Author(s): R A K Mason

New Zealand Fiction | rare & collectable

This book contains the only four short stories published by R.A.K. Mason (1905-71), one of New Zealand's most important poets. They appeared in the literary journals Kiwi, Phoenix and Tomorrow between 1931 and 1935 and show the influence of Freud and James Joyce. The book also contains facsimiles of poems by Mason as printed by Robert Lowry, and wood engravings and linocuts by L.D. Morrison and S.F. Champ, which accompanied Mason's poems and stories in Kiwi and Phoenix. The frontispiece is an unpublished photograph of Mason by Clifton Firth. An Afterword has been provided by Rachel Barrowman, author of Mason: The Life of R.A.K. Mason (2003), published by Victoria University Press. Four Short Stories was designed, letterpress printed and bound by Tara McLeod at the Holloway Press. Printed on an Asbern cylinder press, the type is 12pt Linotype Granjon set by John Denny, Puriri Press, Auckland. Sans serif titles are set in Spartan medium. The lino and woodcuts are printed from photopolymer blocks. The paper is 104gsm Evergreen ivory, cover is 216gsm Esse light tan. This is a limited numbered edition of 150 copies.

Designed, letterpress printed by hand on an Asbern cylinder press and bound by Tara McLeod at The Holloway Press. 12 pt Linotype Granjon composed by John Denny at Puriri Press, Auckland. The lino and woodcuts are printed from photopolymer blocks. The paper is 104 gsm Evergreen ivory, cover paper is 216gsm Esse light tan. Title page illustration by Tara McLeod. 41pp, B/W tipped-in frontis. photograph by Clifton Firth, 4 B/W prints. # 132 of 150. Publisher's flyer enclosed. Some fading to cover