The Yolla Bolly Press

http://www.yollabollypress.com/

A limited selection of modern literature, all of which is absolutely stunning. I'm not fortunate enough to own any of their work, but I've seen a few in person. Their print of "Theseus" by Andre Gide literally weakens my knees. (A few of the illustrations are shown on their website, but the pictures don't come close to doing it justice.)

I'll probably break down and decide to order it right around the time that the last copy is sold, and then I'm sure I'll cry myself to sleep for months.

Does anyone here own any of their books?

I was hoping to visit the press when I was in Mendocino last year but it turned out to be a bit too far to drive. Especially since I was on an Anniversary Weekend with my wife. She's supportive of my book thang but...not so much on a romantic weekend.

I've never seen one in person but hope to one day. I was lusting after their edition of Samuel Beckett's "The Bread of Days". It's sold out except for with the extra prints. "Call for Price" is a pretty scary statement!

I was looking at the Loren Eiseley book. I'm a big fan and this is very tempting.

Thankyou for this. I'm about to become a owner of Babette's Feast after following your link!

Daniel.

Here is a 'heads up' on a future entry regarding the Yolla Bolly Press that will appear on 'busywine's fine website ' Books and Vines'.

After sending him an e-mail earlier this year regarding the Allen Press and their superb handmade letterpress books --- which I then expanded into a 'Books and Vines' article accompanied by digital images of some of the greatest Allen Press editions ---- I sent him an e-mail earlier this week alerting him to the Yolla Bolly press. There are striking parallels between the Allen Press and the Yolla Bolly press, not the least of which is that they both produced magnificent handcrafted letterpress books and are private presses that are known to only a handful of fine and private press book collectors. Both have unjustly fallen off of the radar screen for book collectors.

I own nine of their books including four of their elephant folio-sized editions, books which represent the pinnacle of their work and are among some of the most beautiful I have encountered. I am in the process of taking digital images of these books and, for those of you interested in their work, this will appear as an entry on 'Books and Vines' similar to the article I had 'busywine' post regarding the Allen Press.

If you are unfamiliar with the body of work produced by the Robertsons (James and Carolyn) and their superb staff at Yolla Bolly, then the article and photographs will be a revelation.

After seeing a copy of Robinson Jeffer's Roan Stallion by YB at Oak Knoll coupla years ago I looked on the website, liked the looks of the Ambrose Bierce but didn't have the bucks. I did manage to find inexpensively a brief early history of YB by James Robertson titled Printers' Dozen The Yolla Bolly Press at 12 from 1985. It's a nice memoir with lovely fine press trademarks like letterpress in two colors, handset types, Fabriano and Arches papers , 700 copies. Tipped in photos show the press and the proprietors.

5

Look forward to the B&V info, enjoyed the Allen Press post, thanks.

Of course Yolla Bolly, unlike the Allen Press, is still in business.

>7 kdweber: Yes and no.

The Yolla Bolly press is in business in the sense that they still maintain their website and still sell remaining copies of prior publications in their inventory. However, they are not in business in the most basic and important sense --- they no longer publish books and have not done so since 2002. Unfortunately, the death of James Roberston in November 2001 effectively ended their publishing activities.

8: sad... we need more fine presses.

I've always wanted to see some of Yolla Bolly Press' work. I'd love to have Bread of Days and a couple of their other titles. I assume since the website hasn't updated in years that the press has pretty much stopped producing after Jim's passing?

I just bought a copy of The Man Who Made Wine to give it a try (couldn't afford Theseus).

Thank you very much for that link. I am trying to branch out from Folio at the moment and would prefer to avoid the secondhand market. That doesn't leave many options unfortunately. Perhaps I'd better get some of Yolla Bolly's work before it's gone.

I'm also looking at some titles from Old Stile Press. As with many of the presses I've found, they offer obscure and short selections mostly, but the artistry and presentation seem incredible. Anyone have any thoughts on their work?

Double post, but thought I would mention this here on this thread also. A look at the Yolla Bolly Press (from dlphcoracl), is up on Books and Vines. This press produced fantastic books and I know you will enjoy looking at them. I have broken the article into a few parts, so look for the remaining books to be published on Books and Vines over the next few days.

http://booksandvines.com/2011/11/08/a-look-at-folio-works-of-the-yolla-bolly-pre...

or

http://booksandvines.com

One of the Missing, one incredible book from Yolla Bolly Press, is now up on Books and Vines.

http://booksandvines.com/2011/11/10/one-of-the-missing-by-ambrose-bierce-yolla-b...

or

http://booksandvines.com

Thanks again to dlphcoracl.

>14 busywine:

Fabulous...if they offered a payment plan I would have ordered it instantly.

>15 menteith:, not sure if they have that one left, but I did just buy another (Bread of Days) from Yolla Bolly and Carolyn agreed to letting me pay for it over a few months.... So if you call her that could be an option.

The next installment of our look at Yolla Bolly Press, with their beautiful edition of The Winged Life: The Poetic Voice of Henry David Thoreau.

http://booksandvines.com/2011/11/12/the-winged-life-the-poetic-voice-of-henry-da....

or

http://booksandvines.com

BTW, just got my 'One of the Missing' in the mail today. It is simply fabulous!

Does anyone have a bibliography/list of titles (in publication order) for the Yolla Bolly Press (I'm looking at you dlphcoracl)?

