The Sirens Three
Kickstarter Early Supporter Reward
First Bite Press is preparing to announce the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to create the limited edition collection of poetry, Babylon Songs. This is our second Kickstarter campaign after the successful funding and fulfillment of the limited edition book and card deck, Banned Books Written by Women.
The last time we ran a Kickstarter, we offered early supporters of the book a special handprinted broadside. This time, early supporters will receive a special handbound, illustrated edition of The Sirens Three, a poem by Walter Crane. It will be printed on Arches Rives Lightweight paper on the Epson professional photographic printer and hand bound in our bindery. The book incorporates 12 of Crane’s book illustrations. I will only be making 12 of these editions so it is truly very limited. If you have never read Crane’s poem before, this will be a lovely way to experience it. Many book collectors are familiar with Crane’s work as a book illustrator, but fewer are familiar with this poem. A list of the illustrations is included at the end of the edition with their original publication information.
Why The Sirens Three?
Colleen Harris, author of Babylon Songs, holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Mythological Studies and several of the poems in her collection draw on from background. The idea to produce an edition of The Sirens Three was both a nod to our limited edition poetry collection as well as a celebration of the recent resurgence of public interest in Homer's The Odyssey - a result of the motion picture film The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, released last month. Read on for the historical connections that inspired me to decide to create this edition or scroll to the end for the offer.
Title page of the 1886 edition of The Sirens Three
The History
The original illustrated poem, The Sirens Three, was written by Walter Crane in 1885 (first released as a serial and then published in full length in 1886 by Macmillan in London). Crane reinterpreted Homer's tale of the Sirens in The Odyssey. He did not portray the sirens are monsters or femme fatales attempting to lure the sailors to their deaths. Instead, Crane used the three sirens as allegorical figures and assigned each of them a song of awareness to sing to all human beings: one sings of the passage of time, another of human desire in the present, and the third of the dangers of disillusionment with the past. In typical Arts and Crafts style, Crane's publication of the poem was highly decorative with over 40 illustrations. Crane dedicated The Sirens Three to his friend, William Morris, the prolific designer and printer of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Both men in their artistic endeavors looked back to the beauty of both Greek and Medieval arts and literature.
The retelling of stories and reinterpretation of characters encountered by Odysseus on his journey home has a long tradition in literature and film. The 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen placed Homer's tale in the late 1930s American South and included another version of the Sirens as seductive women luring three escaped convicts away from their return home.
In 2017, Emily Wilson, a British-American classicist and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, published the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman and modernized the language of the poem for a new generation of readers. Another more recent example of a Homeric tale retold is the 2018 publication of Circe by Madeline Miller. In the book, the witch whom Odysseus meets on his journey tells her own story. She warns Odysseus about the Sirens and advises him to plug his sailors' ears with wax so they won't be lured by their song.
This Edition
Title page for the First Bite Press edition
Rather than attempt to recreate his original intricate design work, this First Bite Press edition pulls illustrations by Crane from other books that he illustrated that include Greek mythologies and themes. Crane illustrated several books related to Greek mythology, including one written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Crane's treatment of Greek Goddesses in these tales comes across as more sympathetic to their plight, and in some cases showing their power and strength, than other artist interpretations of the women in these tales. His treatment of the Sirens as wise women guiding humanity toward greater introspection is one such example.
The first 10 backers who purchase Babylon Songs on the Kickstarter will receive a special handbound copy of this book. The first 20 backers of any of the lower tiers will receive one of the Babylon Songs prints featuring a poem and illustration from the collection.
Stay Tuned for the Launch of the Campaign.
Happy Reading,
Stephanie
