Moser, Barry 1940–

views updated

Moser, Barry 1940–

PERSONAL:

Born October 15, 1940, in Chattanooga, TN; son of Arthur Boyd (a professional gambler) and Wilhemina Elizabeth (a homemaker) Moser; married Kay Richmond (an artist), 1962 (divorced, April, 1978); children: Cara, Ramona, Madeline. Ethnicity: "Austrian extraction, pig thieves." Education: Attended Baylor Military Academy, 1951-57, and Auburn University, 1958-60; University of Chattanooga, B.S., 1962; graduate study at University of Massachusetts, 1968-70; studied with Leonard Baskin, Fred Becker, Jack Coughlin, George Cross, Harold McGrath, and Wang Hui-Ming. Politics: "Liberal." Hobbies and other interests: Aviation, film, culinary arts.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—North Hatfield, MA. Agent—R. Michelson Galleries, 132 Main St., Northampton, MA 01060.

CAREER:

Author, illustrator, fine artist, and educator. Hixson Methodist Church, Hixson, TN, youth director and assistant minister, 1960; McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN, teacher, 1962-63; Williston Academy (now Williston-Northampton School), Easthampton, MA, teacher, 1967-c. 1973. Pennyroyal Press, Northampton, MA, founder and major domo, 1968. Member of faculty at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, and Smith College, Northampton; Queens College, Kingston, TN, Geneva lecturer, 2001; also taught at Princeton University and Vassar College. Visiting artist at University of Tennessee, 1972, 1975; Rhode Island College, 1976; University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1976; College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, 1977, 1982, 1983; University of Washington, Seattle, 1981; Carnegie-Mellon University, 1986; and Ringling School of Art and Design, 1986; Allen R. Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville, distinguished visiting scholar, 2001. Juror, Fifty Books of the Year, American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1981. Exhibitions: Art work exhibited in solo and group shows; works included in numerous public and private collections, including Library of Congress, British Museum, National Library of Australia, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Houghton Library at Harvard University, Beinecke Library at Yale University, Princeton University, University of British Columbia, University of Iowa Libraries and Center for the Book, and London College of Printing.

MEMBER:

National Academy of Design, American Printing History Association (charter member).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Purchase Prize and Faculty Purchase Prize, Westfield State Annual, 1970; Second Prize, Cape Cod Annual, 1971; Award of Merit, New Hampshire International, 1974; Award of Merit, American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1982-86; American Book Award for pictorial design and illustration, 1983, for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Award of Merit, Bookbuilders West, 1983-86; Award of Merit, Communication Arts magazine, 1984-86; Best Books for Young Adults designation, School Library Journal, and Children's Book of the Year designation, Child Study Association, both 1987, both for Jump!; American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book designation, and New York Times Best Illustration Book of the Year designation, both 1987, both for Jump Again!; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, 1991, for Appalachia; International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) Best Book designation, 1991, for Little Trickster the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear; Parents Choice Award, 1992, for Through the Mickle Woods; ALA Notable Book designation, 1995, for Whistling Dixie; Pick of the Lists selection, American Booksellers Association, 1995, for What You Know First; ALA Notable Book designation, 1997, for When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing; Toronto Book Award shortlist, 1998, for Dippers; honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Westfield State College, 2000; honorary Doctor of Humanity, Anna Maria College, 2001; Carl Herzog Award for Excellence in Book Design, University of Texas at El Paso/Friends of the University Library, 2002, for Shortcuts: An Essay in Wood Engraving.

WRITINGS:

SELF-ILLUSTRATED; FOR CHILDREN

(Reteller) The Tinderbox, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1990.

(Reteller) Polly Vaughan: A Traditional British Ballad, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1992.

Fly! A Brief History of Flight (nonfiction), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

(Reteller) Tucker Pfeffercorn: An Old Story Retold, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1993.

(Reteller) Good and Perfect Gifts: An Illustrated Retelling of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.

(Editor) Great Ghost Stories, Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

(Reteller) The Three Little Pigs, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2001.

(Editor) Scary Stories, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

(Editor) Cowboy Stories, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2007.

SELF-ILLUSTRATED; FOR ADULTS

(With Parrot) Cirsia and Other Thistles, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1978.

Fifty Wood Engravings, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1978.

Notes of the Craft of Wood Engraving, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1980.

A Family Letter, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1980.

Pan, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1980.

In the Face of Presumptions: Essays, Speeches, and Incidental Writings, edited by Jessica Renaud, David R. Godine (Boston, MA), 2000.

No Shortcuts: An Essay in Wood Engraving, Center for the Book, University of Iowa Press (Iowa City, IA), 2001.

