Morrison, Lois
One of 25copies, each signed and numbered by the artist, Lois Morrison, printed on oriental paper from Staedtler's master carve, hand-lettered onto Nideggen paper, grommeted, and bound in sharkskin over board forming 12-piece "snake" that is highlighted with colored threads glued down on images, several pieces to each piece, with images and text on one side and sharkskin on the reverse, housed in maroon "snake-catching" bag tied with green cord, fine. The pieces were laser cut by Julie Chen. The title is hand lettered and on the sharkskin-side of the snake's head - which also has stamped eyes. Yes, SNAKES ARE NOT NICE but this book is!
Maurer, Paul. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman
Artist's books, each unique, from a series of 3, this consisting of 4 individual books, all on Strathmore "Printmaking" paper for the text and Stonehenge paper for the black titlepage, signed by the artist, Paul Maurer, and hand-numbered in pencil on the colophon. The disparate sizes, disparate bindings, various papers, all combine to reflect the rich variety of the American experience where almost every American suffered loss during this cataclysmic period in our history. Page sizes (smallest to largest): 6.5 x 5-3/4 inches; 14pp; 10-5/8 x 6 inches; 10pp; 11 x 7-1/4 inches; 8pp; 12 x 8 inches; 12pp. Bound by the artist: paper hinged folios; the next 2 leporello style with front cover in gold Fabriano "Cocktail Paper" and hinges of Thailand Kozo decorated with ink splatters; brown corrugated paper, and housed in protective envelope of black printed and collaged Strathmore cover stock, interior grey and white pastepaper, inside is a brown protective cover with collage of remnants of damaged flags found in 1996, inside panel collaged with damaged flags and the text of emotionally wrenching Civil War dirge by Walt Whitman, "Come Up from the Fields." Some of the Whitman poems included are "This Dust Was Once the Man.", When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd.", "Quicksand Years", Long, too long, America". The Dickinson poems included are "The Battlefield" and "The Forgotten Grave." The images included are pulled from 100-year-old metal plates printed on a Blick tabletop etching press. The artist has embellished some of the etchings using acrylic ink and paint. He has also used metal Dingbat stamping as well as Peerless watercolor sponge painting on the pages. The calligraphy is accomplished in Sharpie markers and Speedball metal pens, mostly blue with red highlights and black headers. The art and text convey the chaos and destruction of the American Civil War. This artist's book (s) uses the words of Whitman and Dickinson causing a profound sadness in the reader / viewer. Yet, the art and words allow us to overcome the profound sadness and we are reconciled to the loss.
Krause, Dorothy Simpson. L. M. Montgomery
Artist's book, unique, an altered book, signed by the artist on the rear pastedown, "DKrause." Page size: 5 x 8 inches; 20pp. Bound by the artist: in the original boards of a used copy of the 100th anniversary edition of this children's classic. The artist removed the covers, spine, and eight illustrations and inserted a strip of ochre leather which became the new spine. Details from the original black and white illustrations were then watercolored and placed on botanically-printed pages. The whole was then bound using original boards of anniversary edition and a slipcase made using the original spine of the book. The artist's title, ANNE with an e, is written in pencil by the artist below the cover portrait of "Anne." taken from a postcard. This altered book was occasioned by the artist's visit to Charlottetown, PEI, the setting for Montgomery's story.
Krause, Dorothy Simpson
Artist's book, unique, on paper handmade by the artist, signed and dated in pencil by the artist, on the penultimate page, D Krause. Page size: 7-3/4 x 6 inches; 20pp. Bound by the artist: found textile (dress) over boards (drum leaf) sewn with acid orange thread, boards covered in fabric which is recovered textile from Viet Nam, ochre with tan and brown cloth border, another portion of dress used as border which is stitched-on beige cloth, the top quarter of the binding green velvet embossed silk, again from same dress, housed in another fragment of the dress (same orange-colored loose wove cloth) over boards slipcase. The text is printed in grey on an ink jet printer. The text was then transferred to the botanically printed pages along the bottom of each page. The botanically printed images that form the page design are printed in shades of grey and rust - dark and strong at first few pages to pale grey void at penultimate page with a chilling summary on the last page of the lasting damage caused by this lethal chemical.
Lee, Beth
Artist's book, one of 12 copies, all on Arches Cover black text paper, each copy hand-lettered by Beth Lee and signed, numbered and dated by her on the inside hinge of book. Page size: 7.25 x 4 inches; 12pp. 6 of which are hand-lettered. Bound by the artist, Beth Lee, black cloth over binder's board, Black Ink metallic marbled papers from the 1990's endpapers with spacer bard covered in matching metallic paper over book board (added to square up the thickness of the book). Ms. Lee has chosen the perfect format - Hedi Kyle's panorama book as fond in her THE ART OF THE FOLD - for this children's nursery rhyme, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and its accompanying sesquipedalian version, SCINTILLATE, SCINTILLATE. The texts of SCINTILLATE, SCINTILLATE and TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR are lettered in in white (sesquipedalian text) and gold metallic (children's poem). The flag format opens to display both texts when standing upright but still can be turned page by page in book format. Witty and charming - this book begs to be picked up and read as well as displayed!
