This is a selection of two hundred poems by Emily Dickinson, one of America’s greatest poets, with prints by the acclaimed contemporary artist Kiki Smith. The title of this book was chosen for two reasons. It signals that this is a sampling of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. And it refers to embroidered samplers from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that inspired the imagery of Kiki Smith.

The artist Kiki Smith has made prints for every page of the poetry, as well as the half-title page and a portrait of Emily Dickinson on the frontispiece, 206 images in all. These are original prints. Kiki Smith has made the matrix for each image. She scratched lines in the emulsion of photographic negatives with an etching needle and other sharp-pointed tools, thus allowing light to pass through them in the making of photopolymer plates for letterpress printing. 

For this book Kiki Smith has imitated the stitchery of samplers with short straight and slightly curved strokes. Her subtle patterns of cross-stitches and hatchings become recognizable figures or mysterious forms related to the wondrous imagery in Emily Dickinson’s poems.

The book is large octavo in format, 11 by 7 inches, 220 pages. The type is Walbaum in Monotype composition by Mackenzie & Harris and in hand composition with type cast at the Bixler Foundry. The type and polymer plates were printed by letterpress in black ink for the type and red-brown ink for the plates. The paper was made by hand at the Twinrocker mill. The sheets are hand-sewn with linen thread over linen tapes. The binding has a red-brown goatskin spine, with title stamped in gold, the boards covered with tan cloth, the front cover embroidered with red thread for title and author and artist names. The book is presented in a slipcase.

This is copy 279 from an edition of 400 numbered copies. Each numbered copy sold for $1,200. Limited stock is still available from the publisher. This copy is in pristine condition.