Villon, François; [Translated by John Payne]

The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris. [Mosher Press]

Portland (Maine): Thomas B. Mosher, 1909.

An exceptional Mosher Press production from the Thomas B. Mosher series of finely printed limited editions, exemplifying the craftsmanship and aesthetic ideals of America’s private-press renaissance. Printed on Van Gelder handmade paper in a limited edition of 500 copies, and rarely found with both its integral printed wrapper and the original titled glassine dust jacket intact.

A fine example of Thomas B. Mosher’s devotion to medieval poetry and fine press design at the height of the American private-press movement.

Printed at Mosher’s Exchange Street press; in fine condition internally. Bound in plain cream stiff wraps with integral printed outer wrapper forming part of the binding. Original translucent glassine dust jacket, printed in red on the spine, is laid over—age-toned with typical chipping and tears along folds but seldom retained. Text block bright and crisp, showing only light offsetting from the vellum frontispiece. A well-preserved example uncommon with both jackets.

François Villon (1431–after 1463) was France’s first great lyric poet and among the most compelling figures of medieval literature. A scholar turned vagabond, his life of poverty, wit, and defiance found voice in Le Lais and Le Grand Testament—works blending courtly grace with street realism. His haunting meditations on mortality and transience, including the famous ‘Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear?’, influenced writers from Rabelais to Pound. Villon remains collected for his enduring voice of rebellion and humanity, bridging the medieval and the modern poetic imagination.

The Mosher Press editions of Villon (1900, 1905, 1909) established Payne’s translation as the standard English rendering for the early 20th century. Mosher’s typography and use of Van Gelder paper mirror the Kelmscott and Vale Press influences he championed. The 1909 issue, the final and smallest in the sequence, reproduces Payne’s dedication to Théodore de Banville and includes genealogical and bibliographic notes absent from the 1900 first printing.

Subjects: François Villon; John Payne (translator); Thomas B. Mosher; Limited Editions; Van Gelder Paper; Private Press Printing, Fine Press; Poetry; Medieval Literature; Translation; Book Arts.

Item #21297

Price: $225.00