Sonnets for Caresse

Originally published in 1925 by Herbert Clarke, Harry Crosby wrote this collection of 48 poems for his wife just four years after they were married. The work would see three more editions printed, with the fourth edition being published in 1927. The edition here, the third edition, was published by Black Sun Press.

108 copies of this edition were printed: one on “old Japan” paper, which is a decorative paper that originated in Japan and frequently is made to resemble crepe paper; seven copies on Imperial Japan paper, which is another, slightly less fancy, decorative paper that also originated in Japan; and 100 copies on Arches paper, which is fancy French paper that is frequently used for letterpress work, such as this volume. This volume is number 42 of the 100 printed on Arches paper. What makes this volume completely unique is that someone had it bound in vellum, which is made from animal skin, and its beautiful marbled endsheets in
both the front and back of the book. The faintly blue frames painted on the front and back covers may have originally been a light purple or violet, and the title and author’s name were hand-printed on the spine. And whoever bound the volume added a fabric bookmark and kept the original paper cover, including the spine cover, and bound them with the rest of the text.