Arion Press Don Quixote or Paradise Lost? Opinions please.

Does anyone have an opinion on which one is the better buy? I am an Arion subscriber and am considering the above titles as a potential Christmas gift. I've heard the Cervantes is somewhat unevenly printed (I have both the 1933 and 1950 LEC versions), but still considered one of AP's top 3 or 4 titles (after Moby Dick and Leaves of Grass). Most reports and reviews indicate the Milton is excellent. Any suggestions? Moderation (and budget) demands that only one of the titles may be purchased (shipping is gratis...woo hoo!).

I do not own the Don Quixote, so cannot comment on it. I do own the Paradise Lost, and it is the ideal reading copy, imo. Excellent typography and pressmanship on very nice paper. Highly recommended.

I also only own the Paradise Lost volume, of the two. The Don is substantially more expensive, but also has the uniqueness of being the only fine press treatment of Grossman's translation.

Arion's Paradise Lost is probably my single favorite book that I own. It has a very strong personality, despite direct inspiration from and reference to the early Baskerville printings. It is restrained, but precise. The lack of illustration, and the choice of binding material (linen rather than leather) combines to focus all attention on the basic structure, as if every superficial luxury was foregone to emphasize the balance and harmony of the fundamentals: paper, printing, construction, and verse. Even the paper is, by fine press standards, an exercise in restraint (heavy smooth Zerkall). These choices lend the two minor concessions to opulence greater effect, which are the gold lettering on the purple leather spine label and the blackletter header font.

I have special regard for the work itself as well (Paradise Lost is the book in my library that I have the most copies of) but even apart from that connection I would think it is a triumph.

>1 Sport1963: I own Don Quixote and it does have uneven printing. It was discussed in another thread and for some reason unable to find it at the moment, sorry about that.

I don't have many AP books, but from the ones I have, I love Tartuffe's book design and printing (for the asking price) and 'The Leopard' book's choice of using photographs from the movie to accompany the text.

>4 venkysuniverse: Regarding the unevenness of the DQ printing, it is simply inexcusable and unacceptable for such an expensive book and for a press with such a high reputation. It puts me off purchasing it.

What is the quality of pressmanship of The Leopard?

You can see my review of the AP DQ at the link below, if it helps. It's a wonderful book. Yes, there is some uneven presswork. But to be honest, I don't recall noticing when I read it, being engrossed in the story. I don't mention it in my review of 10 years ago. I had to go back and look in my particular copy when people were bringing it up. It may be that some copies are worse than others.

At the end of the day, in this reader's opinion, this is THE reading edition. It's Edith Grossman. It's fabulous and flawed like Sancho and the Don.

While I have had the Paradise in my hands while browsing the library at the press, I would not trade my DQ for it.

http://www.thewholebookexperience.com/2011/06/09/the-arion-press-don-quixote/

>5 ultrarightist: It's quietly excellent. Nothing is outstanding but everything is done very well. The best part of the book is it's readable size. My personal favorite AP purchase.

>5 ultrarightist: For some reason I can definitely see the uneven printing across multiple pages and across both books. It does put me off to be honest as I was really looking forward to the edition. It is not a showstopper but not expected of AP as well.I can understand what jveezer is alluding to, but I believe AP should have done better quality control on it (for the price) as they have a high standard to keep up to. But again, I don't think any other press can even attempt this book in the near future. The only other book with 500+ (in my collection) is 'The Innocents Abroad' by Sherwin Beach Press. I adore the binding and the paper (Arches Johannot). It is still roughly half the page count of AP's DQ.

http://sherwinbeach.com/new/Innocents.php

Leopard's printing is perfect and have not seen this uneven printing in any of the other AP books I own.

Thank you to all for your very helpful feedback. I spoke with the folks at AP this morning and they committed to put another set of "Quality Assurance" eyes with respect to the printing consistency of the Don Quixote copy they send to me. Worst case, I get the books and decide the quality isn't up to snuff - and return the set. No harm, no foul.

I'll update this thread with the results and pictures either way.

>8 venkysuniverse: I've had that Sherwin Press The Innocents Abroad in my hand at every single CODEX, wanting to pull the trigger so bad. What a beautiful and unique treatment for the book. The binding is amazing.

I owned the Paradise Lost briefly. Liked the binding and boards. Very sturdy. But it's hard to really like Arion Press books b/c of the crazy prices and the lack of "bite" to the type with the few AP books I've owned. They can't all be Grabhorn Press, but I want to be able to feel something at least when I run my hands inappropriately over the page. Paradise Lost type definitely didn't have much bite. Also the typography here is deliberately derivative to pay tribute to certain antiquarian editions which may be a +/- for you.

With price, the good thing is that you can Paradise Lost for a discount at auction. Bad thing is if you want the blake illustrations in addition to the book, you better be willing to rob a bank first.

>11 MobyRichard: "Also the typography here is deliberately derivative to pay tribute to certain antiquarian editions which may be a +/- for you."

Definitely a plus for me. The typography is one of the highlights of the edition for me.

And while there is little to no bite, the pressmanship is superlative.

