We’ve seen some great examples of the indie publishing spirit, from Dr. Johnson to Stéphane Mallarmé, to Marcel Proust. Next up: poetry’s mad scientist, the original miglior fabbro (well, except for the real miglior fabbro), the Tireless Champion of the Arts who wound up living – literally – in a cage. An amazing, awful life story: Ezra Pound!

Pound of course, was an indie publisher, ahead of his time:

Arriving in Italy in 1908 with only $80, Pound spent $8 to have his first book of poems, A Lume Spento, printed in June, 1908, in an edition of one hundred copies.

Elsewhere I read that he sold these for six cents apiece. He didn’t even try to recover his costs! His book was a loss leader! And a career launcher.

Ah, Ezra. I hope somewhere you are at peace.

Image Credit: http://www.poetryfoundation.org