Thornwillow Press: Prague Books / The Lady Who Liked Clean Restrooms

My favorite Thornwillow books — both from an editorial and a craft perspective — come from its "Prague Period," around 1993 to 2003/2005.

The iron curtain had just fallen, and the press moved much of its operations from the United States to Czechia. To mark this grand move, the first of the Prague books was "The Bill of Rights: America's Guarantee of Human Rights" by Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Warren Berger. The following decade saw a ten further books (and a few portfolios) which I esteem to be among Thornwillow's very best. They are:

"The Bill of Rights" by Warren Berger
"Monticello and the Legacy of Thomas Jefferson" by Wendell Garrett
"The Lady Who Liked Clean Restrooms" by J.P. Donleavy
"Last Poems" by James Merrill
"Civil Wars" by Louis Auchincloss
"Lincoln at Home" by David Herbert Donald
"Lighthouse Poems"
"Alphababel" by John Hutton
"Book of Good Graces" by Peter Gomes
"Three Stories" by John Updike
"Catullus: The Poems" translated by Rodney Dennis

You can read about this period in some detail in Ron Patkus' historical sketch of the press. TLDR: The decade saw a lot of upheaval for the press, multiple papermills, worldwide operations, and ended in the bulk of the printed sheets for "Catullus" being stolen and held for ransom. (Which is why "Catullus" is likely Thornwillow's rarest book.)

The Prague books are distinctive in a number of ways:

First, they are nearly all single-state editions. Thornwillow's earliest editions usually came in multiple states (typically a standard and a deluxe), as do its current publications (now many more states to serve the broadest possible audience). The Prague books, with one or two exceptions, were single-state editions. Usually a half-Morocco with paste paper binding, always in a solander case, with no more than 200 copies.

Second, the press used its own handmade paper. For a few years, Thornwillow actually ran the largest handmade paper operation in the world. This paper is incredible and so far as I know, it may be the only case of a fine press actually making its own paper for years on end.

Third, they are all original first editions, and boast an eminent cast of authors and artists. Whereas Thornwillow's first books tended to be historical memoirs or political commentary, and its current books tend to be classic reprints with original artwork or introduction, its Prague books are mostly original literature. They even include the final published works of J.P. Donleavy and James Merrill, giants of 20th century literature.

My favorite of the Prague books (that is, my favorite of my favorites) is "THE LADY WHO LIKED CLEAN RESTROOMS" by J.P. Donleavy with illustrations be Elliott Banfield. It is extraordinary in its craft, yet typical of the Prague books.













And guess what — I have three.

Because the Prague books have been (tragically, shamefully) ignored in some corners of the fine press collecting community, I have been able to scoop up duplicate copies of several. I actually own three copies of "The Lady Who Liked Clean Restrooms," all in excellent condition. There is currently one for sale on the secondary market for $750 (in my opinion, it's worth much more). I see no reason why I should have three, so if anybody is interested in proposing a trade, reach out and I'll be happy to consider it. I would rather a copy be in your collection than in mine, sandwiched between twins.

In my opinion, the Thornwillow Prague books are under-appreciated by the fine press community. Given their quality and eminence, I don't think the under-appreciation can last long. My suggestion to all: Grab any Thornwillow book produced between 1993 and 2003 that you can, while you can.

That looks amazing. I didn't know about this phase of the press. Would love to see that book in person but doubt I have anything for trade. I'll have to look up Donleavy as I am not familiar with him.

Interesting. My library surprised me by having a copy of this book (St. Martin's Press edition) but not his most popular one, the Ginger Man, which also looks intriguing.

>3 jveezer: The St. Martin's Press is the trade edition that followed Thornwillow's. Random (and cool) that you would have a copy! Donleavy is a great writer, and a bit of a contradiction. Both acclaimed (his first work has sold 50 million copies) and under-appreciated (he never saw nearly the same success again).

>1 grifgon: Thank you for the informative post. What are your impressions of the Catullus edition? (which I have never seen on the secondary market)

>5 ultrarightist: The Thornwillow Catullus is (unfortunately) one of the press' finest. If I remember correctly only about twenty survived. For my money, it's one of the finest fine press editions of any classic text.