The following is a complete (or near complete) list of books printed by the Yolla Bolly Press as an independent private press. Books published for or with the Book Club of California and The Sierra Club are NOT included in this bibliography. In chronological order:

1. Cawdor by Robinson Jeffers (1983)
2. Robinson Jeffers: A Portrait by Louis Adamic (1983)
3. Flight by John Steinbeck (1984)
4. The Daring Young Man of the Flying Trapeze and Other Stories by William Saroyan (1984)
5. True Bear Stories edited by James Robertson (1985).
6. The Stones of Tor House by Donnan Jeffers (1985)
7. The Winged Life. The Poetic Voice of Henry David Thoreau edited by Robert Bly (1986).
8. The Inland Whale by Theodora Kroeber (1987)
9. Where Shall I Take You: The Love Letters of Una and Robinson Jeffers. Edited by Robert Kafka. (1987)
10. My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir (1988)
11. Two Rivers by Wallace Stegner (1989).
12. This Is My Blood by James Laughlin (1989)
13. Under An Aztec Sun by Harriet Doerr (1990)
14. Boss Dog. A Fable in Six Parts by M.F.K. Fisher (1990)
15. Roan Stallion by Robinson Jeffers (1990)
16. One of the Missing by Ambrose Bierce (1991)
17. Zapata by John Steinbeck (1991)
18. The Man Who Died by D.H. Lawrence (1992)
19. The House That Jeffers Built by Donnan Call Jeffers and Garth Sherwood Jeffers (1993)
20. Memories of Tor House by Garth Sherwood Jeffers (1993)
21. The Bread of Days. Eleven Mexican Poets. (1994)
22. The Tree. The Nature of Nature. Two essays by John Fowles (1995)
23. The Man Who Made Wine by J.M. Scott (1996)
24. The Aristos Mikros by John Fowles (1996)
25. Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen (1997)
26. Theseus by André Gide (1998)
27. Two Kitchens in Provence by M.F.K. Fisher (1999)
28. Paris, France. A Memoir by Gertrude Stein (2000)
29. The Adventures of Chef Gallois by Idwal Jones (2000)
30. Tears and Wine by Elio Vittorini (2001)
31. The Inner Galaxy by Loren Eiseley (2002)

>20 dlphcoracl: Thank you so much. If anybody knew...

It's interesting that the Yolla Bolly Press itself obviously counted differently going by the description in the colophon; e.g.

Two Rivers is 10
This is My Blood is 11
One of the Missing is 15
The Man Who Made Wine is 22
Babette's Feast is 23
Theseus is 24
Paris France is 26

But the press agrees that Under An Aztec Sun is 13 and Zapata is 16

>21 kdweber:

For some reason, I believe the YBP is not including Nos. 2 and 24 in their bibliography count. The other discrepancies arose because I simply listed them by year without knowing which book was published first within a given year. I have made these corrections and this may be more accurate than the Yolla Bolly Press count.

A very incomplete list of some odds and ends printed by Yolla Bolly Press:

Paige Smith, Alan Chadwick: 1909-1980, Covelo: Richard A. Wilson (1981).

Michael A. Keller(intro.),Remembering Wallace Stegner, Stanford: Stanford University Libraries (1996).

James Earl Jewell, The Visual Arts in Bohemia: 125 Years of Artistic Creativity in the Bohemian Club, San Francisco: Bohemian Club (1997).

Joseph Holmes, Natural Light, Berkeley: The Nature Company (1990)

Peter E. Palmquist, Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests, San Francisco: The Book Club of California (1983).

Thomas Hardy, The Vineyards and Wine Cellars of California: An Essay on Early California Winemaking, San Francisco: The Book Club of California (1994).

Roger Keith Larson, Controversial James: An Essay of the Life and Work of George Wharton James, San Francisco: The Book Club of California (1991).

Peter Stansky, Another Book That Never Was: William Morris, Charles Gere, The House of the Wolfings, San Francisco: The Book Club of California (1998).

William P. Barlow, Jr., Remembering Albert Sperisen, San Francisco: The Book Club of California (1999).

Claudine Chalmers, Splendide Californie!: Impressions of the Golden State by French Artists, 1786 to 1900, San Francisco: The Book Club of California (2001).

James Robertson and Carolyn Robertson, Making Books in the Woods, Covelo: The Yolla Bolly Press (1997).

https://library.stanford.edu/spc/exhibitspublications/past-exhibits/making-books...

One of these days I might take a crack at listing the Sierra Club publications printed by Yolla Bolly.

Glad to have fond this discussion on the Robertsons and Yolla Bolly. We feel very fortunate to have collected 10 of their titles while the press was still operating.

Well, since >24 RETpdx: necromancy'd this thread,I'll point out that a copy of Yolla Bolly's masterpiece, My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir, is available on the second-hand market. Currently, it is the only copy and these rarely come up. I have NO connection to the seller -
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31234416638

>25 astropi: I don’t know if it is a good price, but it is 5% cheaper if purchased directly:

https://www.carpediemfinebooks.com/pages/books/21244/john-muir-artist-michael-mc...

>26 DMulvee: Looks like it is no longer available on either platform. The deluxe treatment of "My First Summer in the Sierra" is truly spectacular. Only 30 copies issued in full brushed cow-hide enclosed in a yellow pine box, with an extra suite of signed wood engravings.

Wow, that did not last long! >27 Sport1963: they were selling the "normal" edition which is basically the same thing as the "deluxe" edition sans the extra suite of prints and the pine box. Phenomenal work of art!

>28 astropi: I’d been watching this copy for a month-or-so after the book came highly recommended by >22 dlphcoracl:.

I figured I better snag it since I know how fast this group can make books disappear!

>29 NathanOv: Congrats! the Yolla Bolly Muir is one of the finest fine press books I have ever seen. It really is something special.

Just noticed that James Robertson at Yolla Bolly did the book design for my copy of The Unsettling of America Culture & Agriculture by the Sierra Club. Great book that I just found a hardback replacement of for my old paperback.