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Kubla Khan, Fancy in Nubibus, and Song from Zapolya

London: Eragny Press, 1904. Stk. PR 4478 A1 1904.

Eragny Press was established in 1894 by the artist Lucien Pissarro. In the beginning, he relied on Vale Press types owned by the designer and illustrator Charles Ricketts. In 1903, Pissarro used his own type and had his wife Esther engrave the blocks. However, publications such as this (one of 226 paper copies) were always ‘when funds permitted’, a not too unfamiliar situation faced by many private press operators. After 31 books and endless funding problems, Eragny folded in 1914. The initial at the beginning of Coleridge’s Kubla Khan reveals the joint craftsmanship of this husband and wife team.