Known as one of America's finest Letterhead Presses, Arion is one of the few fine arts, limited-edition presses that has continued to go from strength to strength, primarily due to its solid foundations, dedication to excellence and strong connections.
Arion grew out of the vibrant San Franciscan bookseller, maker and binding community, as successors to the Grabhorn Press, who afterwards supported their endeavors through the Grabhorn Institute. They only publish three to four titles a year, and then only in runs of less than four hundred copies each, all of them classic moderns such as Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Ullysses and more.
Because of their dedication to the entire process, from design, art direction, metal letterpress type as well as bookbinding, an Arion title always maintains something of an elite air when compared to others of its category. They have always strived to unite contemporary artists as well with their titles, so that it may be possible to collect Arion not merely for Author or edition, but for illustrator and cover artist as well. To give you an idea of their regard in the collectors community, an entire singular run of their collection would amount to 99 Limited Editions and cost around $200,000!
If collecting Arion editions, obviously almost any book that you own or seek will have a high value, however, if looking to buy it is worth collecting the slightly less known authors and titles, so as to avoid competition. Consider authors such as Machado de Asis, Elias Canetti, LawrenceFerlinghetti for a choice that will maintain interest and value over the years.
Links: http://www.franklinbooks.com/servlet/the-141/*The-Complete-Arion-Press/Detail
Boswell, Winthrop Palmer. Hisperica Famina The Garden of God. Arion (1974). The Prologue and Part of the Book of Days
Grabhorn, Robert. Commonplace Book of Cookery. Arion (1975). A Collection of Proverbs, Anecdotes, Opinions and Obscure Facts on Food, Drink, Cooks, Cooking, Dining, Diners and Dieters, Dating from Ancient Times to the Present. With a Preface by M. F. K. Fisher.
Hoyem, Andrew. Picture / Poems. Arion (1975). An Illustrated Catalogue of Drawings and Related Writings: 1961-1974, prepared by the artist and poet, published on the occasion of an exhibition, January 18 through March 16, 1975, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Hoyem, Andrew. The First Poet Travels to the Moon. Arion (1975).
Shakespeare, William. Venus and Adonis. Arion (1975). Together with Sources for the Poem in Ovid's Metamorphoses Translated By Arthur Golding. Illustrated by Andrew Hoyem.
Martin, Fred. A Travel Book. Arion (1976). Linoleum block prints by Andrew Hoyem
Momaday, N Scott. The Colors of Night. Arion (1976).
Golding, Arthur. The First Separate Edition of the Psalms of David. Arion (1977). Thomas Ingmire
Golding, Arthur. The Psalms of David. Arion (1977). And Others, as Rendered into English by Arthur Golding, his Translation of Calvin's Latin Version Extracted from Commentaries on the Psalms Printed in London. Edited by Richard G. Barnes. Five illuminated initials with raised gold by Thomas Ingmire.
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick or The Whale. Arion (1979). 100 wood engravings by Barry Moser
Agricola, Georgius. Bibliotheca De Re Metallica. Arion (1980).
Dobie, J Frank. Coronado's Children. Arion (1980). Tales of Lost Mines and Buried Treasure of the Southwest
Abbott, Edwin. Flatland. Arion (1980). Geometric hand colored illustrations by Andrew Hoyem
Morrow, Bradford. Danae's Progress. Arion (1982).
Koch, Rudolf. The Typefoundry in Silhouette. Arion (1982). How printing type is developed at Klingspor Bros in Offenbach on the river Main. Illustrated with 25 silhouettes reprinted from the 1918 original edition.
Rilke, Rainer Maria. Die Weife von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke / The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke. Arion (1983). 29 woodcuts by Warren Chappell
Dine, Jim. Temple of Flora. Arion (1984). 28 dry-point engravings by Jim Dine
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Arion (1984). 97 photo-engraved drawings by Michael Graves
Dine, Jim. The Temple of Flora. Arion (1984). With Botanical Notes Compiled and Poetry Selected by Glenn Todd and Nancy Dine. 28 drypoint etchings by Dine.
Stevens, Wallace. Poems. Arion (1985). Jasper Johns etching
Doyle, Sir Artur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Arion (1985). Photographs by Michael Kenna
Grayson, Andrew Jackson. Birds of the Pacific Slope. Arion (1986). 156 color plates
,. Jack Gannon Jack of All Trades and Master of One. Arion (1986). Woodcuts
Stein, Gertrude. The World is Round. Arion (1986). And the World is Not Flat. 26 linoleum and wood blocks cut by Clement Hurd
Golding, Arthur. A Moral Fable Talk. Arion (1987). That is to say a most delectable garden of moral philosophy, conveyed in fables, by speeches attributed to brute beasts. Transcribed from the autograph manuscript (c.1586) with an introduction, notes and glossary by Richard Barnes. Photogengraved copies of etchings by Marcus Gheeraerts
Bosman, Richard. Captivity Narrative of Hannah Duston. Arion (1987). Related by Cotton Mather, John Greenleaf Whittier, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, four versions of events in 1697; 35 woodcuts by Richard Bosman
Dine, Jim. Diary of a Non-Deflector. Arion (1987). Etching by Dine
Mather, Cotton. The Captivity Narrative of Hannah Duston. Arion (1987). James Greenleaf Whittier; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Henry David Thoreau; woodcuts by Richard Bosman
Hoyem, Andrew. What If Poems 1969-1987. Arion (1987). Etching by Jim Dine
Thistleton, Francis (William Henry Fleet). How I Came to Be Governor of the Island of Cacona. Arion (1989). 22 photo-engraved drawings by Andrew Hoyem
Pinney, Thomas. Kipling in California. Arion (1989).