Wood Engraving: The Art of Wood Engraving and Relief Engraving, photographs by daughter, Cara Moser, foreword by Martin Antonetti, David R. Godine (Boston, MA), 2006.

ILLUSTRATOR:

Ely Green, Ely: Too Black, Too White, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1969.

James Abbott McNeil Whistler, The Red Rag, Castalia Press (Northampton, MA), 1970.

E.M. Beekman, Homage to Mondrian, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1973.

E.M. Beekman, The Oyster and the Eagle, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1973.

Twelve American Writers, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1974.

John V. Brindle, Thirteen Botanical Woodengravings, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1974.

Gerald W. McFarland, Mugwumps, Morals, and Politics, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1975.

Alan W. Friedman, Forms of Modern British Fiction, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1975.

Reginald Cook, Robert Frost: A Living Voice, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1975.

Sheila Steinberg and Cathleen McGuigan, Rhode Island: An Historical Guide, Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission, 1975.

E.M. Beekman, Carnal Lent, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1976.

J. Walsdorf, Men of Printing, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1976.

Octavio Paz, The Poetry of Octavio Paz, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1976.

Paul Smyth, Thistles and Thorns, University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE), 1976.

Paul Ramsey, Eve Singing, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1977.

Marcia Falk, Song of Songs, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1977.

J. Chametzky, From the Ghetto, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1977.

Leland J. Bellot, William Knox: The Life and Thought of an Eighteenth-Century Imperialist, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1977.

Roger Manvell, Chaplin, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1977.

David Smith, Elizabeth Taylor: Portrait of a Queen, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1977.

Morris Bishop, St. Francis of Assisi, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1977.

E.M. Beekman, The Killing Jar, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1977.

Arthur MacAlpine, Man in a Metal Cage, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1977.

Sprich and Nolan, The Whispered Meanings, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1977.

Allen Mandelbaum, Chelmaxims, David R. Godine (Boston, MA), 1977.

Paul Mariani, Timing Devices, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1977.

Jane Yolen, The Lady and the Merman, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1977.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Director of Alienation, Main Street Press (Lawrenceville, NJ), 1977.

William Stafford, Late Passing Prairie Farm, Main Street Press (Lawrenceville, NJ), 1977.

Louis Simpson, The Invasion of Italy, Main Street Press (Lawrenceville, NJ), 1977.

Nancy Bubel, The Adventurous Gardner, David R. Godine (Boston, MA), 1977.

Stephen Brook, Bibliography of the Gehenna Press, J.P. Dwyer, 1977.

Mark Twain, 1601, Taurus Books, 1978.

David Smith, Goshawk and Antelope, University of Illinois Press (Champaign, IL), 1978.

Lydia Crowson, The Esthetic of Jean Cocteau, University Press of New England (Lebanon, NH), 1978.

Walter Chamberlain, Woodengraving, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1979.

M.W. Ryan, editor, Irish Historical Broadsides, J.P. Dwyer, 1979.

Vernon Ahmadjian, The Flowering Plant of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1979.

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, Arion Press (San Francisco, CA), 1979.

Stephen Vincent Benet, John Brown's Body, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1979.

Herbert W. Warden, In Praise of Sailors, H. Abrams (New York, NY), 1979.

A Family Letter Written in Nineteen Thirty-Two by Georga Moser to His Nephew Arthur Moser …, Pennyroyal Press (Northhampton, MA), 1979.

Allen Mandelbaum, A Lied of Letterpress, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1980.

Dante, Volume One: The Inferno, the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1980.

Virgil, Aeneid, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1980.

Paul Smyth, The Cardinal Sins: A Bestiary, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1980.

Galway Kinnell, The Last Hiding Place of Snow, Red Ozier Press (Madison, WI), 1980.

Homer, Odyssey, translated by T.E. Shaw, Limited Editions Press (Lubbock, TX), 1980.

David Smith, Blue Spruce, Tamarack Editions (Syracuse, NY), 1981.

Galway Kinnell and Diane Wakowski, Two Poems, Red Ozier Press (Madison, WI), 1981.

Gene Bell-Villada, Borges and His Fiction, University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC), 1981.

Dante, Purgatorio, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1982.

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1982.

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1982.

Robert Bly, The Traveler Who Repeats His Cry, Red Ozier Press (Madison, WI), 1982.

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1983.

David Smith, Gray Soldiers, Stuart, 1983.

Robert Bly, The Whole Misty Night, Red Ozier Press (Madison, WI), 1983.

Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1983.

Carl Rapp, William Carlos Williams and Romantic Idealism, University Press of New England (Lebanon, NH), 1984.

