The Allen Press: a question and an offer

I have recently been following the often-given advice on this forum to explore the output of The Allen Press. To date I have bought a small collection of 5 Allen Press Books: Four Fictions, the Edith Wharton Quartet, Dialogue of the Dogs, the Pushkin Four Stories and The Beast in the Jungle. With shipping, these books each cost me between GBP 350 and GBP 450 in Fine or Near Fine condition (which in my view represents great value for money).

My question is what should my next purchase be if I am aiming to spend this sort of money (say up to $600) on an Allen Press book of similar production values? (Clearly there are some highly regarded Allen Press books which, if they can be found, will cost significantly more.) Your recommendations would be appreciated.

As for my offer, my copy of The Beast in the Jungle has come with two copies of the Allen Press announcement for the book. If any member of this forum is missing the announcement I will be happy to offer it for the cost of shipping (I am in the UK). If of interest, please send me a private message.

The only edition I can recommend is The Fall by Albert Camus (my only Allen Press!). One of my favourite authors and a very nice edition in my opinion.

Two of the best values from the Allen Press are "The Mirrour of the World" and "A Venetian Story." Absolutely beautiful books, particularly the latter. I acquired each book for around $500-$600 (in the range you specified) a few years ago.

You should be able to get the Orestian Trilogy for around that price too.

>1 edgeworn: In this price range or below: A Dialogue of Creatures Moralised and Jealousy (read the text upfront!)

I wasn’t impressed with Oresteia and Rappaccini‘s Daughter.

>3 johnaba: I couldn’t find a copy of Mirrour of the World so far but it certainly looks beautiful!

>1 edgeworn: If you have a chance I would be interested to know who translated the Pushkin stories? I can find a lot of details on the illustrations but nothing on the translation.

>2 EdmundRodriguez:
>3 johnaba:
>4 gmacaree:
>5 SebRinelli:

Thank you all for these suggestions which is exactly what I was looking for.

‘The Mirrour of the World’ and ‘A Dialogue of Creatures Moralised’ were already on my list of potential next purchases, but they seem very hard to find at present. I will investigate ‘Venetian Story’, 'Orestian Trilogy' and ‘The Fall’. None seem abundant on the market at present. (Perhaps I will need to keep an eye on US auctions?)

>6 LBShoreBook: Translations are by Gillon Aitken, with later revisions by Gillon Aitken and David Budgen

I would add 'The Transposed Heads by Thomas Mann'. The production quality is fantastic and the story is a fascinating one too!.

I second Transposed Heads.

>1 edgeworn:

Unfortunately, the Allen Press books have FINALLY been discovered by collectors of modern private press books and the prices have increased significantly over the past 12 to 18 months. For many years, they were undervalued and underappreciated and all but a handful of titles could be purchased for under $650. That is no longer the case and several of the recommendations above will be difficult to find for $600 or less in the secondary market, specifically: A Venetian Story, The Fall, Dialogues of Creatures Moralised, and The Mirrour of the World. To obtain these titles for $600 or less you will need to purchase them at auctions and even then this will be difficult.

Of the Allen Press titles that are still readily available in your price range, I would suggest (in order of preference);

1. The Bacchae by Euripides
2. The Oresteian Trilogy (2 volumes) by Aeschylus
3. The Splendid Idle Forties: 6 Stories of Spanish California by Gertrude Atherton
4. Christopher Columbus by Nikos Kazantzakis

I would also recommend visiting Chris Adamson's now dormant website 'Books and Vines" which remains a treasure trove of information regarding modern private press books, in general, and the Limited Editions Club books in particular. The link below will take you to the reviews and photographs of many Allen Press books:

https://booksandvines.com/index-of-book-reviews-by-publisher/

After clicking on the link above, scroll down a bit to find the list of Allen Press books.

I'm going to recommend The Duchow Journal
This, is a bit of a unique work because it is actually printed by Mallette Dean but the book was laid out by The Allen Press. The typography as you might expect is beautiful, the paper is handmade paper, volume has handcolored decorations, and the work is unique. I don't believe you can find it anywhere else. It's also criminally undepriced - I encourage people to find a copy of this lovely work :)

>11 astropi: Not one of my favorites but you're right about the price. It's the cheapest of my 28 Allen Press books.

>1 edgeworn: If you like Dialogue of the Dogs, then I recommend The Transposed Heads — similar production qualities. (I have both, and thoroughly enjoy them.)

The other Allen Press books in my collection are:
Four Stories by Pushkin - my favorite.
Rappaccini’s Daughter - good, but not quite up to par, and many typos.
Four Fictions - very nice, but you already know that.
Romeo & Juliet - I love it, but the illustrations are a matter of taste.
Murders in the Rue Morgue - an early effort, but very fine, if not so lavish as some others.
La Porte de Maletroit - a bit coarse, of interest mostly from a collection standpoint, not great in its own right.

I lust after:
Youth
The Fall
Poeticon Astronomicon
Herodotus Egypt

>10 dlphcoracl: 'Unfortunately, the Allen Press books have FINALLY been discovered by collectors of modern private press books…'

I've clearly (yet again) jumped on the bandwagon slightly too late, only to find that the bandwagon is very crowded!

>10 dlphcoracl: >11 astropi: and >13 kermaier: many thanks for these suggestions. Now for the excitement of the hunt to track some of these down.

I have also noted that I may need to raise my limit on the amount I pay for some of the more highly-regarded books. Spending on the fripperies of life such as food and clothing might need to be reduced to compensate for money spent on the more important things such as good books.

