Archy & Mehitabel, by Don Marquis

[birdhead]

Don Marquis. Archy & Mehitabel. Ernest Benn, 1931.

This book is included chiefly as a curiousity. The oldest edition of any of the books in the portfolio, I found its internal design interesting from a historical perspective. The imprint page is barely existent, and most of the information which would typically be found on it is either not there or in other places. For example, there is no statement of copyright; the name and location of the publisher and author appear only on the title page, while the printer appears on the final page of the book. Interestingly, the design is still very readable and looks good to modern sensibilities. The typography has worked hard to reflect its content: the typeface, which resembles that of a typewriter, is reminiscent of the content in that the poems are supposedly typed by a cockroach (the reason why no capitals or punctuation marks occur: the cockroach cannot hold down the shift key at the same time as it hits a letter. The simple design also reflects these humble origins!    Front Matter The half-title and title page are nicely spaced and the design remains simple and clear. The imprint page is balanced nicely with the dedication page, which it faces; the text blocks are at around the same height, but the font on the imprint page is ever so slightly smaller and lighter, appropriate since it is less important than the dedication. The contents page is not so nice, although it reflects the design sensibilities of the time; the rows of periods leading to the folios are quite unattractive. Moreover the contents page is two pages long, but the pages do not face each other; the unwary reader may skip over the second page, although admittedly for a single-author book of poetry this does not present the same problem as it would in a reference work. Text The wide-spaced font helps the text be legible without punctuation. Although the folios are perhaps a little large, the wide margins on both sides are very pleasing and give the poem adequate white (or, by 2010, yellow!) space. Only one poem is set per page. If a poem flows over, the rest of the page is left blank, which to my mind is the most respectful treatment of a poem (how often does one see three poems on a spread, two of which could have taken up a page each if the third had not run long? I find this a frustrating space-saving measure!) Overall this design is classic, and stands up well to the test of time!