Cheloniidae Press. Browne, Sir Thomas
First Edition, Artist Proof issue, one of 5 copies only, all on obsolete Whatman paper (blue-white laid ca. 1962), from a total issue of 225, all signed by the artist, as follows: 5 AP copies (this copy) in an elegant full limp vellum non-adhesive binding, title in gilt on spine, frontispiece etching in 2 states, an extra suite (14), each signed and numbered, and two extra suites of working proofs (28), each signed and labeled "wp," and an original drawing, a unicorn within an oval border signed in full by Alan J. Robinson, housed in 1/4 vellum folder with Narwhal "horn" tooled in gold gilt on spine, housed in tan cloth over boards with vellum spine stamped with title in gold gilt; 15 State Proof copies, bound in full vellum non-adhesive limp binding with an original drawing and an extra suite of prints plus a suite of working proofs of the prints and state proofs of the etching; 60 deluxe copies in vellum binding and an extra suite; 150 regular copies on T.H. Saunders Laid. Page size: 9 1/2 x 7 inches. Bound by Gray Parrot with his binder's ticket at lower rear turn-in: full limp vellum, matching quarter vellum sleeve for extra suites all housed in vellum and linen clamshell box, box slightly worn with 2 or 3 minor bumps, book fine. Illustrated with 15 woodengravings and one etching by Robinson, the text is set and cast in Van Dyck Monotype by Winifred and Michael Bixler and printed by Harold Patrick McGrath in black and blue at Hampshire Typothetae. Jan van Dorsten, Professor of English Literature at the University of Leiden, Nethrlands and Head of the Sir Thomas Browne Institute there, has written an introduction on Browne's life, work and thought especially for this volume, which is Chapter XXIII of PSEUDODOXIA EPIDEMICA . In all, this is a lovely book, full of fantasy and romance, beautifully produced and executed by one of the finest naturalists working today.
Maurer, Paul
Artist's book, unique, on various papers including Arches, Canson, Strathmore, signed and dated on the colophon by the artist / author, Paul Maurer. Consisting of seven individual booklets, all assembled into one handmade file folder, resulting from the artist / author's creating similar booklets for some young friends. Page sizes: Biology 5-1/2 x 7 inches, Astronomy 6-3/4 x 7-3/4 inches, Math 7 x 7-1/8 inches, Alphabet 8-1/2 x 7-7/8 inches, Birds 9 x 8 inches, Insects 9 x 10, Fish 6-1/4 x 1013/16 inches. Bound by the artist: individual booklets accordion foldouts in hand-painted paper wrappers, each laid into its own hand-painted and hand lettered sleeve; housed in custom-made paper over boards clamshell box, 13 x 13 x 3 inches, front cover lined with painted and stamped papers collaged to form "quilt" of brightly colored images; bottom tray padded and lined with blue velvet, white and gold gilt ribbon pull, clamshell "quilt" housed in handmade green and orange corrugated cardboard box with painted label "THE SIMPLE SCIENCE KIT" collaged to center right of lid. The printing blocks for the papers were hand printed with water-based inks. The calligraphy was accomplished with metal pens and acrylic inks with metal dingbat stamping here and there. The booklet covers and pockets are decorated with gouache, acrylic and enamels. The box is a collage of various parts of the booklets: tripled coated with gloss acrylic varnish. The text in the booklets is basic: i.e. the alphabet in black and white wood type followed by the words "& now make words." Inspired by American Folk Art as well as American primers, this is a thoroughly contemporary interpretation. It will make you smile and maybe even chuckle. It is a charmer.
Maurer, Paul. Dickinson, Emily
Artist's book, one in a series of three, on Canson Text paper, signed on the colophon, numbered and dated by the artist, Paul Maurer. Bound: accordion fold with covers of Fabriano Watercolor paper, housed in deep blue envelope made of cover stock with collaged element on front, and tabs fastening envelope stamped with "e" and "d" in plum. Page size: 7 x 8-3/4 inches; 22pp, including one with folded flap (opposite the verse "This is my letter to the world." Bound: accordion style with painted Fabriano Watercolor wrappers at either end. The artist has used a Bryer for painting along with metal hand type and ornaments as well as old letterpress plates and dingbats, sponge painting and hand-cut rubber blocks printed with water-based printing inks and watercolors, some collage, metallic markers, and calligraphy executed in sumi ink and metal pens on Canson Text paper. Colors are exuberant: yellow and coral and pink with aqua and spring green borders with deeper shades of mauve added for verses on the reverse of the leporello. It is a riot of color and design highlighting the words of Emily Dickinson - never overpowering them but rather dancing around them in celebration.
