ARS BOTANICA

Poems by DIANE ACKERMAN  BETTY ADCOCK  NATHALIE ANDERSON  ANNIE BOUTELLE
RACHEL BLAU DUPLESSIS  DAISY FRIED  CELIA GILBERT   MAXINE KUMIN
HEATHER MCHUGH  CONSTANCE MERRITT  ALICIA OSTRIKER
SUSAN SNIVELY  SUSAN STEWART   ELEANOR WILNER

Lithographs by ENID MARK

Sample pages...

Ars Botanica, this compilation of fourteen poems
with lithographs by Enid Mark, is inspired by
a long tradition of herbariums and
botanical books, especially those published in Europe from the 17th Century onward.

In this contemporary edition from The ELM Press, the scientific description of flora presented in such early volumes is replaced by poetry. An outstanding group of poets, including voices not yet widely known, as was well as a Pulitzer Prize winner, and MacArthur, Guggenheim and Pew Foundation Fellows, were invited by artist/editor Enid Mark to participate. Each was asked to write a poem in which a flower or plant served as the central image or metaphor. The collected poems, with one exception, were written specifically for Ars Botanica. Although the botanical theme binds the diverse texts together, the poems reflect the broader concerns of each individual writer.

As in earlier botanical books, the images in Ars Botanica describe more than one aspect of the featured plant specimen. Facing each poem is a photo-based duotone lithograph of the plant, printed in warm gray and black tones. A second lithograph, derived from a hand-drawing of the same plant, printed in glowing floral colors that vary from page to page, appears on a translucent sheet tipped into the gutter between the duotone image and the poetry. This translucent page lays over the poetry; when turned back over the duotone image the text is more fully revealed.

The open page spread of Ars Botanica measures 15 by 21 inches. The papers are mould-made English Somerset and Denril drafting vellum. The type, 14 point Monotype Dante, was cast by Michael and Winifred Bixler, Skaneateles, New York, and printed by Arthur Larson, Horton Tank Graphics, Hadley, Massachusetts. The lithographs were hand-pulled by Timothy P. Sheesley, Corridor Press, Otego, New York. The calligraphy is by Suzanne Moore, Cleveland, Ohio. The book was hand bound by Barbara B. Blumenthal, Northampton, Massachusetts, in green Italian cloth lined with Japanese Echizen Saiko.

The edition, signed by the artist and limited to forty numbered copies and ten artist's proofs, was completed during the summer of 2004.