FYI - Tallone Editore

Received this e-mail today regarding the latest publication from Tallone Editore. It will be released on December 13th and reservations are now being taken.

https://www.talloneeditoreshop.com/tallone/en/catalog/186-the-nocturnal-train-pa...

>1 dlphcoracl:
Thank you for the link. Ordered!

Subscribed as soon as I saw this.

Should be a great little edition, and an excellent "sample" of Tallone's work for those interested but unwilling to commit yet to a bigger edition.

Also, worth noting that Tallone is offering a personalized printed inscription for subscribes. That's a pretty sweet deal.

I don’t see a mention of what paper will be used?

>4 punkzip:

You needn't worry. Tallone Editore always uses a superb handmade Italian paper from one the small boutique paper mills. This has been a consistent hallmark of Tallone Editore editions for nearly a century.

For anyone wanting more "meat on the bone," there is also Tallone's Neruda "Summary" which costs a little more but contains 20 poems (including "The Nocturnal Train"). It was printed on cotton Magnani paper and the website has images that show the quality of the paper, which I imagine would be much like the one used for this new book - https://www.talloneeditoreshop.com/tallone/en/catalog/163-summary-the-book-where....

Ordered when I got my email.

I also subscribed. I quite like Neruda’s poetry (and long distance train rides) so this was an easy decision.

80 pages for 1 poems in 3 languages? Would like to have seen a pic of the pagination (“run parallel like rails”) mentioned in the description.

Anyone know what will be the price after Nov 10?

>9 punkzip: Indeed - the poem is only 28 lines, so either there will be fewer than one full line per page, or substantial commentary and other front matter.

That looks amazing! Hope to have one of their books someday.

I have the Barbarian Press printed Il bosco di tamarindi and I remember Crispin saying how challenging it is to do a tri-lingual edition with a satisfying layout to his exacting eye. I bought the last one he had in the shop without hesitation it was so beautiful. I expect Tallone will create an equally appealing book here.

Does anyone know whether their personalized printed inscriptions are in the book or on a card accompanying the book? The pictures seem to indicate this the inscription will come on a small separate card.

I'm definitely tempted given the reputation of the press (never bought anything from them before) but the page has almost no details. The thing I'm most interested in is how they manage to use 80 pages for a 28 line poem in 3 languages and what pagination running like rails looks like. As Nathan mentioned, there may be substantial commentary/front matter, but there is no mention of this anywhere and the video has no details at all, it's impressionistic at best.

The description references train tracks and expanse of white page, so I'd hazard a guess of two lines per page:

The reference to the railways is reflected in the pagination of the poem itself, the lines of which run parallel like rails on the white expanse of the page.

I like what Tallone does, but Neruda isn't on my top shelf for poets and the description makes me think the intent here is more objet d'art than traditional book.

I was honestly tempted until I learnt it was a 26-line poem.

Some belated birthday presents arrived for me today, wrapped up nicely and ready for opening.











Both are lovely editions. Of the two, Summary definitely has more content. Both in terms of the number of poems and the epilogue. The tinted-color Sant’Ilario cotton paper in this book is simply divine (it's hard to see in the photos because of the lighting, but it is a pale mint green color).

My copy of The Nocturnal Train uses a cream-colored Magnani wove paper. It was accompanied by a set of three photographic prints, which are quite a nice addition. The poem is first printed in Spanish, then English, and finally Italian. There is a short explanatory note of the project at the end.

To say the poem has plenty of spacing is an understatement, but having read over the same poem in both editions, I think the train track idea is inspired. I feel pulled along a journey more so than I do when the same poem in Summary.

I'm not sure which one I like more. Summary is probably the better book, but I feel that The Nocturnal Train is the perfect expression of a single poem, with the right balance of playfulness and attention to detail.

They were lovely little birthday gifts indeed.

>17 mnmcdwl: they look really nice! Happy birthday

>17 mnmcdwl: My "Nocturnal Train" arrived today as well, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. The portfolio of photographs is a nice touch, and I've framed the one with Neruda in it for my own uffizi. Another great one from Tallone, which reaffirms my opinion that they are the greatest fine press currently publishing.

>17 mnmcdwl:, >19 grifgon: My copy just landed on the doorstep as well. It's fun how Tallone wraps its books like gifts.

>17 mnmcdwl: >20 kdweber: Agreed, feels like Christmas.

Did you guys request a custom inscription on yours? I was very proud to see, "This copy was printed for Griffin Gonzales" on the half-title of mine. Such a neat touch.

>18 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: Thank you!

>21 grifgon: I didn’t. I waffled about it at the time, but I kind of wish I did now. Definitely next time.

I need only one book by Tallone Editore. Which one should i get? :)

>23 Lukas1990: I can't speak to very much of their catelogue, but Poems by Emily Dickinson is a lovely set. It is a very understated but elegant design, with superb printing and presentation of the poems.

>24 NathanOv: I'd argue though that if one is only going to get one book, it should be something that there is not already an excellent edition of by another press. The Arion Dickinson has a much better (and more durable) binding, illustrations, and is on Twinrocker handmade paper. While it's more expensive I purchased it on the secondary market for not that much more than the Tallone Dickinson.