If you find one on the secondary market, grab it no matter the price. As the new wave of collectors discover Thornwillow's pre-Kickstarter oeuvre, the prices will go up up up.

>6 grifgon: I'd love to have a copy of Catullus, but calling it "one of the finest fine press editions of any classic" seems rather hyperbolic. What makes it better than the LEC Epicurus? or Herodotus? or the Allen Press Oresteia? or... the list goes on and on. and do you own all of those so you can rightly make a comparison?
Again, beautiful book, but there are SO many beautiful books out there...

>7 astropi: Not hyperbolic at all — "One of the" not "The"!

The other editions you mention, of which I own two and have handled the third, are also beautiful! But to answer your question, the Thornwillow Catullus uses far finer materials than either LEC edition, features finer printing (including genuine engraving), and has a better execution than the Allens' Oresteia. All of the materials in the book were made specially for it — from the handmade paper to the specially dyed leather to the marbled endpapers and everything in-between. This is true for *extremely* few editions. In my judgement, Catullus is a finer edition than any of the three you mention, though all of the above are well-worth having!!!

Again, one of the finest fine press editions of any classic. I'd be curious whether anybody here has a copy (perhaps unlikely, as there are only about twenty extant) and if so whether they agree or disagree that it belongs on the top shelf.

P.S. If, under threat of death, I had to declare a "The" finest fine press edition of a classic, I'd pick Nonesuch's Odyssey or Iliad. If forced to pick between them, I'd pick death.

Just out of curiosity, anyone here have the Fanfrolico Press edition of Catullus?

>8 grifgon:
>9 grifgon:

CLASSIC EDITIONS OF THE CLASSICS

In addition to the Thornwillow Press 'Catullus: The Poems' and the Nonesuch Press 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey', the following are the pinnacle of modern private press editions of classic works, i.e., literature from or concerning antiquity, in my opinion:

1. The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Ashendene Press, 1930. Nothing comes close to this one.

2. The Odyssey of Homer translated by T.E. Lawrence, Wilfred Merton. Emery Walker, Bruce Rogers, 1932. An obvious choice.

3. The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (2 volumes) by Raoul Lefevre, Kelmscott Press, 1892. One of the few Kelmscotts published in large quarto format and a personal favorite of William Morris.

4. The Poems of Sappho, Arion Press, 2011. Admittedly, Julie Nehretu's abstract illustrations are controversial but they work beautifully for me and are entirely in keeping with the spirit of Sappho's poetry.

5. The History of Herodotus of Halicarnassus translated by G. Rawlinson and annotated by A.W. Lawrence, Nonesuch Press, 1935. One of the finest combinations of scholarship and private press craftsmanship.

6. A Comedy of Terence Called Andria translated by Richard Bernard, Officina Bodoni, 1971. Illustrated with the original 25 wood engravings created by Albrecht Dürer for a planned edition of this work in 1492 (Basel). The wood blocks were never cut but were created by Fritz Kredel from Dürer's original drawings , preserved in the Kunstmuseum of Basel. Simply put, "To Die For".

7. The Sayings of the Seven Sages of Greece, translated by Betty Radice, Officina Bodoni, 1976.

8. Cyrupaedia: The Institution and Life of Cyrus, translated by Philemon Holland, Gregynog Press, 1936.

9. King Oedipus by Sophocles, Officina Bodoni, 1968. Illustrated and signed by Manzu. One of the top 2 or 3 publications by Mardersteig's Officina Bodoni.

10. Lysistrata by Aristophanes, Fanfrolico Press, 1925. Translation by Jack Lindsay with illustrations and decorations by Norman Lindsay.

11. The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, translation by George Long, George Bell and Sons, 1902. Large paper edition (large quarto size) with flawless letterpress printing by the Chiswick Press on an exceptional handmade paper, possibly Whatman or Arnold's.

12. The Complete Works of Gaius Petronius, Fanfrolico Press, 1927. Translation by Jack Lindsay with 100 illustrations by Norman Lindsay.