Dante, Paradiso, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1984.

Paul Mariani, A Usable Past, University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst, MA), 1984.

E.M. Beekman, Totem and Other Poems, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1984.

Robert Francis, The Trouble with God, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1984.

Mark Taylor, Erring, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1984.

Robert Penn Warren, Fifty Years of American Poetry, Abrams (New York, NY), 1984.

Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1984.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1984.

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1985.

Anne Frank, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, Pennyroyal Press/Jewish Heritage (Northampton, MA), 1985.

Richard de Fournival, Master Richard's Bestiary of Love and Response, translated by Jeanette Beer, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1985.

L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1985.

Giants and Ogres ("Enchanted World" series), Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1985.

Sylvia Plath, Above the Oxbow, Catawba Press (Catawba, SC), 1985.

Richard Michelson, Tap Dancing for the Relatives, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL), 1985.

Marcia Falk, It Is July in Virginia, Scripps College Press (Claremont, CA), 1985.

Joel Chandler Harris, Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, adapted by Van Dyke Parks and Malcolm Jones, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1986.

Emily Dickinson, Broadside, Pennyroyal Press, 1986.

Washington Irving, Two Tales: Rip Van Winkle [and] The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1986.

Barbara Stoler Miller, translator, The Bhagavad-Ghita, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1986.

The Fall of Camelot ("Enchanted World" series), Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1986.

American Heritage Dictionary editors, Word Mysteries and Histories: From Quiches to Humble Pie, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1986.

Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1986.

Robert D. Richardson, Jr., Henry David Thoreau: A Life of the Mind, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1986.

Joel Chandler Harris, Jump Again! More Adventures of Brer Rabbit, adapted by Van Dyke Parks, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1987.

Eudora Welty, The Robber Bridegroom, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1987.

Truman Capote, I Remember Grandpa, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1987.

Virginia Hamilton, reteller, In the Beginning: Creation Stories from around the World, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1988.

Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days, Morrow (New York, NY), 1988.

Ernest L. Thayer, Casey at the Bat: A Centennial Edition, David R. Godine (Boston, MA), 1988.

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Morrow (New York, NY), 1989.

Nancy Willard, The Ballad of Buddy Early, Knopf (New York, NY), 1989.

Nancy Willard, East of the Sun and West of the Moon: A Play, Harcourt, (San Diego, CA) 1989.

Norman Maclean, A River Runs through It, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1989.

Marie Rudisill, Sook's Cookbook: Memories and Traditional Recipes from the Deep South, Longstreet Press (Atlanta, GA), 1989.

Joel Chandler Harris, Jump on Over! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family, adapted by Van Dyke Parks, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1989.

William Shakespeare, The Guild Shakespeare, Doubleday Book Club (New York, NY), 1990.

Ken Kesey, Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear, Viking (New York, NY), 1990.

Jane Yolen, Sky Dogs, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990.

Sheila MacGill-Callahan, And Still the Turtle Watched, Dial (New York, NY), 1991.

Cynthia Rylant, Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1991.

Sean O'Huigin, The Ghost Horse of the Mounties, David R. Godine (Boston, MA), 1991.

The Holy Bible, Oxford University Press/Doubleday (New York, NY), 1991.

Margaret Hodges, St. Jerome and the Lion, Orchard (New York, NY), 1991.

Anton Chekhov, Kastanka, Putnam (New York, NY), 1991.

Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Morrow (New York, NY), 1991.

Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, Prayers from the Ark: Selected Poems, translated by Rumer Godden, Viking (New York, NY), 1992.

Arielle N. Olson, Noah's Cats and the Devil's Fire, Orchard (New York, NY), 1992.

Henry Treece, The Magic Wood, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.

Donald Barthelme, The King, Viking (New York, NY), 1992.

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Morrow (New York, NY), 1992.

George Frederich Handel, Messiah: The Wordbook for the Oratorio, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.

Marcia Falk, The Song of Songs: A New Translation and Interpretation, Harper (New York, NY), 1993.

Lynne Reid Banks, The Magic Hare, Morrow (New York, NY), 1993.

Ann Turner, Grass Songs: Poems, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1993.

Cynthia Rylant, The Dreamer, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

Ethel Pochocki, The Mushroom Man, Green Tiger Press (San Diego, CA), 1993.

Donald Hall, The Farm Summer, 1993, Dial (New York, NY), 1994.

Donald Hall, I Am the Dog, I Am the Cat, Dial (New York, NY), 1994.

Kathryn Lasky, Cloud Eyes, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994.

Jack London, Call of the Wild, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1994.

Doris Orgel, Ariadne, Awake! Viking (New York, NY), 1994.

Richard Wilbur, A Game of Catch, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994.