Glaister, Donald. Poe, Edgar Allan
Artist's book, one in a series of 10, on paper, polyester film, and metals, by noted book artist, Donald Glaister, who has signed and numbered the book on the colophon. Page size: 14-1/2 x 8-7/8 inches. Bound by the artist: painted paper over boards, hand-sewn with each page on tabs to allow complete opening of each page spread, grey morocco spine, title written in dark grey on aluminum inset on front panel, edges of front and rear panel edged in orange, housed in clamshell box. Designed, painted and bound by the artist, this book uses paper, various metals and polyester. The text is printed by laser on mylar; the mathematical formulas and equations are hand painted on metal inserts in each of the pages / boards. Using Edgar Allan Poe's diacopic masterpiece, THE BELLS (1849), the artist uses this important American text as a basis for visual exploration. The musicality of "The Bells" is reflected in the artist's use of numerical notations / equations. While not musical notations, they do reflect that sensibility - as do the arabesques that link each page spread. The page colors reflect the increasing darkness and frenzy of Poe's text, starting with the bright silver-white opening page spread with bright blue arabesques that run across both recto and verso and the interleaved mylar text page. The silver bells are reflected in the three aluminum inserts on each page - perfectly placed to lead the eye to the smaller text page in the middle. The "golden bells" of the next - not quite gold but more orange-toned - page spread have the mathematical equations written on gold metal, in black, orange, and white and the arabesques running across both pages (in a more frenetic pattern than the preceding page) again highlight the text. The subsequent page spread (alarm bells - fire) is a deeper orange, more frenzied. The iron bell page spread is dark grey - with the painting and inset mathematical formulas drawing the eye in to a very deep, dark place indeed. A masterful book, what one expects from Donald Glaister, who manages to astonish with each new work. Edgar Allan Poe's word mastery and dark visions are perfectly served by the non-representational art, painted on each page, of Donald Glaister.
Cheloniidae Press. McPhee, John
First Edition, one of 50 Deluxe copies, from a total issue of 300: 50 Deluxe copies bound in quarter leather, with text printed on Sakomoto and the prints on Cha-u-ke plus an extra suite of the prints, signed by the artist and all of the authors; 250 regular copies with text on Mulberry paper, bound in paper, signed by the artist. Page size: 12 inches x 8 3/4 inches. Bound by Gray Parrot: quarter grey morocco with tire tracks blind tooled across spine and title in blind, matching black chemise with blind tooled tire tracks, all housed in grey morocco and black cloth clamshell box. Illustrated with 11 woodengravings (10 roadkills and one tire track/broken muffler as colophon) and one etching, the text was printed in red and black by Harold Patrick McGrath at Hampshire Typothetae in Bruce Rogers' Centaur and Frederick Warde's Arrighi which was hand set in 18 point by P. Chase Twichell. The artist explains in "On the Conception of Roadkills" that he had originally planned a portfolio without text of some of those animals he had encountered during his many drives to and from college. He adds, "Meanwhile, friends began to call my attention to writers who had also been inspired by the casualties of the highways: John McPhee, in Travels in Georgia, and poets Madeline DeFrees, Gillian Connelly, Gary Snyder, William Stafford, and Richard Eberhart. Thus I began to conceive of Roadkills as a book, with images and text interwoven." And what a book it is -- the text in red and black on tan Japanese paper, the black woodengravings on a darker tan paper, red Japanese paper as preliminaries -- all making a powerful statement about "The Dead by the Side of the Road." This is the very rare second book of the press; the deluxe edition with its extra suite and signatures of all the authors has long been out of print. In addition.
Verdigris Press. Sacre, James
Artist's book, one of 35 regular copies all on Hahnemuhle paper, each signed and numbered by the artist, Judith Rothchild, and the author, James Sacre. Page size: 5-7/8(L) x 14-1/4(W) inches, opening to 47-3/8(L) x 14-1/4(W) inches. Bound by Mark Lintott: leporello fold, 8pp, first page is verso of front blank with author, title, artist, and press printed in black on fold-over from front blank, loose as issued, housed in custom-made page beige cloth over boards, grey cloth spine, with title in large grey seriograph letters with images of the "thing to roll" - i.e. egg - on the inside of clamshell box. Ms. Rothchild has succeeded in creating 4 successive images of a rolling egg with her velvety, organic engravings. The reader sees and feels the motion as the oval form moves across the top of the pages while the boldly-set text, in Olive, handset and printed on Adana and Vandercook presses by Mark Lintott, decorates the bottom quarter of each page. James Sacre's poem wonders about the egg as a rolling object like our own planet, and what we see in words and light and shadows. The images are simple, yet mysterious as befitting the verse of M. Sacre, French born-poet who taught at Smith College for many years before retiring to Montpellier. A beautiful book, full of wonder.