13. Of the Nature of Things by Lucretius (De Rerum Natura), translation by William Ellery Leonard, Limited Editions Club, 1957. The modernist and abstract wood engravings by the great Paul Landacre are worth the price of admission, truly exceptional.

Have at it, folks.

>11 dlphcoracl: Fully agree on 4, 6, 7, and 9.

I *LOVE* the Arion Sappho and think it's terribly underrated.

>11 dlphcoracl: Going to disagree here, to an extent :)
I'll also add that I mostly agree, but the disagreements are of course more fun...
In my opinion the Arion Press Sappho is inferior to the Folio Society Sappho in just about every way. The Folio Society Sappho includes ALL of her surviving work, printed letterpress, renowned translation, includes the original Greek, and is a fraction of the AP price.
Also, and this is the biggest "issue" for me with the AP edition, I think the illustrations DETRACT from the work rather than add to it. The FS edition only has a cover illustration and frontispiece, but both are most apropos.

I absolutely would include The Oresteia by Allen Press in any list of greatest Greek/Roman classics. It's magnificent - simply a joy to read and hold. Easily the greatest edition of the only Greek trilogy to survive.

I think the LEC Herodotus is on par with the Nonesuch Press. I would say translation and scholarship the LEC is better, although I love the illustrations in the Nonesuch. The LEC *used* to be fairly easy to find and was affordable, but that's no longer the case, although still probably less expensive than the NP.

I am also going to add the Works of Epicurus by the LEC. The beautiful, elegant, and yet simple design with two-color letterpress printing and gold foil is just exquisite! Paper is thick and sturdy, you get the original Greek next to the translation. In my opinion, this is one of those "gems that have gone under the radar" and can still be purchased at a fabulous price.

I'll add more to my list later, and although I have some "disagreements" overall I think the list by dlphcoracl is wonderful... now if only I were rich ;)

>11 dlphcoracl:

1) Fanfrolico highly underrated. In addition to their two Aristophanes, I would recommend their Theocritos and Herondas. They also did a Catullus, but I've only seen pictures.

2) If you want something a bit more obscure, try this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/193835912113?hash=item2d21854bb1:g:TtwAAOSwQDphLUTr

The Pharsalia by Lucan, printed on handmade paper. Nice early 20th century fine press drab bindings for those who like that kind of thing, which I do. Hardly anyone reads Lucan anymore, but Dante thought pretty highly of him so he can't be that bad right :D? Honestly though, if Nero hadn't forced him to commit suicide at age 25, Lucan could have rivalled Virgil. At least he could have found a better subject for an epic than Pompey Magnus. I should mention I got my copy for much cheaper than the above listing.

3) The LEC Plato's Republic designed by Bruce Rogers has excellent presswork and paper to go along with some stately decorative elements by Fritz Kredel. Also a smaller limitation than most LECs. Availability varies widely. Sometimes there are a bunch of copies on the second-hand market. At the moment, there seems to be a stimulus induced scarcity (as with many other books).

>11 dlphcoracl:
11. The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, translation by George Long, George Bell and Sons, 1902. Large paper edition (large quarto size) with flawless letterpress printing by the Chiswick Press on an exceptional handmade paper, possibly Whatman or Arnold's.

What do you think of the 1904 octavo, also printed (I think) on handmade paper by Chiswick?

>15 kermaier:

Cannot answer your question - I have not seen a copy of the 1904 octavo edition. Note that George Bell and Sons printed 'Aurelius' numerous times over a period of several decades. I am not certain the letterpress printing was done by the Chiswick Press in all instances. I specifically singled out the large paper 1902 edition because the letterpress printing, the size of the type, and the clarity of the typeface made this exceptional, a cut above the Chiswick Press's usual stellar work.

I'm surprised no one mentioned LEC Lysistrata with the Picasso illustrations. I'm not a huge Picasso fan, but these illustrations do look absolutely wonderful. I've not handled the book myself, but the pictures I've seen online suggest a very well thought out design, so I'm wondering why the omission.

>1 grifgon:
>6 grifgon:

"........which is why "Catullus" is likely Thornwillow's rarest book."

