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FIVE RIPE PEARS.
(Berkeley, California: Peter Koch, 1996). 250 x 240 mm. (9 3/4 x 9 1/2"). [16] leaves. No. 29 OF 30 COPIES (and 10 copies with two trial proofs of plates, numbered I-X).
Publisher's heavy cream-colored paper wrappers, printed lettering on front cover. In the original tan morocco-backed sage linen suede-lined drop-back box by Taurus Bindery of San Francisco. WITH 10 INTAGLIO PRINTS (etchings, aquatints, drypoints) in black & white and color BY JOSEPH GOLDYNE. SIGNED in the colophon by the artist. As new.
As beautiful as it is rare, this thoughtfully composed volume blends Saroyan's evocative prose with appropriately lush illustrations and printing of exceptional quality on very high-quality paper. First published in the "Yale Review" in 1935, and appearing the following year in a short fiction collection "Inhale, Exhale," "Five Ripe Pears" is a meditation on a child's logic, in which a young boy steals the titular pears and cannot understand why his teachers are so angry about the theft: "it is not stealing, I said. It was adventure. Also art. Also religion, this sort of theft being a form of adoration." An underrated literary figure, the Armenian-American fiction writer and playwright William Saroyan (1908-81) won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and an Academy Award three years later. His work is accompanied here with a suite of eight prints by artist Joseph Goldyne (b. 1942), who was trained as an art historian and medical doctor before devoting himself fully to fine art. A prolific printer, particularly in monotype and lithograph, Goldyne's works have won him considerable acclaim and appear in museums including the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others. His illustrations here complement the text, with lush, hazy compositions that capture the innocence of the story. The particularly attractive printing is the work of Goldyne's frequent collaborator Peter Koch (b. 1943), who has been practicing fine letterpress printing since 1974. For this work, he used Poliphilius and Blado types to great effect, with sharp, deep impressions on creamy, especially thick and receptive Moravia paper from Czechoslovakia. "Five Ripe Pears" is rarely seen for sale. The present copy is the only one we could trace at auction, and no other copy appears to be offered presently by another bookseller. (ST21159)
Price: $4,800.00