Shakespear's Pound: Illuminated Cantos

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Shakespear's Pound: Illuminated Cantos
Shakespear's Pound: Illuminated Cantos
Artist/Maker (British, 1886 – 1973)
Printer (British, 1836 - 1892)
Date1999
MediumPrinted book
DimensionsOverall: 13 1/4 × 9 × 1 in. (33.7 × 22.9 × 2.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Omar S. Pound, Class of 1951
Object number2002.31
Not on view
DescriptionIn the late 1930s, Ezra Pound planned an edition of the "Cantos" with initial capitals, and other decorations to be illustrated by his wife, artist Dorothy Shakespear. She created the designs, but due to Pound's involvement with Fascist propaganda, the edition was never published. The material was released as originally intended in 1999, by Omar Pound in an edition limited to 210 copies, of which 200 were for sale. Signed by Omar Pound and by the printer, Charles D. Jones. For this edition, Omar S. Pound selected text from the Cantos to accompany each design, and also wrote a brief biography of Dorothy Shakespear Pound. Quarter bound in Harmatan's tan leather with Japanese bookcloth [red] over boards and slipcased.

Additional Details

Provenance 2002: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by gift of Omar S. Pound
Signature Signed in pencil on Colophon page: Omar S. Pound. Charles Jones
Photograph by John Bentham.
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: 1937
Medium: Watercolor on paper, mounted on cardboard
Object number: 1996.10
Composition with Yellow Stripe
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: 1919
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Object number: 1994.94
Photograph by John Bentham.
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: c. 1914-19
Medium: Watercolor and graphite on paper
Object number: 1994.200
Photo by John Bentham.
Albrecht Dürer
Date: 1515 (printed c. 1620)
Medium: Woodcut
Object number: 1994.62
Photograph by John Bentham.
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
Date: c. 1913
Medium: Seravazza and Sicilian marble
Object number: 2005.6.2
Photo by John Bentham.
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: before 1939
Medium: Pencil and watercolor
Object number: INV.950
Study for oil of Ezra Pound (recto and verso)
Wyndham Lewis
Date: 1938
Medium: Double-sided drawing with transparent watercolor wash over graphite and charcoal (recto) and graphite (verso) on paper
Object number: 2004.3a-b
Not 'Love' but Justice, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published June 26, 1869
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.107
Photograph by John Bentham.
Wyndham Lewis
Date: 1918
Medium: Charcoal, pen and ink, watercolor, and gouache wash on paper
Object number: 1995.73
Photograph by John Bentham.
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
Date: c. 1913-1914
Medium: Seravezza and Sicilian marble
Object number: 2005.6.1
Dog-Days, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published July 11, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.248
Photograph by John Bentham.
Helen Frankenthaler
Date: 1985 (published 1987)
Medium: Aquatint and sugar lift etching, lithograph and screenprint
Object number: 1989.13