Bookwright: Wringing Images from Words

Since 1969, when he composed his first line of hand-set type, Moser has illustrated some of this century’s most beautiful private press books. World renowned for his children’s illustrations, wood engravings, watercolors, and reinterpretations of the classics, including the Pennyroyal Press editions of Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, Frankenstein, Huckleberry Finn, The Wizard of Oz, and the Pennyroyal Caxton Edition of The Holy Bible, Barry Moser’s art is represented in numerous library and museum collections. His work has been published in more than two hundred books for children and adults.

In this lecture, Barry Moser will tell the story of a modestly educated young man from East Tennessee who, disenchanted by the politics and religion of his family, workplace, and community, follows a teaching career to New England. There, in Central Massachusetts, he meets the people who will continue his education in printmaking, typography, book design, and illustration and encourage him to follow his instincts. This led to a career spanning five decades and many hundreds of book illustrations produced for his Pennyroyal Press, and for major commercial publishers, which prompts the now-experienced illustrator to offer some reflection on the art of illustration. 

51th Annual Dwiggins Lecture, co-sponsored with the Boston Public Library. This talk is open to the public.