Heading: (Wagener, Richard - Arion Press)
Author: Steinbeck, John & Edward F. Ricketts
Title: Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel & Research
Place Published: San Francisco
Publisher:The Arion Press
Date Published: 2020
Description:

xv, 218, [1] pp. Preface by Jeffrey Yang. 5 wood engravings of marine specimens and a 3-color wood engraving of the famed Western Flyer by Richard Wagener. Deluxe version with additional loose copy of the 3-color engraving housed in publisher's portfolio. (4to) 31x22 cm (12¼x8¾"), deluxe variant of the binding with coral quarter-leather and cloth-covered boards. salvaged wood veneer label from wood of the Western Flyer, map on endpapers charting the voyage of the Western Flyer designed by Martin Machado; housed in artisanal wooden box built by Jonathan Anzalone from Monterey Cypress wood and from old-growth Douglas Fir reclaimed from the Western Flyer. No. 36 of 40 deluxe copies from a total edition of 281.

Signed by Richard Wagener at colophon as issued and on separate 3-color wood engraving of the Western Flyer. Additionally signed by the staff of Arion Press. The celebrated scientific voyage made by Steinbeck and Ricketts to the Gulf of California in 1940 resulted in the classic, "Sea of Cortez," magnificently presented here in a deluxe edition by Arion Press with six exquisite engravings by Richard Wagener, as well as endpapers drawn by Martin Machado depicting a map of the voyage and a wood veneer label featuring his depiction of the Sonoran coast. For this edition, Arion Press salvaged wood from the famed vessel, the 76-foot "Western Flyer" on which the events recounted take place and crafted parts of it into each of the 250 copies produced; the cover label and box of this Deluxe edition is crafted of wood from the vessel with all its charming imperfections, including the distinctive iron hobnail holes. "These wood relics complete the story of the Western Flyer, marrying the boat together with the book that 'sang its deep note into the wind'" (A Note on the Wood, issued with volume). Laid in are 2 copies of the prospectus and "A Note on the Wood" on Arion Press letterhead.

"Sea of Cortez" is a collaboration which represents one of Steinbeck's most important works of non-fiction. Ricketts, Steinbeck's friend and partner on the voyage and narrative, shaped his thinking and provided the prototype for many of the pivotal characters in his fiction. The resulting texts provides insights into the philosophies of both men. Sea of Cortez reads partly as a traveler's log and as a novel documenting a specimen-collecting voyage, for which Steinbeck intended the text to work on multiple levels, including the conveyance of the radically subjective nature of reality. The text of this edition primarily follows the pared down version published by Steinbeck as "The Log from the Sea of Cortez" ten years later, which omitted Ricketts's authorship credit. "The Arion Press edition rectifies this wrong, restoring Ricketts' coauthorship to a hybrid of Sea and Log" (prospectus).

Fine.