Melville on Piranesi
Date1969
Publisher
Gehenna Press
(American private publisher, 1942–2005)
Original created by
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
(Italian draftsman, architect, etcher, 1720–1778)
Designer
Leonard Baskin
(American sculptor and printmaker, 1922–2000)
MediumLithograph and letterpress
Dimensions24 1/8 x 35 in. (61.3 x 88.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Alfred Appel, Jr., 2009
Object number2009-44
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextIn 1969, Leonard Baskin's Gehenna Press produced this offset lithograph of the title page of Piranesi's 18th-century "Carceri" print portfolio. It was paired with a broadside of an excerpt from Herman Melville's novel in verse, Clarel, in which the author ponders Piranesi's work. The set was produced to celebrate to 150th anniversary of Melville's birth.
