David Godine made the 'jump' from fine letterpress editions to fine trade publisher many years ago; and since then has selected and published works that have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, or even been adapted into BBC historical serials!
For the collector, however, we are interested in Godine's earliest works as a letterpress printer, during which time he worked alongside some of the very best of the fine arts printers in the world. Godine himself worked under the artist-printer Leonard Baskin, and learned the art of letterpress at no less than Hogarth's elbow. To this day, the history of Godine Press is also littered with references and traces of other fine arts publishers: The Gehenna Press, Black Sparrow Press, and so on.
For anyone interested in collecting Godine's works, then it is important to choose items before at least 1980, with a more desirable figure set at 1975. Previous to this, Godine himself was printing using Vandercook and letterpress - it is these editions which will garner the most interest. Consider then, the Godine Press's print of some of the classics of American literature: Henry David Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience (published by Godine 1969). This very fine edition is bound in black morocco, of only 650 ever produced, and the first 50 being numbered. If one of these could be found at auction, in good condition, then expect it to fetch somewhere from $300-500 each!
For something a little easier to find then, look no further than Walt Whitman's Specimen Days (published by Godine in 1971). Although it is one of some 5,000 copies, the very fine nature of the printing, and the 133 included Civil War Photographs and illustrations of the life of Walt Whitman make this edition a classic. A steal at a little over $100.
Godine, David R. Lyric Verse. David Godine (1966). A Printers Choice; 500 copies; 40 copies printed on heavy yellow Fabriano paper; 280 copies printed on Curtis Tweedweave paper.
Thoreau, Henry David. Civil Disobedience. David Godine (1969). 650 copies.
Spender, Stephen. The Generous Days.. David Godine (1969). 250 copies; 50 specially bound, numbered, and signed by the author
Hillier, Jack. Suzuki Harunobu. David Godine (1970). A Selection Of His Color Prints And Illustrated Books
Wadsworth, Charles E. Views From The Island. David Godine (1970). Poetry And Prints; 85 numbered copies.
Whitman, Walt. Specimen Days.. David Godine (1971). Poetry And Prints; 133 full-tone Civil War photographs and portraits from the life of Walt Whitman. Text composed by Stinehour Press,printed by Meridan Gravure and designed by Lance Hidy; 5,000 copies
Blumenthal, Joseph. Art Of The Printed Book 1455 - 1955. David Godine (1973). Masterpieces Of Typography Through Five Centuries Fron The Collections Of The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. With An Essay By Joseph Blumenthal
Campion, Thomas. Selected Songs. David Godine (1973). Selected By W.H.Auden, With Introductions By Himself And John Hollander; Title page engraving by Leo Wyatt; 250 numbered copies
Newman, Arnold. One Minds Eye. David Godine (1974). The Portraits And Other Photographs By Arnold Newman; Introduction by Robert Sobieszek. Foreword by Beaumont Newhall
Purcell, Rosamond Wolff. A Matter Of Time. David Godine (1975).
Gottlieb, Gerald. Early Childrens Books And Their Illustration.. David Godine (1975). Preface by Charles Ryskamp, foreward and text by Gerald Gottlieb, essay by J.H. Plumb
Mclean, Ruari. Jan Tschichold. David Godine (1975). Typographer; First American edition.
Gass, William H. On Being Blue.. David Godine (1975). A Philosophical Inquiry;deluxe issue, 225 numbered copies; Total 3000 copies
Wadsworth, Charles E. Root And Sky. David Godine (1975). Jean G; Poetry From The Plays Of Christopher Fry; 220 numbered copies; Illustrated with twelve collograph intaglios by Wadsworth and bound in 1980 in full brown morocco by David Bourbeau
Dubus, Andre. Seperate Flights. David Godine (1975). A Novella And Seven Short Stories
Hall, Donald. The Town Of Hill. David Godine (1975).
Whitney Museum Of American Art. 200 Years Of American Scultpture.. David Godine (1976). Armstrong, Tom; Craven, Wayne; Feder, Norman; Haskell, Barbara; Krauss, Rosalind; Robbins, Daniel; Tucker, Marcia.