(With Cara Moser) Gerald Hausman, Turtle Island ABC: A Gathering of Native American Symbols, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, retold by Gary D. Schmidt, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1994.

Isabelle Harper, My Dog Rosie, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1994.

Karen Ackerman, Bingleman's Midway, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1995.

Willie Morris, A Prayer for the Opening of the Little League Season, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1995.

Isabelle Harper, My Cats Nick and Nora, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Ted Hughes, The Iron Woman, Dial (New York, NY), 1995.

Patricia MacLachlan, What You Know First, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

Marcia Vaughan, Whistling Dixie, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

Weldon Kees, Five Lost Poems, Center for the Book, University of Iowa Press (Iowa City, IA), 1995.

Donald Hall, When Willard Met Babe Ruth, Browndeer Press (San Diego, CA), 1996.

Isabelle Harper, Our New Puppy, Blue Sky Press/Scholastic (New York, NY), 1996.

Virginia Hamilton, reteller, When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing: The Adventures of Bruh Sparrow, Sis Wren, and Their Friends, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Cara Moser) Gerald Hausman, reteller, Eagle Boy: A Traditional Navajo Legend, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories, Morrow (New York, NY), 1996.

Rafe Martin, reteller, Mysterious Tales of Japan, Putnam (New York, NY), 1996.

Madeline Moser, compiler, Ever Heard of an Aardwulf? A Miscellany of Uncommon Animals, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1996.

Eve Bunting, On Call Back Mountain, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Padraic Colum, reteller, The Trojan War and the Adventures of Odysseus, Morrow (New York, NY), 1997.

Virginia Hamilton, reteller, A Ring of Tricksters: Animal Tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Barbara Nichol, Dippers, Tundra Books of Northern New York (Pittsburgh, NY), 1997.

(With Cara Moser) Dan Harper, Telling Time with Big Mama Cat, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Tony Johnston, Trail of Tears, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Cynthia Rylant, The Bird House, Scholastic/Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Richard Michelson, Grandpa's Gamble, Marshall Cavendish (Tarrytown, NY), 1999.

The Holy Bible: Containing All the Books of the Old and New Testaments: King James Version, Pennyroyal Caxton Press (Northampton, MA)/Viking Studio (New York, NY), 1999, published as The Family Bible with Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Kathyrn Lasky, A Brilliant Streak: The Making of Mark Twain, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

Milton Meltzer, Witches and Witch-Hunts: A History of Persecution, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Gerald Hausman and Loretta Hausman, retellers, Dogs of Myth: Tales from around the World, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999.

Bram Stoker, Dracula, Morrow (New York, NY), 2000.

Virginia Hamilton, Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny: An Original Scare Tale for Halloween, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Cara Moser) Dan Harper, Sit, Truman!, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2001.

I. Harper, Our New Puppy, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Angela Johnson, Those Building Men, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Robert D. San Souci, reteller, Sister Tricksters, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001.

Barbara Nichol, One Small Garden, Tundra Books (Pittsburgh, NY), 2001.

Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Houghton (Boston, MA), 2001.

Tony Johnston, That Summer, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.

Margie Palatini, Earthquack!, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

Gary Schmidt and Susan M. Fetch, editors, Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (anthology), SkyLight Paths Publications, 2002.

Kay Winters, Voices of Ancient Egypt, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 2003.

Kristine O'Connell George, Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.

Gary Schmidt and Susan M. Felch, editors, Summer: A Spiritual Biography of the Season, Skylight Paths, 2005.

Margie Palatini, The Three Silly Billies, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Ethel Polchocki, The Mushroom Man, Tilbury House (Gardiner, ME), 2006.

Psalm 23, Zonderkids (Grand Rapids, MI), 2006.

The Funny Cide Team, A Horse Named Funny Cide, Putnam's (New York, NY), 2006.

Ethel Polchocki, The Blessing of the Beasts, Paraclete Press (Brewster, MA), 2007.

Pliny the Younger, Ashen Sky: The Letters of Pliny the Younger on the Eruption of Vesuvius, J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), 2007.

Margaret Hodges, Moses, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2007.

Joseph Epstein, editor, Literary Genius: Twenty-five Classic Writers Who Define English and American Literature, Paul Dry Books (Philadelphia, PA), 2007.

Howard Mansfield, Hogwood Steps Out, Roaring Book Press (New York, NY), 2008.

Margie Palatini, Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2009.

OTHER

The Death of the Narcissus, Castalia Press (Northampton, MA), 1970.

Bacchanalia, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1970.

Cautantowitt's House, Brown University Press (Providence, RI), 1970.

Gaudy Greek, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1976.

