Sherwin Beach Press

PRAIRIE: Reflections from the Tallgrass Landscape

NEW and available through Sherwin Beach Press

Photograph of book open to a two-page spread. On the left, page 32, is a technical illustration of lines and angles describing "Clear, high whistle," "Clear, loud whistle," and "Gargling, liquid whistle" patterns; below that: "Quality of low-pitches" (four short horizontal lines in a row) and "human voice" (four regular curved lines from top left to bottom right). Caption for the image is "Songs of the American Goldfinch, the Robin, the Red-Winged Blackbird, and the Crow as interpreted by Aretas A. Saunders in 1951. On the right, page 33, is a poem entitled "Aerial Arias": "Some spend their entire lives / clinging to prairie grasses. / some prefer deciduous forests / along the prairie's edge. / Some fly south to avoid the harsh Midwest winter. / A few, travelers from the far north, / winter in the prairie. / In the spring and fall / before movement begins, / natives join migrants / and the air is filled with song."

Conceived by Barbara Korbel during a residency at the Ragdale Foundation and realized over a period of three years, PRAIRIE: Reflections from the Tallgrass Landscape is an unapologetic love letter to an overlooked tallgrass landscape. Beginning with a musing about the glacial movement that created the topography, the book is a collection of poems, prose, journal entries, and other ponderings that explore the soil, root systems, plant life, destruction, and restoration of the tall grass landscape. 

Front cover of the book wrapped in a deckle edge paper slipcase and strip bearing the title on two lines: "PRAIRIE" and "Reflecrtions from the Tallgrass Landscape".

Two maps, a song chart of select birds, a packet of seeds from prairie plants, and four samples of natural dyes from an oak savanna are also included in the book. Four deluxe copies include nine handmade paper samples made by Andrea Peterson using plant materials collected from the author’s pocket prairie and Peterson’s farm. 

The book acknowledges the prairie’s first inhabitants who nurtured the land and lived well upon it, and to those who now work to eradicate invasive species, plant native grasses, and restore prairie habitats. PRAIRIE will be of interest to readers who understand the quiet beauty of the Midwest and other similar glaciated areas of the country.

Photograph of the front cover of the book showing its cloth binding and the inset printed title "PRAIRIE"

PRAIRIE was written by Barbara Korbel and designed and letterpress printed by Martha Chiplis with polymer plates from Boxcar Press. Forty copies were printed in Goudy Old Style on BK text made by Andrea Peterson. The completed book was sewn and bound into a hard case by the author using Dubletta book cloth on the covers and pastedowns.

Copies 5 – 40 are enclosed in a slipcase made of BK cover and are offered at $500. Deluxe copies numbered 1 – 4 are presented in a drop spine box and are offered at $800 per copy.

2026.  44 pages   6.25” x 8.75”

Although this book is not yet for sale online, we had copies of the prospectus and one copy of the regular edition and one of the deluxe for examination at the Codex X Book Art Fair in Oakland, California, Saturday, February 7 – Tuesday, February 10, 2026.

Contact us with inquiries.

Barbara Korbel, a native Chicagoan, had a 35-year career as Head of Book Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago and as Collections Conservator at the Newberry Library. She continues her employment at the Newberry in a part-time position.

She received her BA from Rosary College at Dominican University and MA from Northern Illinois University and has taught bookbinding classes and workshops at a variety of venues including Columbia College, Haystack School of Craft, Hollander’s School of Bookbinding, Paper & Book Intensive, Penland School of Craft, and the Newberry Library.

Korbel is the recipient of artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation and was visiting artist at the Ox-Bow School of Art. Her bindings have been exhibited internationally and can be found in several private and university collections across the country. She spends her retirement weaving, observing and writing about the natural world. Her most recent endeavor, PRAIRIE, was completed in January 2026.