Tancock, John L. The Sculpture Of Auguste Rodin. David Godine (1976). The Collection Of The Rodin Museum, Philadelphia; 500 photographs and 8 colour plates.
Dubus, Andre. Adultery And Other Choices. David Godine (1977). second collection of short fiction, a novella and nine stories
Donoso, Jose. Charleston And Other Stories. David Godine (1977). Translated By Andree Conrad; First American Edition; 200 copies, Signed by the author.
Ripley, S. Dillon. Rails Of The World. David Godine (1977). A Monograph Of The Family Rallidae. With Forty-One Paintings By J. Fenwick Lansdowne And A Chapter On Fossil Species By Storrs L. Olson; 400 copies signed by the author
Blumenthal, Joseph. The Printed Book In America.. David Godine (1977). 32 color illustrations
Livingstone, Jane. M. Alvarez Bravo. David Godine (1978). 1000 copies.
Murphy, Stanley. Marthas Vineyard Decoys. David Godine (1978). Illustrated with black and white and color photographs by George Moffett
Parker, Olivia. Signs Of Life. David Godine (1978). Photographs By Olivia Parker Contemporary Photographers Series: Volume III
Rothenstein, John. Victor Hammer. David Godine (1978). Artist And Printer; 500 copies; Designed by Martino Mardersteig and printed at Stamperia Valdonega on Magnani paper
Marzio, Peter C. The Democratic Art. David Godine (1979). Pictures For A 19Th-Century America. (Chromolithography 1840-1900)
Appelfeld, Aharon. Badenheim 1939. David Godine (1980). Translated By Dalya Bilu.
Dubus, Andre. Finding A Girl In America. David Godine (1980). Ten Stories And A Novella
Purcell, Rosamond Wolff. Half-Life. David Godine (1980). Photographs By Rosamond Wolff Purcell; Designed by Dennis Purcell and Kathleen Riley
Azarian, Mary. A Farmers Alphabet. David Godine (1981). 26 full-page woodcuts by Mary Azarian
Jussim, Estelle. Slave To Beauty. David Godine (1981). The Eccentric Life And Controversital Career Of F. Holland Day, Photographer, Publisher, Aesthete; 60 numbered copies.
Goines, David Lance. A Constructed Roman Alphabet. David Godine (1982). A Geometric Analysis Of The Greek And Roman Capitals And Of The Arabic Numerals; 225 copies autographed by the author.
Kaiser, Harvey H. Great Camps Of The Adirondacks. David Godine (1982). 80 color , 80 duotone, and 120 black and white photographs, drawings and maps.
Schnackenberg, Gjertrud. Portraits And Elegies.. David Godine (1982). A Godine Poetry Chapbook Fourth Series
Tice, George. Urban Romantic. David Godine (1982). The Photographs Of George Tice; Signed on title page by George Tice.
Stafford, William. Segues. David Godine (1983). Marvin Bell; A Correspondence In Poetry; 150 copies.
Dubus, Andre. The Times Are Never So Bad. David Godine (1983). A Novella And Eight Short Stories
Kotzwinkle, William. Trouble In Bugland. David Godine (1983). A Collection Of Inspector Mantis Mysteries; illustrations both in black and white and in color by Joe Servello.
Tenneson, Joyce. Photographs. David Godine (1984). Afterward by Philip K. Jason. 44 black and white photographs.
Mann, Sally. Second Sight. David Godine (1984). Ann Beatie, Intro; Essay by Jane Livingston; The Photographs Of Sally Mann .
Bergh, Peter. The Art Of Ogden M. Pleissner.. David Godine (1984). Introduction By Thomas S. Buechner; 400 copies signed by the author.
Kinsella, W.P. The Moccasin Telegraph And Other Stories. David Godine (1984).
Wohlauer, Ronald W. Eye Of The Storm.. David Godine (1985). 200 numbered copies.
Rowlands, John. Holbein. David Godine (1985). The Paintings Of Hans Holbein The Younger.
