Editing Harry Crosby (section)

== Black Sun Press ==
{{Main|Black Sun Press}}

[[File:Alastair illustration for red skeletons.jpg|thumb|Illustration by [[Alastair (Baron Hans Henning Voigt)|Alastair]] from Harry Crosby's book ''Red Skeletons'', published in 1927]] 
In April, 1927, they founded an English language publishing company, first titled ''Éditions Narcisse'', after their black whippet Narcisse Noir. They used the press as an avenue to publish their own poetry in small editions of finely made hardbound volumes.

They printed, on high-quality paper, limited quantities of meticulously produced, hand-manufactured books. Publishing in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s put the company at the crossroads for many American writers who were living abroad. In 1928, as ''Éditions Narcisse'', they printed a limited edition of 300 numbered copies of "[[The Fall of the House of Usher]]" by [[Edgar Allan Poe]] with illustrations by [[Alastair (Baron Hans Henning Voigt)|Alastair]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mcleanbooks.com/details.php?record=9293&URLPAIR=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714060617/http://www.mcleanbooks.com/details.php?record=9293&URLPAIR=|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 July 2011|title=McLean Arts & Books, The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Alastair|publisher=McLean Books|access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>

In 1928, they found they enjoyed the reception their initial works received, and decided to expand the press to serve other authors, renaming the company the [[Black Sun Press]], following on Crosby's obsession on the symbolism of the sun.<ref name="hamalian">{{Cite book|last=Hamalian|first=Linda |title=The Cramoisy Queen: A Life of Caresse Crosby |publisher=Southern Illinois University|year=2005|page=68|isbn=0-8093-1865-2}}</ref>{{rp|42}} They rapidly gained notice for publishing beautifully bound, typographically flawless editions of unusual books. They took exquisite care with the books they published, choosing the finest papers and inks.<ref name=rothstein>{{cite web|last=Rothstein|first=Kris|title=Black Sun by Geoffrey Wolff|url=http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2004_01_001304.php|publisher=Book Slut|access-date=24 February 2014|date=January 2004|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401175447/http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2004_01_001304.php|archive-date=1 April 2014}}</ref>

They published early works of several writers before they were well known, including [[James Joyce]]'s ''Tales Told of Shem and Shaun'' (which was later integrated into ''[[Finnegans Wake]]''). They published [[Kay Boyle]]'s first book-length work, ''Short Stories'', in 1929. and works by [[Hart Crane]], [[D. H. Lawrence]], [[Ezra Pound]], [[Archibald MacLeish]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Laurence Sterne]], and [[Eugene Jolas]].<ref name="artunderwraps.com">{{Cite web|url=http://artunderwraps.com/Black-Sun.html|title=Black Sun Catalog of Rare and Collectible Books|access-date=May 13, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814104752/http://artunderwraps.com/Black-Sun.html|archive-date=August 14, 2015}}</ref> The Black Sun Press evolved into one of the most important small presses in Paris in the 1920s. After Crosby died in a suicide pact with one of his many lovers, Caresse Crosby continued publishing into the 1940s.