It’s Fine Press Friday!
One of the most impressive aspects of our varied holdings here at Special Collections is our sizable collection of Wisconsin- and Milwaukee-focused work. Today’s #Fine Press Friday focus, Last Light, features poetry by renowned Wisconsin-native author/publisher August Derleth alongside illustrations by noted Wisconsin artist and illustrator Frank Utpatel, with an introduction by Madison, Wisconsin, writer Mark E. Lefebvre. It was published in 1972 by The Perishable Press in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, and hand-printed by the legendary Wisconsin artist, letterpress printer, fine press publisher, papermaker, and educator Walter Hamady. The types are hand set in Sabon Antiqua and Initiales Cristal and printed on multicolored pages handmade by Hamady from the discarded clothing of Derleth, Utpatel, and Hamady in Perry Township, Wisconsin.
Utpatel’s wood engravings depict serene nature scenes inspired by Derleth’s tranquil wanderings and subsequent poetry. “There are the memories, the words and the wood engravings detailing nature which alone remains in the last light. Freedom absolute.” A common theme throughout the collection is the essence of movement, shown by the titles “Approaching Rain” and “Walking By Last Light”, which might indicate Derleth’s state of mind in finishing what would prove to be his final work before his death in 1971.
Longtime collaborators, Utpatel’s illustrations reflect Derleth’s words so seamlessly that they seem to be devised by a single imagination. Hamady’s personal perspective appears in his usual characteristic and highly-eccentric, self-deprecating colophon that refers to this work as ordinary –really? This collection of work i
s anything but ordinary.
View more posts on August Derleth (with one also illustrated by Frank Utpatel).
View posts on other work by Walter Hamady and The Perishable Press.
View more Fine Press Friday posts.
View more posts with wood engravings!
-Emily, Special Collections Writing Intern