>1 edgeworn:
>14 edgeworn:

I will help simplify your search. Of all of the aforementioned books, the standout is 'A Venetian Story' by Lord Byron. This is in my top half-dozen of all Allen Press books and it is truly unique and beautiful. Focus on acquiring a copy of this one before chasing the others.

>14 edgeworn: and >15 dlphcoracl: I second the Oracle's recommendation.

>7 edgeworn: Thanks for the information on the Pushkin book - I just acquired a copy of something I had never heard of until your post. It looks fantastic.

>14 edgeworn:

Lo and behold, a copy of A Venetian Story is scheduled for auction at Hindman in Chicago on May 12. Estimated bidding range is $300 to $400.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/101675556_allen-press-byron-george-gordon-n...

>18 johnaba: Sounds about right. I usually figure that with the buyer's premium, tax, shipping & handling my price will be about 150% of the hammer price. $400 means about $600, which is pretty reasonable. $300 and below would be a very good price.

>1 edgeworn: Eventually, save up and procure the Poeticon Astronomicon.

>17 LBShoreBook: My pleasure. I have acquired books following the many excellent suggestions from this group and I am pleased if I can return the favour.

>18 johnaba: Thank you. Let's hope no-one else has spotted this.

>20 ultrarightist: As a long-time amateur astronomer as well as a relatively recent collector of good quality printing and book making I would love to own this book. There goes the family holiday.

Curious if anyone participated in the Chicago estate auction today and purchased anything interesting? I pulled out of bidding on a Melville Encantadas (Grabhorn) when the price starting getting relatively high (especially when accounting for the buyer's premium and shipping), missed a few Allen Press titles that sold while I was working, but managed to get a few Grabhorn titles at decent prices. Still second-guessing my choice to pull out on the Melville auction.

>22 LBShoreBook: I picked up 4 of the Allen Press titles and one from Grabhorn. In each case I was the only bidder, which I guess makes me the sucker in the room, but the upside is none of them were too expensive

>23 jsg1976: Nice. I was the only bidder on one Grabhorn and one of two on the other, so nothing crazy for me either. I was looking at the Allen Press Edith Wharton Quarto and had a pre-auction bid that was surpassed during live bidding while I was working.

>1 edgeworn:

Don't know why but "The Temptation of St. Anthony" by Gustave Flaubert not mentioned! Easily my favorite Allen Press book and very undervalued. I would also recommend their Montaigne. I was just leafing through it and the Capitals are perfect. Herodotus is also a nice little volume, but only a small (Egyptian) slice of the whole work.

The binding for Dialogue of the Dogs makes me cringe.

I bid both days and slightly overindulged, particularly on today's auction. Picked up several BCC and Grabhorn items and a few other odds and ends. Was also a sole bidder on a few items. Was not successful on my Allen Press bids. Lots of fun stuff. Felt good about the prices I paid, though it added up . . . .

I’m sad as I missed all the Allen and Grabhorn items due to a work crisis.
I really wanted The Tempest and The Bacchae.

>22 LBShoreBook: I bid on several Arion Press titles but was outbid on all. I also had an early bid on Encantadas but didn’t increase it once it started climbing.

And I wasn‘t aware of this auction... anybody lucky here and got the Persian Stories?

Allen Press books look great but they are waaaay above my budget. Gonna stick with Limited Editions Club :)

>25 MobyRichard: thank you for these additional suggestions.

I'm interested in your aversion to the hand-printed cloth binding of the Dialogue of the Dogs, because it is one of my favourites. Just looking at it transports me to the warm and sunny climate of Spain.

>30 Lukas1990: of course many of the very coveted LEC books are in the price range of Allen Press :)
Some years ago they were way cheaper, but they're getting expensive, and are arguably still underpriced in my opinion!

>31 edgeworn:

I haven't seen it in person, so maybe it's just the pictures but looks splotchy to me. Color scheme also not my thing. I'm also comparing it to Rappaccini's daughter and their Pushkin and it suffers in comparison.

>32 astropi:

Yes, Allen Press is usually pretty underpriced. Unless you're talking about Poeticon Astronomicon which is insanely overpriced. Yolla Bolly Press is similarly underrated among the more recent fine presses.

I was very happy with the prices at Hindman the last two days and managed to win a few of the Allen Press books.
My favourite that I already own is definitely Printing With The Handpress by Lew Allen—you can hear the passion and artistry in his voice.

>33 MobyRichard: While on the subject, to amplify on why I like the cloth binding of the Allen Press Dialogue of the Dogs I include below two photos.

The first shows the binding cloth, which is the El Prado design from the Costa del Sol collection, and shows red poppies and olive green leaves against a background in golden yellow of Spanish wrought iron metalwork. The second photo shows a sample page from the book and you can see that the Allens picked up the same red and green colours for the printing of the ornate initials.

As I say, the whole effect for me radiates Spanish warmth and sunshine. (Perhaps not a big deal if you live in a warm and sunny climate, but I'm in the U.K.)

Reviving this thread. Can someone tell me more about The Temptation of St. Anthony? How's the general feel of this one? It looks like it's not a very desirable book for collectors.

>37 Lukas1990:

I consider it one of their best. Certainly better than Beast in the Jungle and the Camus books which fetch ridiculous prices. I'd point out that the Allen Press Montaigne is also a gem, but is often available at a very low price. No idea why. Maybe it's too traditional for some Allen Press fans.