When I was in high school my family and I had the good fortune to meet a printer whose work we’d enjoyed for a number of years: APA printer Egdon Margo of Sherman Oaks, California. Known as Don to his friends, Margo was a professional calligrapher and private press printer with a quick wit, a love of letters, and a soft spot for helping budding printers and calligraphers get started. Don Margo told us he first got interested in calligraphy as a serviceman during the blitz in World War II. During the bombing he took refuge in a London bookstore with a calligraphy display in the window. Afterwards he returned to study the beautiful hand lettering closer and decided to try it himself. When I met Don Margo, he was well known in the calligraphic world, had won several awards, and made his living writing calligraphic titles and credits for the movies. He never mentioned much about that though. He was one of those people who was on fire with being creative: enthusiastic, animated, and full of fun. He loved calligraphy, he loved printing, and he loved talking with people. My father Gary Hantke called him, “Herr Schoenscriber”, or “Mr. Beautiful Writer” in German. A Hollywood studio offered its stars calligraphic stationary. Don Margo did this sketch for the studio, and several were produced. When I studied italic handwriting a few years later in school, Don Margo mailed me a large envelope full of samples of his work. Included was an article about him written in the 1950s, through which I learned more about how he got started with hand lettering. I loved how, tongue-in-cheek, he apologized for the picture of himself, “A thousand pardons for inflicting this ancient screen upon thee.” Envelope full of calligraphic goodies sent to me by Don Margo. Biographical article on Margo published in 1958. Don Margo was a talented writer with a great sense of humor. His humorous bookmarks, and parodies on poems such as Jabberwocky and The Raven were the talk of the APA bundles. Among his favorite typefaces was Paul Hayden Duensing’s Sixteenth Century Roman. Below are several examples (click on any image to enlarge) of his printing and wit, courtesy of John Horn. Thank you, Don Margo, for being such an inspiration to me, as well as an absolute delight to know! The humorous credo of Margo's press. On top of a great sense of humor, Don Margo had an amazing vocabulary. Don Margo's original version of Typowocky, a parody of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. John Horn's 2010 reprint of Margo's Typowocky, with all typeface names printed in the type mentioned.
Emma Lazarus, (born July 22, 1849, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 19, 1887, New York City), American poet and essayist best known for her sonnet “The New Colossus,” written to the Statue of Liberty. Born into a cultured family of Sephardic (Spanish Jewish) stock, Lazarus learned languages and the classics at an early age. She early displayed a talent for poetry, and her first book, Poems and Translations (1867), was praised by Ralph Waldo Emerson. She dedicated her next book, Admetus and Other Poems (1871), to him. These and subsequent volumes—the prose Alide: An Episode of Goethe’s Life (1874), a
“Childcraft, Volume One. Poems of Early Childhood.” Published by the Quarrie Corp in Chicago. Copyright 1923, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, and 1939. Edited by S. Edgar Farquhar and Patty Smith Hill. Art editor Milo Winter. 38 artists listed in addition to the work of Milo Winter. Illustrated by Electra Popadopoulos.
“Childcraft, Volume One. Poems of Early Childhood.” Published by the Quarrie Corp in Chicago. Copyright 1923, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, and 1939. Edited by S. Edgar Farquhar and Patty Smith Hill. Art editor Milo Winter. 38 artists listed in addition to the work of Milo Winter.
My daughter Colleen left today for a teaching position in Korea. It's not the first time she has gone overseas. She studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain for a year and taught in Extremadura, Spain a couple years later. So I guess I'm broken in and definitely not a nervous wreck like the first time. But I still missed her the minute she walked out the door. How is it possible to be proud and feel sad at the same time? So I'm comforting myself by eating a bunch of candy and showing a book I read to all my kids, (3 girls, 1 boy) and my grandson. Poems to Read to the Very Young ranks high in sentimentality for me and I love some of the poems in this book. Beautifully illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, who had a lovely way of portraying children. Wilkin used her children and in later years, grandchildren as models. Eloise Wilkin (1904-1987), an award winning illustrator and author, had a career that spanned over 50 years. Wilkin is best known for her Golden Books, working for them for almost 20 years and illustrating over 50 books for Golden, some of which are still in print. Many of her books have become classics. In her career she illustrated well over 100 books! To read about Eloise Wilkin, Cassandra of Cassandra Considers All Things Bright and Beautiful did a very comprehensive post on the life of Wilkin in 2010 - to view that click here. Eloise's daughter, Deborah Wilkin Springett, wrote a book about her mother's life, called The Golden Years of Eloise Wilkin. Poems to Read to the Very Young Selected by Josette Frank Illustrated by Eloise Wilkin Random House, 1982
1st published in 1885. This is the first edition with illustrations by Bessie Collins Pease
15 poems celebrating the food that we love and enjoy. Poems cover classic food poems, odes to specific foods, immigration, children's poems and more.
Mother Goose, Rand McNally Elf Book Chicago) , illustrated by Esther Friend, 1947. This is a much later printing because there's a barcode on the back cover.
“William, William, writing late by the chill and sooty grate, what immortal story can make your tiger roar again?”
1st published in 1885. This is the first edition with illustrations by Bessie Collins Pease
“Halfway Down” (A Singable Poem)
The best modern poetry books full of thought-provoking words on the magical hope of wonder and the healing power of facing hurt.
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Three of my favorite poems for living that will inspire you. This Friday, I wanted to move away from writing about the many things that we need to do to improve ourselves. It can be
