Foreword by Claire Gilman. Text by Josiah McElheny.
This publication brings together Robert Walser’s microscripts and Emily Dickinson’s poem manuscripts for the first time. Although Walser, who was born shortly before Dickinson died, was most likely unaware of her work, both writers were obsessively private as well as peculiarly attentive to the visual dimension of their texts. Walser wrote in tiny, inscrutable script on narrow strips of paper using an antiquated German alphabet that was long considered indecipherable. Only recently have these scripts been shown to consist of early drafts of the author’s published texts. Similarly, Dickinson fitted her poetic fragments to carefully torn pieces of envelope or stationery, which were discovered among her posthumous papers. (W.G. Sebald called Walser a "clairvoyant of the small," and this description might apply to Dickinson as well.) Rarely in literature has the manner in which words are made been so integral to the way they might be read.
FORMAT: Pbk, 6 x 9 in. / 134 pgs / 80 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $20.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $25 ISBN: 9780942324792 PUBLISHER: The Drawing Center AVAILABLE: 4/30/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by The Drawing Center. Foreword by Claire Gilman. Text by Josiah McElheny.
This publication brings together Robert Walser’s microscripts and Emily Dickinson’s poem manuscripts for the first time. Although Walser, who was born shortly before Dickinson died, was most likely unaware of her work, both writers were obsessively private as well as peculiarly attentive to the visual dimension of their texts. Walser wrote in tiny, inscrutable script on narrow strips of paper using an antiquated German alphabet that was long considered indecipherable. Only recently have these scripts been shown to consist of early drafts of the author’s published texts. Similarly, Dickinson fitted her poetic fragments to carefully torn pieces of envelope or stationery, which were discovered among her posthumous papers. (W.G. Sebald called Walser a "clairvoyant of the small," and this description might apply to Dickinson as well.) Rarely in literature has the manner in which words are made been so integral to the way they might be read.
