In February of 2007, Special Collections received a generous gift from an anonymous donor: a subscription to the Arion Press. The Arion Press, founded in 1974 by Andrew Hoyem, is a fine press in San Francisco. It produces two or three books a year, often printed by letterpress (that is, with hand-set type) and lavishly illustrated.

One of the first books to arrive is William T. Wiley’s pictorial staging of Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot,” done in honor of Beckett’s hundredth birthday. It has unusual, cartoonlike illustrations in black, blue, and yellow, representing characters as hourglasses.

We welcome visitors to Special Collections to view this and other examples of modern-day fine press work.