Osip Mandelstaum, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1977.

The Pilot, Pennyroyal Press (Northampton, MA), 1978.

Une Encraseuse, 1978.

Bestiare D'Amour: Portfolio, Pennyroyal Press (West Hatfield, MA), 1985.

Also illustrator of An Alphabet, and Liber Occasionum. Contributor of illustrations to books, including Visages d'Alice: ou, les illustrateurs d' Alice, Gallimard (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1983; For Our Children: A Book to Benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Disney Press (Burbank, CA), 1991; Emerson: The Mind on Fire by Robert D. Richardson, University of California Press, 1995; Selected Poems by Herman Melville, Arion Press, 1995; Once upon a Fairy Tale: Four Favorite Stories Retold by the Stars (anthology), Penguin Putnam (New York, NY), 2001; and Tikvah: Children's Book Creators Reflect on Human Rights (anthology), North-South Books (New York, NY), 2001. Contributor of illustrations to periodicals, including Audubon, New York Review of Books, New York Times Book Review, Parabola, Publishers Weekly, and Yankee.

Moser's papers are housed at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs.

ADAPTATIONS:

Books of Wonder, an imprint of Morrow, released several of Moser's titles in an e-book format.

SIDELIGHTS:

Barry Moser, an American artist, writer, and publisher, is acclaimed for his dramatic wood engravings and luminous watercolors, as well as for his unique retellings of classic folk and fairy tales. A prolific illustrator, his artwork has appeared in novels, retellings, professional literature, historical documents, literary criticism, biographies, poetry, and alphabet books, paired with text by well-known writers ranging from Homer and Pliny to Margie Palatini and Cynthia Rylant. Sometimes Moser's book projects stay in the family: he has illustrated texts by daughters Madeline and Cara, and has also created art for a picture-book collaboration between granddaughter Isabelle Harper and son-in-law Dan. Literary classics also have a great appeal for the illustrator, and his versions of such titles as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll; Frankenstein by Mary Shelley; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum; and the Holy Bible, his work has been credited with breaking free of the influence of each work's original illustrator and reconfirming his own singular style.

Assessing his own work, Moser often describes himself as a "booksmith" who pays careful attention to all aspects of design and production. Viewing each book as a total work of art, he designs the entire volume: cover, typeface, page layout, and illustrations. In some cases he has also assumed the role of author, penning a self-illustrated history of flight, editing collections of short stories for children and young adults, and written several volumes on the art of wood engraving. As a literary stylist, he is noted for his clear, straightforward prose. As an artist, he often creates wood engravings, a method of printmaking where images are carved into wood, to create his works. His watercolors reflect his preference for a dark palette, and his high-contrast pictures, which range from witty and lighthearted to frightening and grotesque, are noted for their realism and their polished, formal style. Writing in Newsweek, John Ashbery called Moser's art "never less than dazzling."

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Moser is the son of a professional gambler who died when his son was ten months old and a homemaker who remarried when Moser was two years old. The only books that his family owned were the Bible, the World Book Encyclopedia, and the first two volumes of the Standard American Encyclopedia. In Horn Book, the artist recalled of his childhood: "I … had no books to speak of, was not read to insofar as I remember, and did not begin to read seriously until, as an adult, I learned how to engrave wood, how to set type, and how to print books." On Saturday afternoons, when he was not at the movies, Moser listened to the Metropolitan Opera on the radio while he built model airplanes. As he later noted: "It is little wonder that words like timbre, rhythm, cadence, pocoissimo, fortissimo, and so forth are frequent terms in my critical vocabulary."

Moser was no fan of school, and as an adult he would learn that he had dyslexia, a condition in which the brain mixes up letters and numbers, thus affecting the ability to read. Turning to drawing rather than reading, he drew cowboys and Indians, ships, Mounties, animals, and airplanes, and also drew and traced photographs and characters from comic books and magazines. He also drew at school, preferring pictures to school work, and quickly earned a reputation as class artist. "As I see it now," he once commented, "I really didn't draw better than the other kids, it was just that they and our teachers thought I could because my subjects were drawn ‘realistically’ …. For me, those praises, erroneous as they may have been, initiated a myth which set the course of my life."

Moser was eventually sent to Baylor Military Academy, on the banks of the Tennessee River, where he spent six years. Still unenthusiastic about reading, he gravitated to biology, a class in which his drawings skills could be utilized. When not in the classroom, Moser played football and was captain of the junior varsity team; he also wrestled and was a shot-putter. Moser reflected of this time that "six years of close order drill instilled in me a need (or love) for discipline, alignment, right angles, symmetry, orderliness, rhythm, and tradition—identifiable and palpable in my work today. The Baylor legacy does not, however, extend to my perception or respect for authority. I am instinctively distrustful of authority of all kinds—religious, political, economic, journalistic, critical, academic, and military."