Milosz, Czeslaw. Swiat / The World. Arion (1989). Drypoint envgraving by Jim Dine
O'Hara, Frank. Biotherm. Arion (1990). 42 lithographs by Jim Dine
Yeats, William Butler. Poems of W B Yeats. Arion (1990). Six etching by Richard Diebernkorn
Poe, Edgar Allen. Eureka. Arion (1991). A Prose Poem: An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe with 8 typographic prints by Shusaku Arakawa
Martin, Carl. Go to Your Stations Girl. Arion (1991). Drawings by Martin
Miller, R.R. Impressions. Arion (1991).
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. On Certainty. Arion (1991). Uber Gewissheit. Prints by Mel Bochner
Cavalcanti, Guido. Thirty-Three Sonnets of Guido Cavalcanti. Arion (1991). Etching by Joseph Goldyne
Mamet, David. American Buffalo. Arion (1992). And The Cabin. Wood engravings by Michael McCurdy
Ginsberg, Allen. Kaddish, White Shroud and Black Shroud. Arion (1992). Lithographs by R.B. Kitaj
Mamet, David. The Cabin. Arion (1992). Wood engraving by Michael McCurdy
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Arion (1993). 50 drawings by Ida Applebroog
Shepard, Sam. A Lie in the Mind. Arion (1993). Drawings by Stan Washburn
Freud , Sigmund. The Case of the Wolf Man From the History of an Infantile Neurosis. Arion (1993). Woodcuts and etchings by Jim Dine
Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. Arion (1994). Designed and produced by Andrew Hoyem
Roth, Henry. Call It Sleep. Arion (1995). 48 photographs of NYC
McClure, Michael. Lie, Sit, Stand, Be Still. Arion (1995). Lithographs by Robert Graham
Melville, Herman. Selected Poems. Arion (1995). Signed relief block cut by Barry Moser
Koch, Rudolf. Christian Symbols. Arion (1996). 158 religious emblems by Rudolph Koch
Alter, Robert. Genesis. Arion (1996). Intaglio etching by Michael Mazur
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Silverado Squatters. Arion (1996). 16 photolitographs by Michael Kenna
Vidal, Gore. Williwaw. Arion (1996). A Novel
James, Henry. Ape and Cat. Arion (1997). Photogravures by James Dine
James, Henry. Madonna of the Future. Arion (1997). Photogravures by James Dine
Williams, William Carlos. Kora in Hell. Arion (1998). Imrpovisations. 21 woodcuts by Mel Kendrick
Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria. The Alienist. Arion (1998). Drawings by Carroll Dunham
Kipling, Rudyard. With the Night Mail. Arion (1998). A Story of 2000 A.D.; 32 drawings by Vincent Perez
Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. Arion (1999). 12 drawings by Wayne Thiebaud
Miller, Arthur. The Price. Arion (1999). Lithographs by Stan Washburn
Toomer, Jean. Cane. Arion (2000). 7 original woodblock prints by Martin Puryear
Hoyem, Andrew. The Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon. Arion (2000).
,. The Holy Bible. Arion (2000). Designed by Bruce Rogers
Stoppard, Tom. Arcadia. Arion (2001). Watercolor printed by William Matthews
Canetti, Elias. Voices of Marrakesh. Arion (2001). A Record of a Visit. Etchings by William Wiley and photographs by Karl Bissinger
Pushkin, Alexander. Arion. Arion (2002). Translated by Seamus Heaney
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Arion (2002). A Poem in Twelve Books; Thirteen watercolor drawings by William Blake
Berry, Warner Bott. Scotsman's Dream. Arion (2002). Illustrations by Christopher Monti and Andrew Berry
Todd, Glenn. The Ballad of Lemon and Crow. Arion (2002). Photogravures from collages of wood engrvings by Bruce Connor
Heaney, Seamus. Squarings. Arion (2003). 48 drawings by Sol LeWitt
Brautigan, Richard. Trout Fishing in America. Arion (2003). Photographic portrait by Edmund Shea
Wharton, Edith. Age of Innocence. Arion (2004). Photographs by Stephen Shore
Moliere,. Tartuffe. Arion (2004). Comedy in Five Acts, 1669; illustrated by William Hamilton
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. Coney Island of the Mind. Arion (2005). Illustrated by R.B. Kitaj
Berkson, Bill. Gloria. Arion (2005). 25 etchings by Alex Katz
Woolf, Virginia. Orlando. Arion (2005). Photographic illustrations by Diana Michener
Einstein, Albert. The Theory of Relativity. Arion (2005). Centennial Edition: on the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies; Does the Inertia of a Budy Depend Upon Its Energy-Constant
Hano, Arnold. A Day in the Bleachers. Arion (2006). 14 lithographs by Mark Ulriksen
Wiley, William T. Godot. Arion (2006). An Imaginary Staging. 52 prints by Wiley.
Franklin, Benjamin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin. Arion (2006).
de Maistre, Xavier. Journey Round My Room. Arion (2007). photographs by Ross Anderson
Dickinson, Emily. Sampler. Arion (2007). 206 prints by Kiki Smith
McClure, Michael. The Boobus and the Bunnyduck. Arion (2007). Drawings by Jess Collins
Eliot, T S. The Waste Land. Arion (2007). Illustrations ffrom R.B. Kitaj painting.
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare's Sonnets. Arion ().
Todd, Glenn. Shaped Poetry. Arion ().
Dine, Jim. The Apocalypse. Arion (). The Revelation of Saint John the Divine; 29 woodblock prints by Dine
Edie, George. The Art of English Shooting. Arion ().
Stern, Laurence. Tristam Shandy. Arion (). Photo-collage illustrations by John Baldessari