Arion Press

Arion Press is a San Francisco-based American publisher specializing in finely produced, limited-edition books. Its output combines literary and historical texts with original visual art, traditional letterpress printing, handmade paper, custom type, and hand-finished binding or presentation elements. Rather than treating a book as a standardized reproduction, the press develops each edition as a purpose-built collaboration among printers, typographers, artists, designers, binders, and, where appropriate, contemporary writers or editors. The company was established in San Francisco in 1974 by printer and publisher Andrew Hoyem. Its name refers to Arion, the mythical Greek poet and musician. Hoyem founded the press after working for seven years with Robert Grabhorn, the younger member of the Grabhorn Press tradition. Arion Press consequently inherited and extended a major local legacy of San Francisco printing and bookmaking, including historic American metal type associated with the Grabhorn operation. A central feature of the business is its unusually integrated production model. The press uses letterpress equipment dating from the early twentieth century and makes much of the material required for an edition on site, including custom typefaces or arrangements of type. In 1989 it acquired M&H Type, a San Francisco hot-metal type foundry founded in the 1910s. M&H's historic collection is one of the most significant collections of antique type in the United States and has also served other small presses and letterpress practitioners. This infrastructure allows Arion Press to preserve methods that have largely disappeared from mainstream commercial publishing while adapting them to new artistic commissions. Arion Press generally publishes only a small number of titles each year, with editions sometimes limited to a few hundred copies. Its best-known format is the modern livre d'artiste: a classic or canonical literary work presented with original prints, drawings, photographs, or other art by a prominent contemporary artist. Notable projects have included a 1979 hand-made-paper edition of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick with wood engravings by Barry Moser; James Joyce's Ulysses with etchings by Robert Motherwell; poetry by W. B. Yeats with etchings by Richard Diebenkorn; Jean Toomer's Cane with woodblock prints by Martin Puryear; and poetry by Wallace Stevens with work by Jasper Johns. The press also undertakes unusually ambitious single-title projects. In 2000 it issued a lectern edition of the Bible in 400 exemplars, a production that required approximately two years of printing. Its books have entered the collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Huntington Library, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Mechanics' Institute, and the British Library. Two Arion Press books were included in the Museum of Modern Art's 1994 exhibition One Hundred Years of Artists Books, which recognized a selection of major twentieth-century artist's books. Arion Press operates at the intersection of publishing, printmaking, typography, conservation, and cultural heritage. Its customers include private collectors, subscribers, libraries, museums, and other institutions able to acquire scarce, high-value editions. The press's nonprofit affiliate, the Grabhorn Institute, supports preservation and public understanding of historic printing and bookmaking practices. In 2001 the institute was recognized through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Save America's Treasures program as part of the country's significant cultural heritage. The press moved from leased space in a former laundry building at San Francisco's Presidio to the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in 2024. Its Fort Mason presence includes a gallery and public tours, giving the organization a role not only as a publisher but also as a working cultural and educational institution. Hoyem retired in 2018. As of 2024, Blake Riley serves as lead printer and creative director. The press remains active, with its fiftieth-anniversary program including a new edition of Aesop's Fables featuring updated morals by Daniel Handler, illustrations by fifteen artists, and a presentation box designed by Kiki Smith.

Arion Press was founded in San Francisco in 1974 by Andrew Hoyem, a printer who had worked in partnership with Robert Grabhorn for seven years. The new press continued the city's influential Grabhorn tradition of private-press printing and fine book production. Hoyem named the organization after Arion, the poet and musician of Greek mythology. From the beginning, Arion Press was oriented toward books in which the physical process of production was inseparable from the literary and artistic content. The press preserved historic American metal type associated with the Grabhorn operation and built its identity around traditional letterpress methods. Its equipment includes machinery dating from the 1910s, and it has developed custom typographic treatments for individual projects. This approach gives the press a high degree of control over a book's visual and physical character. Instead of applying a uniform format to many titles, Arion Press typically designs each edition around the text, the collaborating artist, the paper, the type, and the intended collecting audience. In 1989 Arion Press acquired M&H Type, a San Francisco hot-metal type foundry established in the 1910s. The acquisition expanded the press's access to historic type and strengthened its role in preserving letterpress infrastructure. M&H's antique type collection is described as the second largest in the United States after the Smithsonian Institution's collection, and its resources have also been used by other small presses. The relationship between Arion Press and M&H Type made the organization more vertically integrated than most contemporary publishers, since type, composition, printing, and other stages of production could be coordinated within the same local operation. Arion's publishing program developed around scarce, highly crafted editions of literary works. It has generally issued no more than several titles annually, with editions sometimes numbering only 250 copies. Many projects pair a classic text with original work by an important modern or contemporary artist. The livre d'artiste series, begun in 1982, included Ulysses with etchings by Robert Motherwell, Yeats's poetry with etchings by Richard Diebenkorn, Jean Toomer's Cane with woodblock prints by Martin Puryear, and Wallace Stevens's poetry with art by Jasper Johns. The 1979 edition of Moby-Dick demonstrated the scale and ambition of the press's program. Printed on handmade paper and illustrated with wood engravings by Barry Moser, the multivolume project required fourteen months of printing. Other projects have similarly treated a book as a complete designed object rather than simply a container for text. In 2000, Arion Press produced a 400-copy lectern edition of the Bible, a project that took about two years to print and extended the press's work into a monumental religious and institutional format. The press's books have been collected by major cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Huntington Library, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Mechanics' Institute, and the British Library. Two Arion Press titles were included in the Museum of Modern Art's 1994 exhibition One Hundred Years of Artists Books. This institutional recognition reflects the press's position between publishing and the visual arts: its books function simultaneously as editions of literature, examples of contemporary art, and demonstrations of historic craft. Arion Press also developed a public-preservation role through the Grabhorn Institute, its nonprofit branch. In 2001 the institute was included in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Save America's Treasures program, recognizing its contribution to the preservation of American printing and bookmaking heritage. The press later leased space in a former laundry building at San Francisco's Presidio, where production and public-facing activity continued. Hoyem retired in 2018. In 2024 the press moved to Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, expanding its public presence through a gallery and tours. Blake Riley was identified as lead printer and creative director in 2024. The same year marked Arion Press's fiftieth anniversary and was associated with a new edition of Aesop's Fables. The project combines revised morals by Daniel Handler, illustrations by fifteen artists, and a presentation box by Kiki Smith featuring a cast-metal mouse and concealed bells. The move and anniversary project illustrate the press's continuing model: maintaining historic methods while commissioning new interpretations and presenting the book as a collectible artistic object.