After graduating from Baylor in 1957, Moser planned to skip college and go to California where he hoped to become an animator for Walt Disney or Warner Brothers. His parents did not share his enthusiasm for a career as a cartoon animator, however, and ultimately Moser enrolled at Atlanta's Auburn University as a student of industrial design. He spent two years at Auburn, taking courses in drawing, perspective, and design. He also learned how to use a printing press.

In 1960, Moser transferred to the University of Chattanooga, where he studied painting under George Cross until a woodcut illustration by artist Leonard Baskin inspired him to turn to engraving. He also attempted two minors, one in biology and the other in preministerial studies. However, his difficulty with the required Latin and Greek, which he took simultaneously, convinced him to switch to a major that had no language requirement: art education. "Little did I know," he once wrote, "that teaching would become one of the loves of my life."

Despite his dyslexia and his struggles with ancient languages, Moser became interested in words and letters. His reading included religious materials like the Bible and this led to literature by writers such as William Faulkner and Albert Camus. At Chattanooga he met Kay Richmond, an artist and fellow student; the couple married in 1962 and had three children, Cara, Ramona, and Madeline, before their divorce in 1977. In 1962, Moser began teaching at another military school, the McCallie School in Chattanooga, in order to earn money for his family. He taught art, mechanical drawing, and typing, and coached weightlifting and eighth-grade football. In 1967, disenchanted with what he perceived as its narrow-mindedness, Moser left the South. He once commented: "Like a latter-day Huck Finn, I lit out for New England with my little family."

The Mosers settled in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where Barry became art instructor at the Williston Academy (now Wiliston-Northampton School). A meeting with Baskin, who also lived in western Massachusetts, introduced Moser to the process of publishing handmade books when he toured Baskin's small publisher, Gehenna Press. When the Academy bought printing and printmaking equipment for his department, Moser taught himself and his students how to set type, run a printing press, and make etchings and wood engravings. He also began graduate work at the University of Massachusetts, but left after a year because he found "that I was doing as much teaching as learning." In 1968 Moser co-founded Pennyroyal Press, a publishing company that specializes in producing finely designed and limited edition books; Moser founded the firm with Harold McGrath, a master printer, and Jeff Dwyer. In 1969 the University of Massachusetts Press gave Moser an assignment to illustrate an adult title, Ely: Too Black, Too White. The next year, he designed, illustrated, and printed his first book, a new edition of James Abbott McNeil Whistler's essay The Red Rag, under the Castalia Press imprint. Although Moser's first books were created for fun, when the Arion Press of San Francisco invited him to illustrate Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick; or, The Whale in 1978, it was an offer that Moser has called "the real beginning of my present life in books."

When the University of California Press began reprinting Pennyroyal Press editions of classic works, Moser's accompanying art attained wide critical acclaim. In his rustic woodcut art for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There Moser views the topsy-turvy world directly through the eyes of Alice, a dark-haired girl modeled on Moser's own daughter. Done in a tactile, somewhat rough style, Moser's woodcut illustrations portray Wonderland as a bizarre and even sinister place, and depict Alice's world through her own eyes. Writing in Newsweek about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, John Ashbery noted that "there have been some far-out visual interpretations of Alice before, but none so convincingly elaborated into a world view where innocence and malignancy are inextricably intertwined." Calling Moser's version "extraordinary," Edward Guiliano predicted in Fine Print that the author's "complex vision … will speak sharply and eloquently to readers." Assessing Moser's illustrations for both Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There and a new edition of Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark, a New York Times Book Review critic wrote that the books "should delight anyone who loves Carroll, and he could hardly be introduced more elegantly to anyone who does not know him."

As a small boy, Moser had enjoyed Walt Disney's animated film Song of the South. The film was based on the books of Joel Chandler Harris, a white Southerner who wrote his tales and poems under the guise of African-American slave Uncle Remus. The books and movie feature Brer Rabbit, an irrepressible trickster who always outsmarts those who seek to capture him, such as rascally Brer Fox and Brer Bear. In 1985 he was invited to illustrate an adaptation titled Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, retold by Van Dyke Parks and Malcolm Jones, Jr. After the success of Jump!, he illustrated two additional volumes of tales featuring Brer Rabbit: Jump Again! More Adventures of Brer Rabbit and Jump on Over! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family. In a review of the latter, Horn Book critic Ethel L. Twichell wrote that "the strong characterizations of the animals seems to leap out of the pictures, adding rich drama and playful humor to the endless struggle of Brer Rabbit's wits against the greater strength and size of Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and Brer Wolf." Betsy Hearne, commenting in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books concluded that "no child can resist such a trickster [as Brer Rabbit], and no adult can resist Moser's sly portraits, with their varied perspectives, uncanny draftsmanship, and sparely detailed southern settings." Moser serves as author and illustrator of three other retellings set in the American South: Polly Vaughn, a refashioning of an old English ballad; Tucker Pfeffercorn: An Old Story Retold, which refigures well-known fairy tale of Rumplestiltskin; and Good and Perfect Gifts: An Illustrated Retelling of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi."

