Skip to product information
1 of 12

Copperhead Press

Big Two-Hearted River - Lettered (Letterpress)

Big Two-Hearted River - Lettered (Letterpress)

Regular price $525.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $525.00 USD
Sale Sold out

Letterpress Limited to 26 Copies Two Giclee Reproduced Illustrations

**2 Copies Remaining

Shipping Fall 2026

A burnt town. A blackened stretch of land. A single figure stepping off the train with a pack and a rod. In Big Two-Hearted River, Ernest Hemingway distills a world of memory, war, solitude, and recovery into the simplest act: a man going fishing.

Set in the hushed forests and winding rivers of northern Michigan, this story unfolds with quiet intensity. Each step Nick Adams takes into the wilderness is both retreat and return—a meditation on what remains after everything has burned.

This edition seeks to echo the clarity and quiet rhythm of Hemingway’s prose—an object of calm, precision, and reverence.

“He sat on the logs, smoking, drying in the sun, the sun warm on his back the river shallow ahead entering the woods, curving into the woods, shallows light glittering, big water-smooth rocks, cedars along the bank and white birches, the logs warm in the sun, smooth to sit on, without bark, gray to the touch; slowly the feeling of disappointment left him.”

This edition marks Copperhead’s first foray into letterpress printing. Produced on an Original Heidelberg Windmill Printing Press and printed on Crane’s Lettra Pearl White 100% cotton paper, it represents a significant advancement in both print and paper quality. We were honored to collaborate with The Mandate Press, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, for this inaugural letterpress publication.

This edition is also Copperhead’s first to feature a three-piece Bradel binding over a two-section pamphlet stitch. The spine is covered in soft Burgundy sheepskin, while the boards are wrapped in hand-marbled paper crafted in Italy.

Details

•⠀The seventh publication from Copperhead Press.

•⠀Limited to 26 Lettered copies. 

•⠀Measuring 5 7/8 inches by 8 7/8 inches and 32 pages.

•⠀Printed letterpress on an Original Heidelberg Windmill Printing Press.

•⠀Crane's Lettra Pearl White Cotton papers.

•  Forest Green Bugra Paper Endsheets

•⠀Two new illustrations printed giclee and tipped in.

•⠀Set in 12 pt Centaur.

•⠀Hand-bound in a three-piece Bradel style with Burgundy sheepskin and hand-marbled  Papers.

Slipcase 

•⠀Wrapped in Buckram Fantasia Bookcloth. 

•  Made with heavy bookboard for a sturdy and more durable case. 

•⠀Measuring 6 1/8 inches by 9 1/4 inches.

Letterpress Rights
Purchasing this edition grants you rights to future letterpress releases. Letterpress rights holders receive first access to upcoming hand-printed editions, each limited to just 50 numbered copies. By ordering this title, you'll be added to the Letterpress Rights list and offered first rights to purchase a copy. 

View full details

Collaborators

Artist

Samuel Thomson  

Samuel Thomson is an Ottawa-based traditional printmaker and illustrator specializing in linocut. His passion for high-contrast, hard-carved imagery began at the Bealart program in London, Ontario, and has since grown into an independent practice.

foreword written by

Michael Von Cannon

Michael Von Cannon teaches modern American literature at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is the co-creator and producer of One True Podcast and is co-editing the final volumes of Hemingway's correspondence for the Hemingway Letters Project.

afterword written by

Mark Cirino

Mark Cirino teaches American literature at the University of Evansville. He is the host of the popular Hemingway Society-sponsored program, One True Podcast. His most recent publication is an edition of A Farewell to Arms edited for the Norton Library.