Fine Private Presses of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

The Eragny Press, one of the fine private presses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is held by the University Library and is the only complete holding of the Press in the southern hemisphere. Created by Lucien Pissarro (son of the French Impressionist painter Camille) and his wife Esther, the Eragny Press was very influential on book design and typography. Its 32 publications are a significant addition to the University’s research material on the Arts and Crafts movement, and, uniquely, it combined elements of that movement with those of the French Impressionists. For more information on the Press, see www.unimelb.edu.au/culturalcollections/research/collections2/fleming.pdf.

Pictured: Gerard de Nerval, Histoire de la reine du matin & de Soliman prince des genies, frontispiece, Hammersmith: Eragny Press, 1909, Special Collections, University of Melbourne.