Moser's illustrated retelling of The Three Little Pigs is based on the classic folktale but includes a new dimension as well. The story is set in the present day, and finds the hungry wolf efficiently disposing of the first two plump pigs before meeting his match when he tries to make a meal of the third. The wolf invites the third little pig on three outings but gets outsmarted each time; finally, he ends up as the main course of the victorious pig's dinner. Moser's humorous, detailed watercolor illustrations amplify the events of the text while providing examples of the artist's sly wit, such as the third pig using "Wolfe Pruf" cement on the bricks of his house and wearing slippers made of the wolf's fur after his nemesis gets his comeuppance. In her review of The Three Little Pigs for Horn Book, Mary M. Burns commented that "Moser has a gift for endowing the commonplace with elegance, the familiar with new perspectives, as he demonstrates in this retelling of a storyteller's staple." Writing in School Library Journal, Jody McCoy stated that, "with all the amusing alternatives to the traditional ‘Three Little Pigs,’ it is somehow satisfying to have a retelling that embraces the best of the classic." Gillian Engberg, writing in Booklist also noted that "the words are satisfying and perfectly paced for reading aloud. But it's the watercolor-and-graphite illustrations that add freshness."

With Fly! A Brief History of Flight Moser made his first foray into nonfiction. In this work, which is directed at young adults, the author outlines sixteen pivotal moments in the history of aviation, from the invention of the hot-air balloon to the launching of the space shuttle. The first half of the book follows a picture book format with brief text and expansive watercolor illustrations, while the second half includes expanded notes and a timeline recording concurrent historical and cultural events. Writing in School Library Journal, Dorcas Hand noted that "Moser's love of aviation shines through" in the book," and Booklist critic Stephanie Zvirin commented that Moser's "impressive paintings … show the beauty and variety of the aircraft." As Zvirin added, "Moser's text, though brief, contains enough to pique curiosity, and his pictures are certain to attract browsers."

Working as an editor, Moser compiled and illustrated Great Ghost Stories, a collection of thirteen tales directed to young people. Here he includes classic horror stories by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as some eerie modern tales by writers such as Madeleine L'Engle, James Haskins, and Joyce Carol Oates. Each story in Great Ghost Stories is accompanied by a spooky color illustration. He pairs his unique art with short tales in several other collections geared for older, teen readers in Scary Stories and Cowboy Stories. Featuring twenty tales set in the American West, Cowboy Stories was a fun work for Moser as it tapped into childhood memories. As he noted in an interview for the Chronicle Books Web site, "I have always been a fan of Western movies—ever since my childhood days with Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers—but had read little Western literature until I undertook this collection. And I have to say that I was quite taken with it. There was a lot more really good writing than I had supposed. And went it came time to do the engravings, I went back to my collection of books on the Western films as my basic source, resulting in what I think of as a personal paean to the genre." Reviewing Cowboy Stories, which includes stories by Louis L'Amour, Elmore Leonard, and O. Henry, Ian Chipman wrote in Booklist that Moser's "moody, weathered" woodcut illustrations bring to life the stories' "grimfaced" protagonists, "whose cold steel is never far [away and] … action coils around every corner." The book's art reflects "the true grit" of the stories' "cowboy subjects and galvanize readers," concluded Patricia Ann Owens in School Library Journal.

Throughout his career, Moser has contributed detailed watercolor illustrations as well as textured engraved images to a variety of books by other writers, from humorous, lighthearted picture-book texts to prominent works of literature, some of which feature religious themes. His best-known work in this vein, the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible, was published in 1999 and contains over two hundred engravings along with the King James Version of both the Old and New Testaments. Considered a publishing event, the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible is the only Bible issued in the twentieth century that was illustrated by a single artist. Moser spent four years working on the project, designing the volume and creating wood engravings—both decorations and full-page illustrations—for every book of both Testaments. Characteristic of Moser's approach, his work for the Bible reflect a nontraditional interpretation. For example, he depicts many of the personages of the Bible, including Jesus, as looking as if they came from the Middle East rather than from Europe, and his pictures allude to contemporary history such as the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. Moser's Bible was first published in a limited edition by Pennyroyal Press; fifty copies of a deluxe edition were priced at fifty thousand dollars, while the 400 copies of the standard edition sold for ten thousand dollars each. The book was also issued in a trade edition by Viking Studio and has since been published in the New Revised Standard Version.

