclipse of Harry Crosby.
(NYRB Classics has a reprint edition of this biography.)
I have a copy of Harry’s diaries I could check later to see if he mentions anything about the edition of Liaisons, if you are curious.
The Black Sun Press had its offices upstairs in Lescaret’s shop, 2 rue Cardinale, and there Harry and Caresse chose the spacings, margins and typeface for the printer’s antique press, worked by a noisy pedal. Harry designed the bindings, boxes and ribbons in expensive materials —gold and red and gray and black—by Babout, whose work was then considered the state of the art. As time passed Harry alone came to select the titles the press would publish; Caresse would edit them, and usually perform the typographical design.(From chapter 11.)
Wolff (1976). Black sun: The brief transit and violent eclipse of Harry Crosby.
(NYRB Classics has a reprint edition of this biography.)
I have a copy of Harry’s diaries I could check later to see if he mentions anything about the edition of Liaisons, if you are curious.
5jveezer
>4 abysswalker: Interesting. Caresse was a native English-speaker, so if she did any copy-editing or checking of the set type, she should have caught most of these.
I'm not much for biography, especially of the Harry Crosby's of the world, but if there was much bibliographical info and history in the NYRB book I might be tempted to read it.
I'm not much for biography, especially of the Harry Crosby's of the world, but if there was much bibliographical info and history in the NYRB book I might be tempted to read it.
6Lukas1990
Some more from Wikipedia:
"In 1929, through bookstore owner Sylvia Beach, they contacted James Joyce and arranged to print three of his stories that had already appeared in translation. They named the new book Tales Told of Shem and Shaun (which was later integrated into Finnegans Wake), for which they paid Joyce US$2000 for 600 copies, unusually good pay for Joyce at that time. Their printer Roger Lescaret erred when setting the type, leaving the final page with only two lines. Rather than reset the entire book, he suggested to the Crosby's that they ask Joyce to write an additional eight lines to fill in the remainder of the page. Caresse refused, insisting that a literary master would never alter his work to fix a printer's error. Lescaret appealed directly to Joyce, who promptly wrote the eight lines requested".
"In 1929, through bookstore owner Sylvia Beach, they contacted James Joyce and arranged to print three of his stories that had already appeared in translation. They named the new book Tales Told of Shem and Shaun (which was later integrated into Finnegans Wake), for which they paid Joyce US$2000 for 600 copies, unusually good pay for Joyce at that time. Their printer Roger Lescaret erred when setting the type, leaving the final page with only two lines. Rather than reset the entire book, he suggested to the Crosby's that they ask Joyce to write an additional eight lines to fill in the remainder of the page. Caresse refused, insisting that a literary master would never alter his work to fix a printer's error. Lescaret appealed directly to Joyce, who promptly wrote the eight lines requested".
8abysswalker
>7 Lukas1990: association with Joyce and other prestigious modernists, rarity, reputation for decadence.
My understanding is that Crosby was also willing to fund quality production outside the discipline of the marketplace to satisfy his own aesthetic ideals.
My understanding is that Crosby was also willing to fund quality production outside the discipline of the marketplace to satisfy his own aesthetic ideals.
9jveezer
>7 Lukas1990: I know, right? It's probably "one and done" for me with Black Sun. I actually don't think I've ever seen another of their books out in the world.
That's what makes LT, this forum, and all the blogs like Books & Vines (https://booksandvines.com/), Ubiquitous Book blog (https://ubiquitousbooks.wordpress.com/), George Macy Imagery (https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/), TWBE (http://www.thewholebookexperience.com/), and others are so special. We get to see books we never might otherwise...
That's what makes LT, this forum, and all the blogs like Books & Vines (https://booksandvines.com/), Ubiquitous Book blog (https://ubiquitousbooks.wordpress.com/), George Macy Imagery (https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/), TWBE (http://www.thewholebookexperience.com/), and others are so special. We get to see books we never might otherwise...