But it isn't - not even close. Can you guess which Thornwillow publication is truly the rarest edition :-) ??

>18 dlphcoracl: Hmm. If you're going to say "Hello Sun" or "A Showing or Weimaraner" (a close second and third), I see where you're coming from, but disagree.

If something else, do tell??

>6 grifgon: Do you own a copy of the Catullus? If so, would you share pictures with us?

>20 ultrarightist: Happily! I've been separated from my copy of it (and about half my collection) due to the pandemic. When I eventually bring them to Portland, I'll post some photos.

>21 grifgon: Thanks!

>19 grifgon:

Nope. It's this one:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thornwillow/seven-towers-of-wonder

Note that although this campaign was successfully funded by 284 backers, 95% of them were pledges/purchases of the e-books and audiobooks. Only 15 copies of the physical set of seven books were purchased and issued, as follows:

Letterpress paper wrapper set ($840): 10 backers

1/2 leather & paste paper over boards set ($3,000 or more): 2 backers

Full moroccan leather set ($4,000 or more): 3 backers.

Thus, there are only fifteen (15) complete sets of the seven volumes issued in book form in private collections. Of course, there may be additional sets of the books in the Thornwillow Press inventory sitting in a warehouse, but none have been purchased and put into circulation in over two years.

In retrospect, a number of normally avid and astute private press book collectors whiffed on this offering. This may well have been Luke Ives Pontifell's most ambitious and imaginative project, engaging a gifted artist John Hutton ( Professor of Art History at Salem College) and storyteller/author Bill Gordh. The seven books are profusely illustrated and are, in effect, a livre d'artiste set with an illustration on nearly every page. This project spanned nearly seven years before all seven volumes were completed. In effect, this was Andrew Lang's Rainbow Fairy Books series updated for the 21st century.

I can certainly understand why only a handful of complete sets with the half leather or full morocco leather bindings were sold as the cost of purchase was substantial, but seven books of folk tales, myths and legends from around the world spanning every continent, all printed letterpress in a livre d'artiste format for $840 with only ten subscribers for the paper wrapper set? To me, that is a clearcut miss by several collectors who should have known better. As is typical of Thornwillow publications, once the Kickstarter campaign is closed and the books are sold directly from the Thornwillow Press website, the price skyrockets - in this case, each of the seven volumes with letterpress printed stiff paper wrappers now sell for $350 apiece and it will cost $2,450 to assemble the complete set of seven volumes in the letterpress paper wrappers.

>23 dlphcoracl: Ah, I see where you're coming from! But the "Seven Towers" aren't the rarest Thornwillow editions — though they may be the press' most underappreciated. All but one of them were available for years before the Kickstarter campaign, and that campaign only represents a fraction of the collectors. In fact, so few copies sold during the campaign in part because Thornwillow's longest-standing collectors had already been collecting them for years. Each edition is 350, if I remember correctly, and can still be purchase directly from the Thornwillow website.

Underappreciated, YES. And you're absolutely right that plenty of collectors passed on a superb opportunity. Especially as the press temporarily reduced the price of the "Seven Towers" by over two thirds percent during the campaign. What a shame that only fifteen collectors saw the opportunity and took it.

Rare, perhaps, but not among Thornwillow's rarest, since hundreds of copies exists in private hands and will still be available from the press for some time. By contrast "Catullus" has appeared only a few times on the market — twice in a decade that I know of — and only two dozen exist. Or take "Hello Sun," for which a hundred exist, but has never appeared so far as I've seen.

Incidentally Oracle, while at the press I photographed your full leather set before it shipped for use in the press' (eventual) catalogue raisonné.

Also, if you haven't collected Thornwillow's "Cinderella" and "Saint Nicholas" editions, they're excellent companions to the Seven Towers. The illustrator and style is the same, and I have a hunch that they essentially were "proofs of concept" for the ambitious project.

>24 grifgon:

I still cannot believe only ten collectors acquired the 7-volume set in letterpress stiff paper wrappers. Talk about a missed opportunity. Incidentally, as you have probably guessed, I own one of the 20 or so copies of the Thornwillow 'Catullus'.

