The Nose | Nikolai Gogol | William Kentridge
The Nose | Nikolai Gogol | William Kentridge
A novella by Nikolai Gogol
English translation and commentary by Stanislav Shvabrin
With 16 artworks and a flipbook by William Kentridge
Signed by the artist.
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“[The translation] aims at giving the reader a sense of joy—mixed with a dash of bewilderment—that the Russian readers continue to derive from their interaction with this novella.”
This edition of The Nose is a new original translation by scholar and author Stanislav Shvabrin. The presentation is playful and elaborate, inspired by the exuberant typography and avant-garde book arts of early 20th-century Russia. Artist William Kentridge provided 16 altered and collaged images for the book, composed on tear sheets of the 19th-century tabloid The Illustrated London News, which have been reproduced in full-color offset lithography on tinted backgrounds.
The 116-page book is an oblong format, 9-⅛ x 10-¾ inches, and is printed by letterpress on mouldmade 160 gsm Magnani “BFK Rives”. Monotype Gloucester metal types used to print the edition were cast on site for the project in the M&H Type foundry. Cheltenham and various selections from the press’ historic type collection were composed by hand for display text.
All copies of The Nose are signed by Kentridge and presented in foam-lined clamshell boxes which open to reveal the embedded book and flipbook companion volume "His Majesty Comrade Nose”. The flipbook depicts Kentridge in the guise of the socially climbing Nose, ascending a ladder and tumbling down in pieces… over and again.
Forty limited-edition Deluxe copies include the photogravure “Surveying His Escape”, pictured below in a preliminary proof. The prints are 14-⅞” x 18-¼” (image area 9-¼” x 13-¼”) on 300 gsm Somerset with gampi chine collé and kozo insets, valued at $3,750.
Production Details
Limited edition of 190 numbered copies for sale
Variant edition of 20 numbered copies for sale – Sold out
Deluxe edition of 40 numbered copies for saleOblong format, 9-⅛ by 10-¾ inches, 88 pages plus 28 unnumbered pages for the artworks
Square-backed, hand-sewn binding
Includes flipbook “His Majesty Comrade Nose”
Limited edition bound in maroon book cloth with paper sides printed with cork pinboard motif. Presented in handmade clamshell box of yellow book cloth binding with foil stamping, paper sides of cork pinboard print, and black foam lining.
Deluxe and Variant editions bound in quarter maroon leather spine with real cork paper sides. Presented in handmade clamshell box of flax color book cloth binding with foil stamping, paper sides of cork pinboard print, and black foam lining.
Deluxe edition accompanied by photogravure “Surveying His Escape” in portfolio
Arion Press publication #119, 2021