About Us

The Waverly Press is a publisher of limited-edition books and prints, bringing together a wide range of subjects found in both pop culture and counterculture from the mid-twentieth century to the present. The core of The Waverly Press’ mission is to bring to light, rarely seen and previously unpublished art and photographic archives in deluxe, limited edition presentations. When possible our books and prints are produced utilizing sustainable materials, and to high archival standards.

The Waverly Press Founder and Publisher, Dagon James, has been engaged in the arts for most of his life. Through the 1990’s James worked as an assistant to several prominent artists in New York City by day, and at night worked as a session musician in the studio and in live performances at venues all over North America including numerous performances at New York City’s legendary CBGB. During this period James attended The Art Students League on 57th Street where he honed his skills in the disciplines of fine-art print making under master print maker Michael Pellettieri. In the early 2000s, James applied his fine art background to his publishing efforts as founder and publisher of Lid magazine which ran for 17 issues from 2004-2014. James placed emphasis on the research and publication of rarely seen and previously unpublished archives by some of the most prominent names in the art, fashion, and music fields. In 2012, James founded The Waverly Press and began publishing a series of limited-edition books and prints in collaboration with artists including Gerard Malanga, Billy Name, Klaus Voormann, Michael Zagaris, and Baron Wolman.

In 2013, James embarked on a run of collaborations with London-based publisher, Tony Nourmand, and his imprint Reel Art Press. As editor and art director, James and Nourmand created Unseen McQueen by Barry Feinstein and Dave Brolan (2013), Woodstock with Baron Wolman, Michael Lang and Carlos Santana, (2014), Billy Name: The Silver Age with Anastasia James, Glenn O’Brien, John Cale, Danny Fields and Gerard Malanga (2014), Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, 1975 with Barbara Pyle and Max Weinberg (2015), Brigid Berlin: Polaroids with Anastasia James, Vincent Fremont, Bob Colacello and John Waters (2015), and Total Excess with Michael Zagaris, Peter Frampton and David Talbot (2016). Some of James’s other titles include Joe Eula: Master of Twentieth-Century Fashion Illustration with Melisa Gosnell and Cathy Horyn, Cary Leibowitz: Museum Show with Anastasia James, Fran Drescher, Glen Helfand, Hilton Als, and Simon Lince, The Trans List with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Anastasia James, Rags Magazine 50th Anniversary Archive with Baron Wolman and Laura McLaws Helms, Scars with Brigid Berlin, Vincent Fremont and Victor Bockris, Secret Cinema with Gerard Malanga and Anastasia James, and Low Fidelity with Bobby Grossman, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Fab 5 Freddy, Robert Fripp and Shepard Fairey.

James has worked in the fashion field as creative consultant and designer for Marc Jacobs including helping develop the popular “Blondie” tee shirt and overseeing branding and marketing for other designers, agencies and publishers in San Francisco and New York City. James has curated numerous exhibitions including exhibitions for Billy Name and Michael Zagaris in New York City, which are the largest exhibitions for both artists to date. In addition, James oversaw the exhibition and marketing design for Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, and Cary Leibowitz: Museum Show, at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

The long list of artists and personalities that James has worked with over the years include Billy Name, Glenn O’Brien, Vincent Fremont, Brigid Berlin, John Cale, Gerard Malanga, Jimmy Page, Dave Brolan, Tony Nourmand, Marc Jacobs, Sam Haskins, Michael Stipe, Thomas Dozol, Donovan, Peter & Alice Gowland, Klaus Voormann, Jurgen Vollmer, Diane di Prima, James Iha, Barry Feinstein, Michael Zagaris, Baron Wolman, Mick Rock, John Waters, Victor Bockris, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Cathy Horyn, Bobby Grossman, Sean Carrillo, Bibbe Hansen, Michael Lang, Carlos Santana, Danny Fields, Storm Thorgerson, Olivia Harrison (George Harrison Estate), Allen Midgette, Adam Cooper (Michael Cooper Estate), Prince Stash Klossowski de Rola, Kate Simon, Leee Black Childers, Gretchen Berg, Rose Hartman, Dustin Pittman, Quentin Crisp, Melisa Gosnell, Carl Fischer, Stephanie Chernikowski, Wes Wilson, Ross Halfin, Cary Leibowitz, Wolf Suschitzky, and Daido Moriyama.

James’ publications can be found in numerous institutional collections including The School of Visual Arts, New York City, the Bowes Art & Architecture Library at Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives, Cleveland, Ohio, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, Washington, DC.

James also manages the estate of Billy Name, best known as Andy Warhol’s 1960s Silver Factory era photographer and creative collaborator.

You can see some of Dagon James’ work here: http://www.hyphen-hyphen.com