>25 dlphcoracl: Me too, and it puts us in good company. Most of the extant copies are in institutional collections.

Ditto on "Seven Towers" — the Kickstarter campaign for it was a HUGE opportunity which too few collectors noticed. $800 for the set, otherwise ~$2,500? I mean, c'mon.

>26 grifgon: I recently acquired this set (with paper wrappers) directly from Thornwillow Press, they gave me good discount, almost same price as the Kickstarter price was, probably me being a dispatch subscriber. Since, I have rebound them in full leather. Overall was a costly project but I am pleased with what I got, lovely set indeed.

>27 fp13: Would you be willing to post photos of the rebind? Would love to see! And glad to hear they're offering them at a good price to those interested. Perhaps others will follow in your footsteps?

>28 grifgon: I posted them in the FB TP fun page at the time, will try to repost them here later on, every time one must relearn how to post photos here.

Uploading was not that difficult after all. Postulates.org really makes it easy.
I used a local bindery in NC, books came out not completely as I wanted but still happy with the looks and feels.

>30 fp13: Nice! The front-board gilding must have cost you significantly extra, as I am assuming they would have had to design and create the brands (for lack of the right terminology) to imprint the gold figures.

>27 fp13:
>30 fp13:

Well done!!

A beautiful set of what I consider to be one of the finest Thornwillow Press publications, Prague or otherwise.

As >24 grifgon: mentioned above, I did acquire one of the seven sets of The Seven Towers of Wonder with full Nigerian goatskin bindings in the color of my choice. Although nominally expensive, the cost per volume was quite reasonable and did indeed represent a substantial discount from the usual Thornwillow Press pricing of a full morocco binding in their previous Kickstarter campaigns. Photos below.

>33 dlphcoracl: Very nice. Does anyone know if the paper used is the same across the different states of the edition (paper, half-leather, full-leather)?

>34 ultrarightist: Same paper across the states, if I remember correctly. Since returning to the U.S. all Thornwillow books have used Mohawk.

>33 dlphcoracl: Your photos show off just how fine a material Morocco is. It's the bookleather par excellence for a reason.

>35 grifgon: All of the papers used are still Mohawk, but at least for their most recent Kickstarters for Song of Solomon, there appears to have been four different papers used, with some different upgraded stock used in the pricier editions. Thornwillow also routinely upgrades the paper between their Classic and Patrons' edition chapbooks, as well.

>36 whytewolf1: Thornwillow has routinely used different Mohawk papers at different tiers — e.g. the vellum finish for the half-cloth and the felt finish for the half-leather and the milkweed finish for the full-leather. They're all at their core the same paper, and none costs more or less than the other. It's excellent machine-made paper, and I particularly like the felt finish, but I wish the press would use some mould- or handmade paper. The issue, of course, is cost. Getting Zerkall-bütten in the U.S., to use just one example, is ridiculously expensive. It's about $5 a sheet (about 8 book pages) and that's without paying the import duties. For a 400 page Thornwillow book, that adds $250 to the cost in materials alone. Ouch! Also, mould-made paper is much harder to print on using a Heidelberg Cylinder Press due to the deckles. Still, I wish the press would go for it!

>37 grifgon: Very much agreed, for the half-leather and full-leather states. I think Thornwillow should stick to the machine-made papers for the paper and cloth states to keep prices affordable.

>38 ultrarightist: Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

That said, my hope is that Thornwillow's upcoming Ulysses will go all out for quality. Mould-made papers, handmade boards rather than printed patterns, slipcases or solanders on all copies.

Thornwillow's $100 paper wrapper and $200 half-cloth do a huge service to everyone in the fine press community, but I think the press deserves to have a magnum opus with this one, and that's hard to do when you're catering to a huge spectrum of price points.

>39 grifgon: Wait wait wait. Thornwillow's upcoming Ulysses?

Yes!

I forget where, but I saw the press put out some info on it, so it's no longer a secret. It's been in the works for awhile. I've never read Ulysses, and have been holding off on it for literally five years so THIS would be my first reading!

