edward estlin

there was a time when my goal was to collect a book from all the great presses: aldine, aldus, bodoni. not sure where this idea originated, rather 19th-century, i think. i purchased a few but my enthusiasm waned and my goal with it. what i did continue to focus on was great title pages. here is one of my favorites, by edward estlin. you don't hear designers speak much of this, however. i remember it mostly from my english classes in college.

cummings was a master of understanding how to emphasize what he wanted to say. visually as well as when read out loud. i am no cummings scholar but have always liked his book the enormous room and loved how visual his poems are. i have never really appreciated poetry and i regret this.

this wonderful title page has a beautiful arrangement. it is just right. the designer as author. rather, the author as designer. i have never done any research to discover how involved cummings was with the typesetting of his works. yet another life path gone by and not taken.