>> From the Library of Congress in Washington,DC. ^M00:00:20 >> Juan Felipe Herrera: Hello, this is Juan Felipe Herrera, US Poet Laureate and I'm here at the Special Collections and Rare Books Division with Mark Manivong. And we have been looking at these beautiful materials that Mark is going to begin to tell us about. What do we have here, Mark? >> Mark Manivong: Well first I pulled some materials from our Sylvester & Orphanos collection. Sylvester & Orphanos is a small publisher in Los Angeles, CA. They did about 25 fine editions of works by popular authors, and culminating with their Tsarouchis volume which is a tribute to the Greek artist Tsarouchis. It includes about 36 serigraphs and several tributes from other authors and painters. >> Herrera: You know, we were talking about that collection, and it's a pretty big collection in addition to the prints and art...tell us a little bit about the art of Tsarouchis actually. >> Manivong: Okay. Well, he's a modern Greek painter. He was most active from about 1930 through about 2000. He does a lot of very realistic, very raw paintings, most of which are men. A lot of his paintings are homo-erotic. The women that he paints are typically very strong, very much like a Frida Kahlo figure. >> Herrera: That's right. We notice that. And what is the medium? It's a very...it looks like a watercolor...looks like acrylic. >> Manivong: Acrylic. >> Herrera: Acrylic. >> Manivong: Typically. He did do some drawings, some charcoal and pen and ink I believe. And he was also active in the theatre and he did set designs. >> Herrera: Ohhh...I didn't know that part. Oh, that's amazing. And...what about the tributes. This is also very interesting. >> Manivong: Yes. The tributes are from authors and other painters, some hoteliers and other major figures--authors such as Odysseus Elytis, who was the Poet Laureate of Poetry, pardon me, in 1976. >> Herrera: That's right. >> Manivong: Yes, and Reynolds Price, a major American author. James Merrill, another major American author and poet. >> Herrera: And this is done on letter press? >> Manivong: Yes it is. >> Herrera: That's a lot of good work there. >> Manivong: And the tributes were in both English and then you could turn it over and they're in Greek. >> Herrera: That's right. That's right. I'm really moved by this. I'm really inspired by the work of this artist. And I was looking at the faces. They kind of remind me of a litle bit, of course it's very different, of Matisse's faces and the dark outline pencil. >> Manivong: Yes. >> Herrera: That's beautiful. >> Manivong: Yes >> Herrera: And the other work that you showed me was.... >> Manivong: Well, the collection, these are the...a selection of the 25 editions that they published. And then, as part of that acquisition we also received their archive for all 25 editions of their books. So I pulled out one archive. Each archive is divided into...by publication. And then this one is for John Cheevers' Expelled, a miniature book. And included in the archive are letters from the publishers requesting permission to publish a work, any kind of responses the received from writers or their agents, and here we have a selection of letters from the artist they contracted with to do with the book. And this particular artist, Warren Chappell, in all of his publications he would include a little drawing on his letterhead. >> Herrera: That's what I really liked about these letters. You wouldn't see this kind of material at all if we hadn't collected it or acquired it. And it's so beautiful because the handwriting of the artist, and it's a letter, and then the artist decides to draw something on that letter and just kind of gobble up the whole page. I like that. >> Manivong: And some of them are quite intricate drawings. >> Herrera: That's true. >> Manivong: Yes. >> Herrrera: We have...what is this like a... >> Manivong: A gargoyle. >> Herrera: Like a gargoyle and we have a... [ Laughter ] >> Herrera: Who's this guy? >> Manivong: I have no idea! >> Herrera: He looks kind of stately there. And then we have like a clown balancing a feather--and on and on. And different colors and different inks and everything. I love this. It's like we could do letters, on kind of a stationary, responding to a publisher and then we could add our drawings in there. That's beautiful. So I think that's great. >> Manivong: And part of the...the other part of the archive, we also have author-corrected proof pages so you could track back and see if there are any changes text over the years, over multiple publications and where that change may have occurred. We have samples of bindings, gatherings, the individual gatherings from the publication. >> Herrera: And the gatherings are before the book is actually bound and produced. They're like, let's see what it looks like...and these are the gatherings. So we have gatherings for even a small size like that. >> Manivong: Okay. The next collection I'd like to show you is our Poet's Laureate collection. This collection is made up of all the works of the Poets Laureate. We collect every title, every edition. And that frequently includes small press works, broadsides, anything that the Poets have produced. >> Herrera: That's amazing. I'm looking at the, this one by Maxine Kumin. When was that done? >> Manivong: Yeah, I don't know exactly. I can check. >> Herrera: A while ago. That's for sure. >> Manivong: But typically, these are signed by the poets when they're here. This is from 1992. >> Herrera: 1992. That's a very nice looking book. >> Manivong: But anything that she's produced we will add it to our collection. >> Herrera: Right. And then the broadsides. >> Manivong: Broadsides are amazing. These are typically single poems and they are combined with artwork, most often a woodblock print. Sometimes there's a drawing or a small painting that goes on them. They are usually done in limited edition, so maybe about a hundred to a hundred and fifty copies. >> Herrera: That's what I noticed that there are not many, there are not like 200 or 300, there's around a hundred. >> Manivong: Right. >> Herrera: Yeah like a hundred. There's not like a thousand. >> Manivong: Right. >> Herrera: It's a short edition. And then they're also signed, and numbered and signed mostly in pencil. >> Manivong: Right. >> Herrera: That's interesting. Not all of the time, but most of the time. >> Manivong: And they're usually done by fine presses. >> Herrera: That's right. >> Manivong: And we even have your works right here, the most recent Poet Laureate. >> Herrera: I just noticed. Good going. >> Manivong: Thank you. >> Herrera: And this is a bigger piece over here. >> Manivong: Right. That's a fine press book by a small press in Richmond, VA and it's Charles Wright's Yard Journal. And this has what I believe, I think these are serigraphs combined with his poetry. >> Herrera: Very nice. Kind of a...the serigraphs are very interesting. They're kind of galactic or something. >> Manivong: Very modern looking. >> Herrera: Very modern looking. Kind of like a new universe coming into being. >> Manivong: Right. [ Laughter ] >> Herrera: Maybe that's what he's talking about. Maybe it corresponds. A mist in the trees. A mist in the trees and new stars, old songs. Maybe that's going on. Beautiful poems, beautiful serigraphs, beautiful book, beautiful collection. >> Manivong: Thank you. >> Herrera: Thank you so much. >> Manivong: Thank you for coming. >> Herrera: Thank you Mark. >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at loc.gov.