West Hatfield, Massachusetts: Pennyroyal Press (1987)

Limited Edition. Signed.

One of 150 copies signed by Eudora Welty and Barry Moser. Eudora Welty's story is llustrated with Moser's engravings from the original blocks. The book design is also by Moser: beautifully bound in deep red leather with gold spine labeling and marbled end papers.

The Story Behind the Book

John Evans, Lemuria Bookstore owner, had long wished for his two friends, Miss Welty, and the woodcut engraver and illustrator, Barry Moser, to collaborate on a book. Before long, Barry Moser found himself in Miss Welty's front parlor, enjoying a bourbon with John and his wife and Miss Welty. Everyone, and most importantly Miss Welty, could not have been more delighted when Moser expressed his desire to illustrate The Robber Bridegroom (1942). (Moser noted that Miss Welty was only disappointed that they did not eat the sandwiches she had made.)

As the Brothers Grimm were committed to preserving the folk tales of the common people, so Welty was in setting the dark tale of The Robber Bridegroom on the Natchez Trace. With this in mind, Moser captured the atmosphere of the late 18th century Natchez Trace in woodcuts: the deceptive and conniving crow, Rosamond left bare after being robbed, and the head of the infamous land pirate of the Trace—Big Harp—grotesquely set on a pole.

As described in In the Face of Presumptions, Barry Moser employs what he calls The Whole Book philosophy:

“a book is what a painting is to a painter—a thoughtfully conceived and carefully executed object . . . a coherent and intelligent marriage of text, type, and image.”

To expand on this, Moser reflects on the business of books:

“I believe that most of us—authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers—are in this business because we love books and are dedicated to them. And not just to books either, but to good books. And good books, as George Moore said, are invincible things, neither malice nor stupidity can crush them.”

Since 1970, Moser's Pennyroyal Press has published over 200 books.

Moser's octavo edition of The Robber Bridegroom, bound in scarlet leather with a blind stamp of the crow on the cover, features gilt lettering on the spine, marble endpapers and 28 woodcut engravings. Only 150 copies were printed by Pennyroyal Press and signed by Welty and Moser on a special page in the back. In 1991, Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich published a trade edition with a larger print run.

See all editions of The Robber Bridegroom

Written by Lisa Newman