Gruhler Collection of Janus Press

Claire Van Vliet founded the Janus Press in 1955 in San Diego and moved to the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont for its light and skies in 1970.  She is renowned for her artistic, innovative collaborations with artists, poets and handmade paper makers.    She was the first book designer to be awarded the MacArthur genius award, which gave her the financial freedom to produce fine books and broadsides for over six decades.  Paul Gruhler collected Janus Press books since 2010. His friend Claire Van Vliet assisted him.   He donated the entire collection to the Craftsbury Public Library in 2026.

Library visitors may request an opportunity to handle items from the Art Book Collection. Every attempt will be made to honor the request when it is received. However, the librarian reserves the right to defer a request to another time if needed. These are the procedures for handling books from this special collection.

The Collection, with dates of publication:

1970  Felicity of Carols,  Helen Siegl                                        

1976  The Guest, Helen Siegl  - special edition                  

1976  Loneliness, Heyden Carruth                  

1977  From Action,  W.R. Johnson                                             

1978  From a Housewife’s Diary,  Janet Nyholm, Jerome Kaplan                                                                                          

1978  Traditional Hungarian Songs, W.D. Snodgrass      

1979  Fergus Falling,  Galway Kinnell                                  

1979  Two Poems,  Galway Kinnell                                       

1979  What the Owl Said,  James Cortese                        

1980  Bare Elegy,  Margo Lockwood                                     

1980  Bread & Puppet: Dream of the Dirty Woman, Elka Schumann                                                                              

1981  Four Women, James Hayford                                      

1982  Of Gravity and Grace, Sabina Thorne                      

1983  Lilac Wind,  W.R. Johnson                                            

1985  The Seekonk Woods, Galway Kinnell, Lotte Jacobi

1985  Floralia, Sandra McPherson                                               

1987  A Landscape With Cows In It, Clifford Burke            

1996  Batterers, Denise Levertov                                               

1998  (Compound Frame) Emily Dickinson, Susan Johanknecht  

2004  Aunt Sallie’s Lament (Altered), Margaret Kaufman 

2006  The Gospel of Mary, Rosemary Redford Rietjer      

2007  Waste Incant, Susan Johanknecht                               

2008  Papermaking at Hayle Mill, Maureen Green            

2010  Helios,  Peter Schumann (1934-                                 

2010  Gone, Ellen McCulloch-Lovell                                     

2011  Gone, Ellen McCulloch-Lovell  (trade edition)     

2012  ABC, Judy Sgantas                                                            

2013  Greed, Claire Van Vliet                                                   

2015  Trio, Leland Kinsey, Judy Haswell, Karen Hesse 

2016  The Silences Between, Keri Hulme                           

2017  Gameboard / Summetries, Ellen Dorn Levett      

2017  Lucretius, W.R. Johnson                                                 

2019  Watermarks, Rienke Ensign                                          

2020  How Big Is Home, Barbara Luck                                  

2020  How Big Is Home, Barbara Luck,  trade edition    

2022  Sky Signs, Aratus’ Phaenomena                                  

2024  Fugal                                                                                        

PAMPHLETS

1977  Mass of Thanksgiving, Helen Siegl                             

2007  Primal Land,Northwest Ireland, Claire Van Vliet                                                                                                                                                               

REFERENCE

1985  Claire Van Vliet – Landscape Paperworks, Ruth Fine

1989  In Black and White: Landscape Prints                       

2002  Woven and Interlocking Book Structures, from Janus, Steiner and Gefn Presses                                          

2006  The Janus Press – Fifty Years                                      

2015  The Janus Press, catalogue of available books with prices                                                                                  

2015   The Janus Press at Sixty,  trade edition                  

2015   The Janus Press at Sixty,  limited edition              

2024  The Art of Paper, John Buchtel at the Boston Athenaeum                                                                            

Article from The Hardwick Gazette, May 5, 2026

Article from the North Star Monthly, September 28, 2026