>39 grifgon: Whew! I might be immune to the siren call of another Ulysses, although mould-made paper would make it tough. But I definitely would have more trouble hiding my wallet if they did Dubliners or Finnegans Wake, or even A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

I'm a sucker for Joycean literature.

>39 grifgon: Phenomenal news. Thank you for putting this on our radar.

I also have yet to read Ulysses but this will certainly be motivation enough!

My favorite Thornwillow is Beauty is the Beginning of Terror.
https://thornwillow.com/beauty-is-the-beginning-of-terror
What did they get right about this? Just about everything. The half-leather cover is gorgeous! It's signed by distinguished retired general Martin E. Dempsey who introduces this collection (yes, I'm a sucker for signatures especially more "unique ones"), and more importantly includes never-before-published photographs, sketches, maps and letters from the United States Military Academy Library Unique Resources Collection. A truly wonderful tribute to those who served during WWI. Now, I think Thornwillow's other publications such as tales of Edgar Allan Poe is fabulous. However, I can find other fine press publications of Poe. I can find other editions of Parable of the Sower (although the Thornwillow edition is the only fine press edition). But, the fact is you will never find Beauty is the Beginning of Terror anywhere else, and that really makes it something special, even among other beautiful and "special" editions.

>39 grifgon: -- >42 jveezer:
Definitely exciting news! I really hope it's illustrated beautifully, and NOT illustrated by say Matisse :D
While I love the LEC, I think the illustrations to their Ulysses is just atrocious. Great move on Thornwillow's part to publish this in time for the 100th anniversary of the publication of the novel! Oh, and if anyone happens to have a crazy amount of money around...

>44 astropi: AGREED! Excellent discernment on this one.

I did the layout and some editorial on "Bitbot," as we called it, and couldn't have been happier with how it turned out. It's worth noting that a few of the photographs also come from Savine Pontifell's personal collection. (Savine has co-run the press with her husband for more than twenty years now.) She is French-Swiss, and her family photo album from the First World War provided some of the most stunning images included in the book. My favorite of these is the first photograph, which is (if memory serves) four soldiers and a fallen comrade. In the background is a row of four standing trees, and one fallen.

One of the great Thornwillow editions (one among many).

Re: Ulysses, it was intended (I think) to be both a 100th anniversary edition AND the press' own 100th edition. The dispatch vastly scaled up the pace of publications, though, so it won't be.

You can be notified when the Thornwillow Ulysses is launched: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thornwillow/james-joyces-ulysses-the-centen...

>39 grifgon:

If Luke Ives Pontifell is going to successfully publish a Thornwillow Press edition of 'Ulysses' he is going to have to do what he does best - present it in a unique manner that hasn't been done before, a fresh and original approach.

Why?

Because there are several existing fine & private press editions of Ulysses that cover a wide range of price points:

1. Folio Society (2017): a deluxe fine press edition (not letterpress) with outstanding John Vernon Lord illustrations. Originally issued at $200 or so, now selling for $300-$400 if it appears on the secondary market (quite rare!).

2. Folio Society (2004): Centenary limited edition. Full morocco binding with attractive abstract design by Jeff Clements on the front cover and illustrated with eighteen etchings by Mimmo Paladino. Printed on Cordier wove paper at St. Edmundsbury Press. Not letterpress but a VERY attractive edition. Currently, $500-$600 from booksellers.

3. The Bodley Head Ulysses (1936). This is the original and finest Bodley Head Ulysses and it is the one Thornwillow will ultimately be competing against. Limited edition of 900 copies letterpress printed on Japon vellum. Famous green buckram cloth binding with Eric Gill-designed Homeric bow embossed in gilt on the front cover. This edition also includes the legal opinions of Judge John M. Woolsey which declared Ulysses was not pornographic in the appendices. Depending on condition, sells for $1,500 to $2,200. See photos below in a custom Nigerian goatskin binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe (Shepherds Bookbinders).

Of course, I have deliberately omitted the LEC and Arion Press editions, both of which sell for thousands of dollars.