>25 punkzip: Interesting point, but I think that would only make a difference if one had the book already - and I can see there being arguments both against duplicating titles, but also for comparing the same titles between presses.

Sadly, I don't (yet!) have the Dickinson. My Tallone titles are few and limited to English language titles but each are beautiful and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them: Keats's 'Odes' (1935), Hamlet (1978), and Shakespeare's Sonnets (1988). If I had to highlight one, it might be Odes. Perhaps because it's from such an early stage in Alberto Tallone's career and was done during his time with Maurice Darantiere. But I pull each down regularly to read and admire (among the titles I pull most often from my collection to admire, in fact!). I think any of those three would be a wonderful Tallone edition to your collection, and you'd really get the essence of what they do so incredibly well in any of them.

Odes may be the toughest of the three to find, given the smaller limitation than the Shakespeares. (An aside: I've wondered if Odes came in a chemise and box, or if it was simply paper wrapped originally? Mine was re-bound at some stage, with the original paper covers bound-in).

Interested to hear what others suggest, as I know I'll be adding more Tallone titles to my collection as I'm able. :) But I can give a hearty recommendation to any of those three editions, and quite equally. Tallone are one of my very favorite presses (and I can thank this forum and the wonderful Books and Vines post on Tallone for introducing me).

>23 Lukas1990: 'I need only one book by …' shows a commendable iron will!

I only own one Tallone book, which is Shakespeare's Sonnets and I am very happy with it. The restrained elegance of the printing chimes well with the words, in my view.

>23 Lukas1990: perhaps useful in your deliberations, I posted some pictures of the Tallone Hamlet here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/331303

>23 Lukas1990: I'm of the (probably minority) opinion that if you have only one title from Italy's most esteemed private publisher it should be an Italian title. "Cantico dei cantici" or "Genesi" are both particularly gorgeous and show off the best of what Tallone does. (And without the markup that attend their English titles.)

Thank you for all your very different answers! :) I have one favorite which has not been mentioned here before but I'll check all your suggestions first.

OK, I've ordered this one:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/214397#5421560

I know Tallone is all about typography but for me illustrations is a must. Shipping from Italy wasn't cheap but at least I won't have to pay customs fees and import taxes.

>32 Lukas1990: That looks like an excellent choice! I think it speaks to the quality of the press that just about everyone who responded had a different title to gush over.

>32 Lukas1990: A good choice. If you ever find yourself in or around Turin/Torino, I highly recommend paying the Tallone workshop a visit. From a pure craft perspective, I think they are the best in the world.

>33 NathanOv: Thanks! Yeah, there's a lot of nice books to choose from.

>34 grifgon: Ryanair has just announced direct flights from my hometown to Torino. That's probably a sign!

>35 Lukas1990: That's great! I am quite jealous... My beloved airport PDX has direct flights only to Frankfurt and Amsterdam in Europe. I bet you could go to Tallone and get their books in person for the same cost as the shipping!

It's funny, actually, since I am in Brussels four or five times a year (my partner Valeria works here) I have considered bringing No Reply's European collectors' books in my suitcase and shipping them from Belgium. The shipping cost is about 1/5th of shipping from the U.S. and so much faster, but it's probably illegal or questionable with the customs...

>36 grifgon: Smuggling books out of the US. There's a satirical story in there somewhere.

>37 SDB2012: "Yes officer, I carry 50 letterpress and hand-bound copies of The Cask of Amontillado wherever I go."

>36 grifgon: in all seriousness, you should check with a professional, but I believe that books are zero-rated for both import duty and value added tax in Belgium. So I don't suspect you would have any problems with customs or border officials at all.

>39 ubiquitousuk: >40 supercell: It's an interesting possibility! I wonder whether I would pay any applicable VAT in Germany, rather than Belgium. I usually enter through Frankfurt, and sometimes spend a day or two there before taking an ICE train to Brussels. Not sure if that affects things. I'm a bit foggy on how VATs work, since in the U.S. we have sales tax instead, and here in Oregon we don't even have that.

>40 supercell: That's great news!

>41 grifgon: In Germany you would have to pay the 7% VAT on books when entering the country. You could enter the EU through Ireland where there are no taxes on books. I'm not living that far from Frankfurt. When you come to Germany I can show you around a bit.

>40 supercell: I would love for them to waive the VAT on books. Then I could "invest" more money into books. The current exchange rate from Euro to Dollar and GBP makes book buying more expensive than a year or two ago.

>40 supercell: thanks for the clarification. I had the feeling that the UK, prior to Brexit, already had zero-rated books. Do you know why it was exempt from the EU rule you mentioned?

>44 supercell: thanks a lot!

>21 grifgon: After your raved (once again) about them in the interview on The Whole Book Experience, I finally ordered my first Tallone book. I'm bummed the special inscription screen didn't seem to show up for me in checkout but I'll see if I can still do it while I'm trying to figure out how to do the wire transfer. My bank seems to want to make it a time-sucking chore.