Listmania!
Ut Pictura Poesis: Books that link art and poetry
Poets on Painters: Essays on the Art of Painting by Twentieth-Century PoetsPoets on Painters: Essays on the Art of Painting by Twentieth-Century Poets by J.D. McClatchy
Buy used from: £19.95
A fascinating anthology: Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Hughes and other poets writing about art and artists (e.g. Matisse, Corot, Balthus&)
Poiesis: Concerning Nature, Poem, the InfinitePoiesis: Concerning Nature, Poem, the Infinite
Buy used from: £14.20
A beautiful exhibition linking artists and poets, containing an insightful essay by Thomas A Clark.
Concrete Poetry: A World ViewConcrete Poetry: A World View
The classic concrete anthology, with an extensive and useful introduction.
William Blake: The Complete Illuminated BooksWilliam Blake: The Complete Illuminated Books by David Bindman
Buy new: £17.21 / Used from: £15.02
The list would be incomplete without this.
Sandro Botticelli: The Drawings for Dante's Divine ComedySandro Botticelli: The Drawings for Dante's Divine Comedy by Dr. Hein Schultze Altcappenberg
Buy new: £29.70 / Used from: £28.00
Catalogue to the memorable Royal Academy exhibition.
Gaudier-Brzeska: A MemoirGaudier-Brzeska: A Memoir by Ezra Pound
Buy used from: £9.37
This is more than just a historical artefact of Vorticism and is a key document for anyone interested in Pound's poetics.
Colours of Rhetoric: Problems in the Relation Between Modern Literature and PaintingColours of Rhetoric: Problems in the Relation Between Modern Literature and Painting by Wendy Steiner
Buy used from: £22.95
Subtitled 'Problems in the Relation Between Modern Literature and Painting' a perceptive and interesting study.
Ian Hamilton Finlay: A Visual PrimerIan Hamilton Finlay: A Visual Primer by Yves Abrioux
Buy used from: £29.00
The essential book on Ian Hamilton Finlay, covering both his art and his poetry.
Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (1913-1916)Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (1913-1916) by Guillaume Apollinaire
Buy used from: £11.43
Features his pioneering visual poems.
Roni Horn (Contemporary Artists)Roni Horn (Contemporary Artists) by Lynne Cooke
Buy new: £21.21 / Used from: £18.25
Phaidon have produced here a wonderful celebration of Horn's art, including her re-workings of Emily Dickinson.
The Aesthetics of Visual Poetry, 1914-28The Aesthetics of Visual Poetry, 1914-28 by Bohn
Buy used from: £20.27
The best writer on 20th century visual poetry. This is my favourite one of his books.
The Pattern Poems of George HerbertThe Pattern Poems of George Herbert by George Herbert
Buy used from: £45.00
The most famous English poet to indulge in pattern poems. For more recent examples, read John Hollander.
Letters on CezanneLetters on Cezanne by Rainer Maria Rilke
Buy new: £7.86 / Used from: £3.66
Rilke is one of many important writers who have studied Cezanne (my favourite is Merleau Ponty, but he is not a poet).
Poems (Classics)Poems (Classics) by Wang Wei
Buy used from: £0.01
A good introduction to the great Chinese poet-painter - why have Penguin let it go out of print? Perhaps not the best translation though...
William Morris: A Life for Our TimeWilliam Morris: A Life for Our Time by Fiona MacCarthy
Buy used from: £12.00
I think this may be the most enjoyable biography I've ever read.
Laocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry (Johns Hopkins Paperbacks)Laocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry (Johns Hopkins Paperbacks) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Buy new: £14.03 / Used from: £12.30
The classic argument for the separation of art and poetry.
Collected Poems, 1942-77Collected Poems, 1942-77 by W.S. Graham
Buy used from: £6.52
Includes Graham's beautiful tributes to St Ives artists Wynter, Lanyon and Hilton.
Leonardo's Nephew: Essays on Art and ArtistsLeonardo's Nephew: Essays on Art and Artists by James Fenton
Buy used from: £0.01
Poet, foreign correspondent and polymath (now an expert on gardening it seems), Fenton's highly readable NYRB essays are worth buying just for the article on Thomas Jones.
Frank O'Hara: Poet Among PaintersFrank O'Hara: Poet Among Painters by Marjorie Perloff
Buy used from: £26.95
Prolific Perloff is always worth reading (don't be put off by that embarrassing letter to the LRB) and her book 'Radical Artifice' is good on visual poetry.
Collected PoemsCollected Poems by S Mallarme
Buy new: £17.05 / Used from: £5.89
Includes 'Un Coup de des', the point where modern poetry becomes a visual art form.
In ParenthesisIn Parenthesis by David Jones
Buy new: £10.33 / Used from: £3.48
A perennial cult writer and interesting artist, this was the book that impressed Eliot.
The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (Oxford World's Classics)The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (Oxford World's Classics) by Walter Pater
Buy new: £4.78 / Used from: £2.86
W B Yeats thought his prose poetic enough to include in the Oxford Book of Verse. Highlights of this book are his essays on Leonardo and Giorgione.
Selected Poems, 1955-97 (Oxford Poets)Selected Poems, 1955-97 (Oxford Poets) by Charles Tomlinson
Buy new: £8.96 / Used from: £5.00
A poet of vivid visual images who also paints and writes about art.
Selected Writings on Art and Literature (Penguin Classics)Selected Writings on Art and Literature (Penguin Classics) by Charles-Pierre Baudelaire
Buy new: £8.44 / Used from: £8.93
Walter Benjamin's favourite art critic.
The Complete Poems of MichelangeloThe Complete Poems of Michelangelo by Michelangelo
Buy new: £9.45 / Used from: £11.08
These poems don't do much for me, but I can't leave out Michelangelo.