The Bodley Head Ulysses (1936):

>48 dlphcoracl: Very nice, and as always, your custom re-bindings evince good taste. The typography, however, strikes me as rather pedestrian, especially since the example page you included is a chapter header page.

>49 ultrarightist:

The typography and page design is minimalist and unfussy, deliberately so, and it is appropriate. You will fully appreciate the reason for this over the course of reading 760 pages.

>42 jveezer:

It is Joyce's ' A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' that is screaming for a Thornwillow Press edition. Dubliners and Ulysses are already well-covered in fine & private press editions and Finnegans Wake is unreadable, with a very limited potential audience.

>47 dlphcoracl: Honestly, none of those editions particularly attract me. I'm excited about the forthcoming Thornwillow edition, and what I'm going to be looking for is

1)Overall quality - which I just naturally expect to be high.
2)Illustrations - a book of this magnitude should have at least a few illustrations in my opinion, although I obviously don't know if that will be the case, but I really hope so. I feel it would truly be a lost opportunity if there were none.
3)Cost. I don't expect this to be cheap, but I do hope and believe it will be "affordable".

Given all three, I think it will be one of the truly great editions of Ulysses!

>52 astropi: I’m not sure I agree on the illustrations. This is one of the few stories a think illustrations take away from the narrative. I’d be happy with a little something around/above/beside the chapter headings and leave it alone otherwise. Perhaps an author portrait near the front. Portrait not photograph.

For me a minimalist approach that focuses on beautiful materials and perfect printing is what’s called for. The way the title and author is displayed on the spine on >48 dlphcoracl: above is perfect for me.

>51 dlphcoracl: no love for the version printed by Clarke & Way for the LEC in 1968?

I haven't seen this edition in person, but I like some of the printer's other work that I have seen.

>54 abysswalker:

No.

This was published during the waning LEC years, when the LEC was operated by George Macy's son Jonathan Macy and other family members (1968-1970), just prior to the LEC collapse and subsequent sale to Boise Cascade Corporation. The LEC books from 1968 to 1978, when Sidney Shiff finally rescued what remained of the LEC from indifferent corporate-managed hell, vary wildly in quality and 'Portrait of the Artist' is one of their poorer efforts.

>4 grifgon: I just sat down to read the copy of The Lady Who Liked Clean Rest Rooms and realized that I misread the title in your first post and have been calling it 'The Lady Who Liked to Clean Rest Rooms' the whole time. I don't know if I can reprogram my 60 year old brain to get the title right but maybe by the time I finish reading...

>30 fp13: absolutely gorgeous thanks for showing. They did a great job

>52 astropi: I think the 4th thing I’d add to the list is “supplemental content,” which I think is a major advantage of Thornwillow over other publishers. Luke just seems to have particularly good taste for other materials that are appropriate to compile, with Portrait of a Freeman and Death on The Nile being prime examples, each feeling like important artifacts and explorations of their author and story.

I also have to say, especially after looking at that otherwise beautiful Bodley’s Head edition, that I have great appreciation for Thornwillow’s attention to layout and readability.

>1 grifgon: Well, I just finished the Donleavy book. Very interesting. I'm still pondering the end and what I think happened in the sequel, which would make for an interesting conversation over tea/coffee/beer/tequila. I'm a little puzzled and curious about his writing style. I've been bothering my wife with lines out of Ulysses as I look forward to the Thornwillow edition and BloomsYear reading but even so some of the sentences in this book had me scratching my head. Was he trying to write a Joycean obfuscation? Did the press set the line wrong? Is that just his "style?" I'm going to look for his book The Ginger Man at some point.

"Because she might never be again anyone ever again who anyone like that romantic young couple would want to meet." Um. Hmmmm.

Based on my reading, would I like to have that Thornwillow Prague edition on my shelf? Yup. In fact, maybe a reread would clear up some of my questions above. But I'll leave that to another time. So many books...

>59 jveezer: That's the way Donleavy writes. Intentional in its lack of attention.
:)

Check out the Beastly Beatitudes... One of my favorites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beastly_Beatitudes_of_Balthazar_B