Kinsella, W.P. Dance Me Outside. David Godine (1986). More Tales From The Ermineskin Reserve
Klett, Mark. Traces Of Eden. David Godine (1986). photographed by Mark Klett. Essay by Denis Johnson,critical text by Peter Galassi. Signed by Klett on title page; Travels In The Desert Southwest
Olney, Richard. Yquem.. David Godine (1986). Photographs By Michel Guillard; Broadbent, Michael (Preface By); Walter, Marc (Designer)
Perlman, Barbara H. Allan Houser. David Godine (1987). (Ha-O-Zous); Illustrated with nearly 300 photographs of Housers pieces, 132 in full color
Bates, Joseph D., Jr. The Art Of The Atlantic Salmon Fly. David Godine (1987). Line Drawings And Frontispiece By Henry Mcdaniel; 250 copies; 85 deluxe copies signed by author.
Doty, Mark. Turtle, Swan. David Godine (1987). Cover Art By Milton Avery; Poems
Perlman, Barbara H. Allan Houser. David Godine (1988).
Dubus, Andre. Selected Stories.. David Godine (1988). includingKillings, the basis for the critically acclaimed film IN THE BEDROOM,Voices From the Moon, andA Fathers Story. signed by the author on the title page
Ledbetter, Stephen. Sennets and Tuckets. David Godine (1988). A Bernstein Celebration; signed by Leonard Bernstein
Killion, Tom. The Coast Of California. David Godine (1988). illustrated with color plates from woodcuts and linoleum cuts by artist Tom Killion. Killion also provides text in the form of an introductory essay, italicized explanatory notes, and a long poem titled Glacial Mist. Eighteen four-color illustrations and numerous second color woodcuts were set and printed at the famed Stamperia Valdonega in Italy
Banville, John. Mefisto. David Godine (1989). A Novel; signed by author.
Lawson, Alexander S. Anatomy Of A Typeface. David Godine (1990). Typography, History Of Printing
Bohl, David. Beauport. David Godine (1990). Nancy Curtis; Richard C. Nylander; The Sleeper-Mccann House .
Smith, William Jay. Birds And Beasts. David Godine (1990). Woodcuts By Jacques Hnizdovsky; 1000 numbered copies.
Gill, Eric. Eric Gill. David Godine (1990). Skelton, Christopher, Editor; The Engravings
Howlett, D. Roger. The Sculpture Of Donald De Lue. David Godine (1990). Gods, Prophets, And Heroes; With contributions by Joseph Veach Noble, Jonathan L. Fairbanks, John P. Axelrod, and M. Darsie Alexander.
Dubus, Andre. Broken Vessels. David Godine (1991). Essays By Andre Dubus; 22 essays written between 1977 - 1990 including several that deal with the 1986 auto accident that left Dubus wheelchair-bound until his death in February 1999; Introduction by Dubus close friend Tobias Wolfe
Le Clezio, J. M. G. The Prospector. David Godine (1993). First American Edition; 6,400 copies; Translated from the French by Carol Marks
Leipzig, Arthur. Growing Up In New York. David Godine (1995). Foreword By Gordon Parks;Photographs By Arthur Leipzig (Signed By Artist)
Mann, Rafi Grafman. Crowning Glory. David Godine (1996). Vivian (Editor) B. Mann; Silver Torah Ornaments Of The Jewish Museum, New York.
Borges, Jorge Luis. The Library Of Babel. David Godine (2000). Translated by Andrew Hurley with an introduction by Angela Giral.
Stephans, Olin J. Lines. David Godine (2002). A Half-Century Of Yacht Designs By Sparkman and Stephens, 1930-1980
Caponigro, Paul. New England Days. David Godine (2002). Photographs and introduction by Paul Caponigro; Foreword by Aprile Gallant.
Granby, Alan. Maritime Maverick. David Godine (2006). Janice Hyland; The Collection Of William I. Koch.
Moser, Barry. Wood Engraving. David Godine (2006). The Art Of Wood Engraving And Relief Engraving