Thornwillow Launches a Kickstarter campaign for Song of Solomon.
There is, perhaps, no greater figure in recent American literature than Toni Morrison. A once-in-a-generation talent, known for both her unflinching look at race in the United States and her luminescent prose, Morrison received the Pulitzer Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Now, with the blessing of her family and estate, Thornwillow Press is launching a Kickstarter campaign to publish the first-ever fine press edition of her work: the iconic novel Song of Solomon.
The Thornwillow edition of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon includes a series of limited issues – all of them handmade, letterpress printed and bound by hand, with limited deluxe versions worthy of Morrison’s legacy, including:
- Paper wrapper issue featuring letterpress printed covers, heavy archival stock, and sewn signatures
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Half-cloth issue featuring a cloth spine and corners, letterpress printed boards and endpapers, and a letterpress spine label
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Leather bound issue presented in an elegant clamshell box
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Patrons’ copies, featuring covers inspired by key characters in the novel:
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Guitar bindings, leather bound in yellow morocco
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Macon Dead bindings, leather bound in pepper red morocco
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Milkman bindings, leather bound in light blue morocco set with opals
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Pilate bindings, with soft leather artist binding presented in a wood box
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Archival sets bound in full black moroccan goatskin with hand-marbled endpapers, each paired with a signed first edition of Song of Solomon, presented together in a fitted wooden box.
Every copy includes a portrait of Toni Morrison by celebrated photographer Helen Marcus. The leather and Patrons’ copies reproduce the beautiful photograph as a hand-printed photogravure.
“Today, we are in a time of change,” said Thornwillow Press President & Publisher Luke I. Pontifell. “We find ourselves turning to our past, examining it, reevaluating it, reconsidering our heroes and challenging our fears. Together, we unite around stories that define our individual and collective identities. It is important that we preserve and celebrate stories that matter to us today, that shape our identities and preserve our memory. There’s never been a better time to publish the first fine press edition of a novel by Toni Morrison, as we celebrate her work and her inspiring legacy.”
