SMALL FEAST

Concord, New Hampshire: William B. Ewert, 1998. ONE OF 10 COPIES on Zerkall Book paper and in a special binding by Elisabeth Hyder (and 20 on Zerkall paper in a patterned paper binding, and 55 copies on Monodonock Dulcetpaper). 259 x 180 mm. (10 1/4 x 7"). 23, [1] pp., [1] leaf.
Animated black quarter morocco over crimson paste paper boards by Elisabeth Hyder, spine lettered in silver, original tissue dust jacket. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the limitation page. Except for tiny imperfections to the fragile tissue jacket, a virtually flawless copy, internally pristine.

Issued in an attractive handcrafted binding, this is a pleasing small press edition of poems by the winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and U.S. Poet Laureate for 2007-08. Charles Simic (1938-2023) wrote moving, surrealistic poetry often based on his own experiences, particularly his traumatic childhood in what was then Yugoslavia. In "Small Feast," comprised of 16 poems, Simic treats love, sex, city life, and the horrors of war with his characteristic wry dreaminess. The present printing is the work of William Ewert (1943-2001), a New Hampshire publisher who produced small editions of poetry books by modern authors. He collaborated often with the Firefly Press, which printed our volume using Kabel and Neuland types. Our copy is one of 10 in a special binding by Swiss-born Massachusetts artist Elisabeth Hyder, who produces vibrantly colored paste papers using traditional methods. This copy is from the collection of Laure-Anne Bosselaar (b. 1943) and her husband Kurt Brown (1944-2013). Bosselaar is a Belgian-American poet, translator, and editor who has published numerous works of poetry in multiple languages, including five collections of her own works. She has received various prizes and recognitions (Pushcart, Isabella Gardner, Breadloaf) and was named Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara in 2019. Sometimes publishing jointly with Bosselaar, Brown was also a prolific poet and editor of anthologies, as well as the founder and first director of the Aspen Writer's Conference, playing a pivotal role in shaping its early vision and establishing Aspen as a literary center. It was through the Aspen Writer's Conference that Bosselaar and Brown became friends with Simic, when Brown invited Simic to speak at the conference in the early 1990s. Bosselaar, reminiscing on a friendship of over two decades, wrote that "Charlie (as he was known by his friends) and Kurt had a great friendship, and shared a common love for wine & poetry--so, often, the Simics would come to our house, and we’d have a 'good bottle' or two around a dinner I'd cook for them."..