>10 jveezer: Agreed. The website pics does not do any justice to this beautiful edition. It was 'love at first sight' when I noticed it at the Oxford book fair couple of years ago at the press's stall. The bright red cover and the unique binding made me make an impulse decision to go for it and I thank myself for doing it as I think I grabbed the last copy.

>6 jveezer: Having read your review several times, I've had DQ on my wishlist for a while. So, I just took the plunge and ordered it.

>9 Sport1963: Like you, I also asked AP to check for consistent ink quality. So, hope it won't be too much of an issue. Can't wait... 😊

There were some photos on a now-dormant thread of the weak impressions on some copies of DQ, but those photos are no longer available. Does anyone have any examples of this problem they can share here?

OT: I can't think of a better choice for illustrator for DQ than William T. Wiley, whose work is as whimsical and satirical as Cervantes'. And, having met him, I can tell you he's as quirky as his work suggests!

>3 abysswalker: You sound like the perfect person to ask, what do you think of John Shawcross’ editing of Paradise Lost? When I hear about editors “fixing” punctuation & capitalization because they know best it always makes me hesitant to read their editions. Do you by any chance own the green spined Folio Society Edition? How does it compare to any other editions you own?

>16 mad_yosemite: the short answer is that I think he did a good job and had strong justifications for his decisions. It is not a revisionist edit.

Now for the slightly longer version. I should also note that I am a Milton enthusiast, not a Milton scholar.

First, for many of the decisions, "fixing" is probably the wrong word, because there are multiple textual sources that all have claims to various kinds of priority. Any text one presents will involve choices. Even within Milton's lifetime, the poem was published officially in several variants that involve substantial modifications (such as the change from division into 10 books to division into 12 books, the later version involving the addition of 10-15 lines). Additionally, "argument" summaries were added to the start of each book.

Second, Milton wrote by dictation a large portion of the poem when he was going blind or already blind by means of an amanuensis. And then these texts had to pass through the hands of editors, compositors, printers, and so forth. Some of the decisions around punctuation, spelling, and even diction must have occasionally come from people other than Milton involved in the production process.

The Arion edition contains at the end a thoughtful discussion by Shawcross of his editing decisions and the underlying logic. In general, his approach seems reasonable and restrained. The spelling and capitalization choices seem trivial as far as I can tell, and none threaten the prosody. He justifies strongly the few changes that seem most like corrections to me (such as changing "reality" to "fealty"—reality makes little sense in the specific context and Milton has used the other fealty construction elsewhere). I believe he is not the first to have proposed these changes (and there are only a few). The issue of punctuation in lines with extensive run-ons is a bit more complex, and one that I don't really feel qualified to weigh in on. It is true that choices in this regard can occasionally shift meanings in a way that might have theological import (if one cares about such nuances), but in terms of the poetry or more immediate considerations of plot and action, the differences seem exceedingly minor.

Finally, while I think there is no one best way to read a poem, it may be worth keeping in mind that Paradise Lost is an epic and benefits from being recited, just like Homer, Virgil, and similar works. Many of the editing concerns fade into the background when you read passages aloud or hear them recited.

If you are curious about specific comparisons, I have a copy of the second Baskerville printing (1759). I think I only have one copy from the nineteenth century. It is a fun one though, being a complete "poetical works" in duodecimo printed on India paper. (It is my travel copy that I take in my carry on luggage!)

It is hard to find 19th century copies in good condition that can compete with the embarrassment of riches available in 20th and 21st century printings of Paradise Lost. Most of the time, you're simply paying for rarity when it comes to 19th century antiquarian editions, rather than actual production quality, and rarity alone generally does not interest me.

And to answer your final questions more directly, I don't have a copy of the green-spine Folio edition, but I do have a copy of two-volume Folio edition with the John Martin mezzotints. The two-volume edition (from 2014 I think) is a great set, but I am most likely to reach for the Arion when I feel like reading Paradise Lost.

The strengths of the others mostly lie in the art, and I would choose one of them if I wanted to read a section accompanied by Dore (or whatever).

>17 abysswalker: I greatly appreciate you taking the time to reply to my inquiry. Everything you said about the Arion Press edition in your post from last year matched my impression of the book, although I’ve only seen photos online. It looks like the perfect design for allowing the poem to shine, and I think Paradise Lost is the greatest thing I’ve ever read. As for the editing, I never even took into consideration that every single edition is going to have some editor’s imprint on it. For now I’m going to try and hold onto my Heritage Press Edition, but although the Arion is pricey I’m not sure I have the will power to pass it up. The heritage is actually pretty nice and would be a fine copy if it wasn’t for the poorly produced illustrations. One of them is so blurry that it makes me sick to look at it. It’s like looking at a loading image on a computer screen.
For now I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a Folio Society limited edition.
Again, thanks for the reply.

Funny enough I subscribed to AP to get these two books specifically and they are both fantastic. My two favorite books in my (admittedly small) collection. In a fire I would grab DQ.

Much has been said here about the quality of the construction of PL. How is the modernized text? Does it take away from the reading?