The Themersons and the Gaberbocchus Press: An Experiment in Publishing, 1948-1979

Description

An illustrated monograph on the writer Stefan Themerson & the painter Franciszka Themerson who began as part of the avant-garde in Poland in the 1930s & continued, after 1942, as publishers in England. The Gaberbocchus Press-the name taken from a Latin translation of Jabberwocky-flourished between 1948 & 1979. Over 60 titles were published, including the first English translations of Jarry & Queneau, the last literary efforts of Kurt Schwitters, & books by such British luminaries as Bertrand Russell & Stevie Smith. Their books were no ordinary editions: designed & in many cases illustrated by Franciszka Themerson, each one became an original experiment in the art of the book. The catalogue contains essays by an international group of artists & scholars & was published to accompany an exhibition at the art gallery La Boetie in New York in the Autumn of 1993. This catalogue is for readers interested in philosophy, fiction or graphic design, as well as art & literary history of the 20th Century.