Making a Sacher Torte: Nine Poems, Twelve Illustrations

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Front cover of Making a Sacher Torte.

This book was made by legendary book artist Walter Hamady, who founded The Perishable Press and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the latter half of the twentieth century. Here, Hamady’s characteristic multicolored leaves pair with Diane Wakoski’s sharply observed poetry and intricate illustrations by Ellen Lanyon; the overall effect recalls fairy tales, the domestic realm underlain by something magical and mysterious. This book was named as one of the 50 best-designed books of 1981 by the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Diane Wakoski. Making a Sacher Torte: Nine Poems, Twelve Illustrations. Illustrated by Ellen Lanyon. Mount Horeb, Wisconsin: The Perishable Press, 1981.

Detail of the title page from Making a Sacher Torte.

Detail of the epigraph from Making a Sacher Torte.

Detail of the table of contents from Making a Sacher Torte.

The frontispiece illustration from Making a Sacher Torte.

Detail of the title and illustration for the poem “Having Replaced Love with Food and Drink,” printed on brown paper.

Detail of the beginning of “a poem for those who’ve reached 40.”

Detail of the colophon from Making a Sacher Torte.

Detail of a page from Making a Sacher Torte printed on pink paper.

A full page spread from Making a Sacher Torte, with the illustration printed on green paper and the poem text printed on pink paper.