Size: 10” wide x 14” high
Paper: Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Softwhite100# Cover
Edition: 225
Published: 2001 by Clamp Down Press (a small press run by Bodwell)
Letterpress printed in two colors. All copies signed by Philip Levine and illustrator Michael McCurdy.
This is the only broadside ever produced of “What Work Is,” which is arguably not only Levine’s most revered poem, but one of the most important American poems written in the second half of the twentieth century. McCurdy’s initial sketch for his illustration featured the line of men prominently in the foreground. Levine liked the sketch—and especially appreciated that McCurdy had researched the architecture of Detroit motor plants—but asked if the men could be moved out of the foreground and become mere silhouettes “dominated” by the urban and industrial landscape. McCurdy found the art direction inspired.
Since the “What Work Is” broadside was produced in 2001, both Levine and McCurdy have passed away (2015 and 2016, respectively).
WOOD ENGRAVING
The 5-inch x 7-inch wood engraving was printed directly from the original woodblock. The wood engraving was editioned separately from the metal type in order to maintain a lighter impression on the press: the extremely fine line work in the wood engraving required the woodblock to be cleaned after every five impressions.
AUTHOR
Philip Levine was one of the most respected and admired poets of his generation. His 1980 collection Ashes: Poems New and Old won both the National Book Award and National Books Critics Circle Award. In 1991, What Work Is won Levine another National Book Award. His 1994 collection The Simple Truth was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. In 2006 he was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, and in 2011 was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate.
ARTIST
Michael McCurdy’s distinctive illustrations appeared in more than two hundred books for children and adults. After studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, he founded Penmaen Press in 1968 to print and publish fine limited editions books and broadsides.
SHIPPING & HANDLING
Shipping and handling included in $85.00
Size: 10” wide x 14” high
Paper: Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Softwhite100# Cover
Edition: 225
Published: 2001 by Clamp Down Press (a small press run by Bodwell)
Letterpress printed in two colors. All copies signed by Philip Levine and illustrator Michael McCurdy.
This is the only broadside ever produced of “What Work Is,” which is arguably not only Levine’s most revered poem, but one of the most important American poems written in the second half of the twentieth century. McCurdy’s initial sketch for his illustration featured the line of men prominently in the foreground. Levine liked the sketch—and especially appreciated that McCurdy had researched the architecture of Detroit motor plants—but asked if the men could be moved out of the foreground and become mere silhouettes “dominated” by the urban and industrial landscape. McCurdy found the art direction inspired.
Since the “What Work Is” broadside was produced in 2001, both Levine and McCurdy have passed away (2015 and 2016, respectively).
WOOD ENGRAVING
The 5-inch x 7-inch wood engraving was printed directly from the original woodblock. The wood engraving was editioned separately from the metal type in order to maintain a lighter impression on the press: the extremely fine line work in the wood engraving required the woodblock to be cleaned after every five impressions.
AUTHOR
Philip Levine was one of the most respected and admired poets of his generation. His 1980 collection Ashes: Poems New and Old won both the National Book Award and National Books Critics Circle Award. In 1991, What Work Is won Levine another National Book Award. His 1994 collection The Simple Truth was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. In 2006 he was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, and in 2011 was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate.
ARTIST
Michael McCurdy’s distinctive illustrations appeared in more than two hundred books for children and adults. After studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, he founded Penmaen Press in 1968 to print and publish fine limited editions books and broadsides.
SHIPPING & HANDLING
Shipping and handling included in $85.00