by T. S. Eliot, introduced by Christopher Ricks

No Reply Press is pleased to announce a new edition of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot. The poem will be accompanied by an original introduction by Sir Christopher Ricks, the world’s foremost Eliot scholar for the past half century (and perhaps its greatest literary critic). The introduction begins with as strong an endorsement as any poem has had from such an esteemed critic: “There has never been its equal…”

Indeed, any list of the most influential poems must include Prufrock, and if the list confines itself to poems written since 1900, Prufrock must be at its top. It is indispensable, wholly affecting, audacious – and we are pleased to print it in a fine press edition.

ARTIST NOTES

T. S. Eliot is likely the most important poet of the twentieth century. His work may represent the clearest “wall” between modern and pre-modern poetry. Despite his reputation being built on only a small handful of poems, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry.”

Christopher Ricks has been called our “greatest living critic” – a scholar of towering brilliance and unrivaled powers of observation. He has been the foremost Eliot critic since Eliot himself was living, and is perhaps the only person capable of captivating an audience with an impromptu lecture on the profound difference in Eliot's work between “again” (pronounced the American way) and “again” (pronounced the British way). We are proud to present his original introduction to Prufrock.

EDITION NOTES

• The edition is limited to only 127 copies and is offered in three states.

• The tenth imprint of No Reply Press, Autumn 2020.

• Book measures 7 by 10 ¾ inches.

Hardbound

• Limited to 96 copies, numbered 6 through 101.

• Printed by hand on Zerkall mouldmade paper (including the legendary Zerkall watermark) using a Vandercook Universal I cylinder press at Letterpress PDX in Portland, Oregon.

• Hand-bound in quarter burgundy cloth and marbled papers made specially for this edition by Zusia Dodin.

• Signed by Christopher Ricks, as well as the printer and publisher.

De Luxe

• Limited to 26 copies, lettered A through Z.

• Printed by hand on Zerkall mouldmade paper (including the legendary Zerkall watermark) using a Vandercook Universal I cylinder press at Letterpress PDX in Portland, Oregon.

• Hand-bound in quarter Moroccan leather with marbled papers made specially for this edition by Zusia Dodin.

• Signed by Christopher Ricks, as well as the printer and publisher.

• Housed in a burgundy cloth solander box with suede lining.

“Avec Audace”

• Limited to 5 copies, numbered 1 through 5.

• Printed by hand on Zerkall mouldmade paper (including the legendary Zerkall watermark) using a Vandercook Universal I cylinder press at Letterpress PDX in Portland, Oregon.

• Hand-bound in full hand-dyed Moroccan leather at Pracownia Leśna 6, with extensive gold and burgundy tooling.

• Signed by Christopher Ricks, as well as the printer and publisher.

• Housed in a matching hand-made slipcase.

Errata: The colophon states that fifty further copies, roman numerals I through L, have been reserved to accompany “our twenty-seventh” edition. This should read “our twenty-second”.