Mnemonic Press. Harriet Bart, Studio #308, 250 Third Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401, USA. Tel: +16123751598. Website: http://www.harrietbart.com/i-saw-it
Ilya Selvinsky, translated by Dr. Maxim D. Shrayer. I Saw It. 2023. 38 pages. 10 in x 6.5 in. Preissig Roman on Rives BFK 180 gsm, 7 cut paper illustrations, cut from black Strathmore text by Harriet Bart, printed from polymer plates by Philip Gallo. Printed on a Vandercook No. 4 by Philip Gallo at Hermetic Press. 37 copies: 35 and 2AP, bound by Sherelyn Ogden, fitted into Graphite-toned Plike Wrappers and enclosed in clamshell box fabricated by Cambell-Logan Bindery and covered in matte black Japanese book cloth, with the image of the “falling figure,” taken from the book, foil-stamped in black on the cover of the box. Price: $1200.
The book presents the poem of the same title written by the Jewish-Russian constructivist poet Ilya Selvinsky (1899-1968). In January 1942, while serving as a military journalist, Selvinsky witnessed the immediate aftermath of the massacre of thousands of Jews outside the Crimean city of Kerch and published this poem about it.