• 2024

  The press moves to Fort Mason

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Arion Press relocates to Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture and establishes a gallery and tours there.

• 2024

  Fiftieth-anniversary Aesop's Fables project

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The anniversary program includes a multi-artist Aesop's Fables edition with updated text by Daniel Handler and a Kiki Smith presentation box.

• 2018

  Andrew Hoyem retires

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The founder retires from active leadership of the press.

• 2001

  The Grabhorn Institute receives historic-preservation recognition

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The nonprofit branch is designated through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Save America's Treasures program as part of the country's important cultural heritage.

• 2000

  Arion Press publishes a lectern edition of the Bible

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The press completes a 400-copy edition of the Bible after approximately two years of printing.

• 1994

  Arion books appear in a major Museum of Modern Art artists' book exhibition

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Two Arion Press books are included in One Hundred Years of Artists Books at the Museum of Modern Art.

• 1989

  Arion Press acquires M&H Type

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The acquisition brings a major San Francisco hot-metal type foundry and its historic type collection into the press's operating sphere.

• 1982

  The livre d'artiste series begins

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Arion Press launches a series pairing literary works and poetry with original art by notable artists.

• 1979

  Arion Press publishes its Moby-Dick edition

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The press issues a multivolume handmade-paper edition of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, illustrated with Barry Moser's wood engravings after an extended printing process.

• 1974

  Arion Press is founded in San Francisco

  [1]Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Andrew Hoyem establishes Arion Press after working with Robert Grabhorn, continuing the Grabhorn tradition of San Francisco fine printing.

A heritage-focused fine-press publisher distinguished by small editions, artist collaborations, letterpress production, custom typography, historic equipment, and vertically integrated bookmaking.

• Limited-edition illustrated classic · 1979

  Moby-Dick

  Arion Press's multivolume edition of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick was printed on handmade paper and illustrated with wood engravings by Barry Moser. The project exemplifies the press's practice of treating a canonical text as a complete physical and visual composition, with production requiring an extended period of letterpress work.

• Artists' book series · 1982

  Livre d'artiste series

  Launched in 1982, the series pairs literary works or poetry with original art by prominent artists. Examples include Ulysses with Robert Motherwell, W. B. Yeats with Richard Diebenkorn, Cane with Martin Puryear, and Wallace Stevens with Jasper Johns. Each title is developed as a distinct edition rather than as a repeatable commercial format.

• Special lectern edition · 2000

  The Bible

  The 2000 Bible was issued as a 400-copy lectern edition. Its production took approximately two years and demonstrated Arion Press's capacity to produce monumental, institutionally oriented books requiring extensive printing and physical craftsmanship.

• Fiftieth-anniversary artists' book · 2024

  Aesop's Fables

  The fiftieth-anniversary edition of Aesop's Fables combines updated morals by Daniel Handler with illustrations by fifteen artists. Kiki Smith designed the presentation box, which includes a cast-metal mouse sculpture and concealed bells related to the fable 'Belling the Cat.'

• Historic type and letterpress infrastructure · 1989

  M&H Type services and type collection

  M&H Type, acquired by Arion Press in 1989, preserves hot-metal type and related letterpress resources dating to the early twentieth century. Its collection supports Arion Press production and has also been used by other small presses and letterpress printers.

• 2024

  Relocate operations to Fort MasonStrategy

  Background

  After operating from leased Presidio premises, Arion Press sought a new cultural and public-facing location.

  Action taken

  The press moved to Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture and added a gallery and tours to its public presence.

  Aftermath

  The relocation connected the working press more directly with an arts campus, visitors, and educational programming.

  Source

• 2024

  Commission the fiftieth-anniversary Aesop's FablesProduct launch

  Background

  The press marked five decades of operation while continuing its model of combining literary texts, contemporary artists, and elaborate physical production.

  Action taken

  It issued or announced an Aesop's Fables edition with updated morals by Daniel Handler, fifteen illustrators, and a presentation box by Kiki Smith.

  Aftermath

  The project positioned the anniversary as a continuation of Arion Press's collaborative artists' book program rather than solely as a historical retrospective.

  Source

• 2000

  Publish a 400-copy lectern BibleProduct launch

  Background

  The press pursued a large-scale special edition demonstrating the capabilities of traditional letterpress production.

  Action taken

  Arion Press produced a lectern edition of the Bible, requiring about two years of printing.

  Aftermath

  The project became one of the press's most ambitious special editions and reinforced its position in institutional and collector-oriented fine publishing.

  Source

• 1989

  Acquire M&H TypeM&A

  Background

  Arion Press sought to preserve and strengthen access to historic hot-metal type and San Francisco letterpress expertise.

  Action taken

  The press acquired M&H Type, a San Francisco type foundry established in the 1910s.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition expanded Arion's vertically integrated production capabilities and helped maintain a significant antique type collection available to the broader small-press community.

  Source

1. 1Arion Pressen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Arion Press official websitearionpress.com