“House Snake” by Reynolds Price. Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1987.
A young Herb Yellin caught the bug for autographs at Fenway Park in Boston. As he grew older Yellin became a serious reader and married the two passions when he began collecting signed first editions. Eventually, his insatiable quest for books led him to establish Lord John Press in 1976 as a way to offer something special beyond the hardback book. The books were often issued in printings of 150 and 300 copies and were signed by the author. The press showed a passion for paper, printing and book binding. The contents were never lengthy, containing an author’s short story, an essay, a speech, a poem, or an excerpt. Lord John Press did not publish the obvious, and this provided something special to the book collector and for the reader who was so devoted to that author.
“House Snake,” a single poem by Reynolds Price, seventeen pages in length, was published in book form in colorful marbled boards with gilt decoration by Lord John Press in 1987. Only 150 numbered copies were printed and signed by the author.
Other examples from the press include:
“The State of the Novel” by Walker Percy (in conjunction with Faust Press)
“Ill Seen Ill Said” by Samuel Beckett
“The Literature of Exhaustion and the Literature of Replenishment” by John Barth
“Acrobats in the Park” by Eudora Welty
and “A Collection of Reviews” by Ross Macdonald.
Lord John Press got its funny name from the founder’s love of these authors: John Barth, John Cheever, John Fowles, John Gardner, John Hawkes, and John Updike. “Lord” is said to have come from his desire “to marry” Great Britain and America. Over the years Yellin published around 100 titles. Lord John Press has since closed and Yellin passed away in 2014.
Written by Lisa Newman, A version of this column was published in The Clarion-Ledger’s Sunday Mississippi Books page.
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