In addition to his work as an author, illustrator, and fine artist, Moser has also served on the faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design and at Smith College; he also has held positions as a visiting scholar and been a visiting artist at several schools. A strong advocate for quality children's literature, he believes that children's books should hold to high artistic standards. Moser told a BookPage online interviewer that he hopes children come away from his books feeling that "they've had a full meal, not just icing and ice cream from a birthday party. When kids sit down at my books, they're sitting down at Thanksgiving dinner." "If there's one thing I have learned from these books and the years it has taken me to do them, it is that illustrations by themselves do not make handsome books," he wrote in Children's Books and Their Creators. "Handsome books are the result of harmony—the arranging and combining of all the various graphic elements in pleasant and interesting ways that ultimately form a whole. The books I make for children, like the books I make for adults, are all done for the same purpose—to make a beautiful book."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 49, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998, pp. 159-193.

Cummins, Julie, editor, Children's Book Illustration and Design, PBC International, 1992.

Silvey, Anita, editor, Children's Books and Their Creators, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1995, pp. 469-471.

PERIODICALS

America, October 30, 1999, James Martin, "The Good Book," p. 12.

Booklist, January 1, 1984, Joseph Parisi, review of Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, p. 666; October, 1991, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Tinderbox, p. 438; October 15, 1993, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Fly! A Brief History of Flight, p. 438; June 1, 2001, Gillian Engberg, review of The Three Little Pigs, p. 1886; February 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems, p. 974; March 1, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of The Three Silly Billies, p. 1205; October 1, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of Moses, p. 62; December 1, 2006, John Peters, review of Scary Stories, p. 38; September 15, 2007, Ian Chipman, review of Cowboy Stories, p. 59; October 1, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of The Blessing of the Beasts, p. 72.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October, 1989, Betsy Hearne, review of Jump on Over! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family, p. 33; July, 2002, review of Earthquack!, p. 414; December, 2003, Elizabeth Bush, review of Voices of Ancient Egypt, p. 169; September, 2004, Janice Del Negro, review of Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny: An Original African-American Scare Tale, p. 18.

Communication Arts, September-October, 1985, "Barry Moser, Designer, Illustrator, and Publisher."

Cross Currents, spring/summer, 2000, Catherine Madsen, "A Terrible Beauty: Moser's Bible," p. 136.

Fine Print, July, 1982, Edward Guiliano, review of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, pp. 103-106.

Horn Book, March-April, 1990, Ethel L. Twichell, review of Jump on Over! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family, p. 213; January-February, 1992, Barry Moser, "Appalachia: The Front Porch," pp. 28-30; May, 2001, Mary M. Burns, review of The Three Little Pigs, p. 340; September-October, 2004, Betsy Hearne, review of Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny, p. 567.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2002, review of Earthquack!, p. 664; March 1, 2004, review of Hummingbird Nest, p. 222; June 1, 2005, review of The Three Silly Billies, p. 642; September 1, 2007, review of Cowboy Stories.

Newsweek, March 1, 1982, John Ashbery, "A Brilliant New ‘Alice,’" pp. 74-75; October 12, 1998, Malcolm Jones, Jr., "Illustrating the Word," p. 62.

New York Times Book Review, November 13, 1983, "Woodcuts from Wonderland," p. 13.

Publishers Weekly, May 6, 2002, review of Earthquack!, p. 57; April 5, 2004, review of Hummingbird Nest, p. 61; August 9, 2004, review of Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny, p. 248.

School Library Journal, October, 1990, Patricia Dooley, review of The Tinderbox, p. 113; October, 1993, Dorcas Hand, review of Fly! A Brief History of Flight, p. 145; May, 2001, Jody McCoy, review of The Three Little Pigs, p. 145; September, 2003, Eve Ortega, review of Voices of Ancient Egypt, p. 239; April, 2004, Susan Scheps, review of Hummingbird Nest, p. 111; August, 2004, Marianne Saccardi, review of Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny, p. 88; December, 2006, Susan Scheps, review of Moses, p. 124; January, 2007, Michele Capozzella, review of Scary Stories, p. 138; September, 2007, Patricia Ann Owens, review of Cowboy Stories, p. 194.

Sojourners, July-August, 2000, Julie Polter, "A Revelation in Black and White," p. 34.