SIGNUM ET VERBUM

(Hnizdovsky, Jacques)illus. SIGNUM ET VERBUM by Alexis Rannit. Elizabeth Press, New Rochelle, NY, 1981. Tall 8vo., cloth-backed boards, slipcase, 44pp. plus notes and colophon. Translations from the Estonian by Henry Lyman. Edition of 32 copies, of which this is copy "X" of 26 lettered copies "A-Z;" there were also six "ad personam" copies for the collaborators. Each copy is signed by the designer Martino Mardersteig, the illustrator Jacques Hnizdovsky, the translator Henry Lyman, and the poet, Alexis Rannit. Fine. Alexis Rannit is an Estonian emigre who is a professor at Yale. Jacques Hnizdovsky, 1915-1985, was born in the Ukraine and moved to the US in 1949. He was a master at both the artistic design and technical execution of the woodcut, producing over 350 prints during his career. He was also a designer and illustrator of books. He has long been a leading cultural figure in the Ukranian-American community, but is work is also avidly sought by print collectors and connoiseurs. James L. Weil began editing and publishing for his Elizabeth Press in 1961. Printing contemporary poetry, some of the authors published by Elizabeth Press besides its editor include Cid Corman, Paul Blackburn, Theodore Eslin , and Robert Creeley among others. Weil had the printing of his books completed elsewhere, often by the Italian printer, Stamperia Valdonega. Elizabeth Press continued its mission printing poetry for twenty years, ending operation in 1981. The Private Press Collection of Northern Illinois University contains nearly fifty works by this small poetry press.