Ispoetryavisualart?Whydothepagesofnineteenth-centurypoetrylooksodifferenttothoseoftwentieth-centuryverse?Exploitingtheexpressivepossibilitiesofprint--fromspacingandindentationtoalignmentandtypeface--isoneofthedefiningwaysinwhichpoetrywasmodernizedinthetwentiethcentury.WhilethevisualexperimentsofEuropeanpoetshavebeenwelldocumented,thetypographicalexplorationsofpoetswritinginEnglishhavebeenlargelyneglected.Thisvolumeconfrontsamajorunansweredquestion:whydidBritishandAmericanpoets,fromthebeginningofthetwentiethcenturyrightuptothepresentday,choosetoexperimentwiththedesignandlay-outoftheprintedpage?Thisbookaimstoprovidethefirstdetailedaccountofthislineageofliterarystyle,examiningthepoetryandcriticismoffiguressuchasEzraPound,HopeMirrlees,WilliamCarlosWilliams,E.E.Cummings,MarianneMoore,DavidJones,DeniseLevertov,CharlesOlson,FrancesMotzBoldereff,andJ.H.Prynne.Itdrawsonunpublishedarchivalmaterialstoshowhowpoetsbegantodraft,sketch,andcomposeinnewandeccentricwaysastheyannexedtherolesofbookdesignerandprinter.Typography,itargues,wasinstrumentalindebatesaboutmetre,freeverse,andthenatureofpoetryaspoemsmorphedintoscores,slogans,maps,andsigns.Itinvestigateshowthetypographyofpoetrywasanimatedbymusicology,psychophysics,linguistics,politics,ophthalmology,cartography,andadvertising.
OPHTHALMOLOGY VERSE SKETCH GRAPHICS TYPOGRAPHY DavidJones
