Embroidered Textile Piece - completed during Covid-19 quarantine

Akhmadeeva, Ioulia and Diane Jaime.
248 Hours of Tangible Poetry.
Morelia City, Mexico: 2020.

Unique Book Art Object. A physical representation of the passage of time experienced during the quarantine, expressed beautifully and painstakingly with elaborate beadwork and poetic embroidery.  A five-foot square of white linen embroidered with thread (with collaboration of Diane Jaime) and glass beads by artist in the images of natures element. The author’s personal poems, haikus-like, are in English and Spanish. They were composed and embroidered in the Mexican countryside in a house nestled in a copse of pine trees during the Covid-19 quarantine. The verses repeat many times and read like a meditation. The English language portion of the verses is below:

•              The threads of the rain in tangible writings         
•              Time in rocks    
•              Your name written in time         
•              Intimacy of tangible writings embraces me         
•              Frozen time in moments of happiness   
•              The All in Pine Branch   
•              It's a moment to collect stones of silence              
•              The wind takes my time               
•              Time of recollect the stones        
•              The wind takes my time               
•              Sea of hugs in difficult times       
•              An animal walks among the branches, silence...   

This exquisite textile piece is meant to be hung and displayed. It has a narrow fabric slot along the top edge for a dowel to be inserted (for hanging). Folded and housed in a clamshell box covered in green Japan jacquard silk with brass title label to front board. Size: about 58 x 58 inches. Box size: 15.5 x 15.5 inches. Fine. (#36431)

Price: $5,000 

Miniature Alphabet Book - Russian Book Artist

Goozairow, Emil (Emile).
Alphabet of the Forgotten Letters.
Moscow: Emil Goozairow, 2021.

Small open edition. A sculptural book in a tower binding that has been 3-D printed and hand-painted by the artist in metallic gold, black, and yellow, with the edges of the textblock in red. The interior is an alphabet book featuring the English alphabet, a short tautogram, and an imaginative full color illustration for each letter. The shape of the textblock is a square and the text must be read by rotating the book with each turn of the page. The book playfully rattles as it is read due to an object inserted in the cover. A black cord wraps around the book to fasten it closed.

Goozairow is a Russian artist who paints and draws, produces movies, and creates exceptional handmade books that are printed on rare types of paper and published in limited editions. His techniques create unique designs that often are made with natural materials alone or in combination with relief decorations made from metal or polymeric clay. He creates books that he describes as "pop up," “kinetic carousel," “liporello” or “3D origami.” He also writes fairy tales, stories and mystical scenes. Fine. (#36617)

Price: $325 

Unique Design Binding of Argentinian Poetry by Argentinian Binder

Gruss, Luis; Sol Rébora (binder); Rubén Fontana (typography), Lucrecia Orloff (illustrator), Viky Sigwald (paper), Mariana Pariani and Patricio Gatti (design and printing).
Finlandeses.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Imprenta Ideal, 2008.

In a unique design binding by Sol Rébora. This letterpress printed collaboration on handmade paper is limited to 25 copies. The other 24 copies are in a case binding of cloth and paper. Features a frontispiece woodcut illustration by Lucrecia Ofloff. Printed on handmade paper by Viky Sigwald in type designed by Rubén Fontana. The book design and printing was done by Mariana Pariani and Patricio Gatti. The text (in Spanish) is poetry by Luis Gruss (1953 - 2021), an award-winning Argentinian poet, journalist, author, and professor. Gruss has contributed to most of the media publications in Argentina, from Clarín, La Nación and Página to the Latido and Los Inrockuptibles magazines. He has published the books Malos Poetas (1998) and La carne (2004), among others. In 2003 he received the Argentores special prize for his dramatic work Oscura Clarice. He also wrote the essay The Unreachable (Women in the life and work of Kafka, Pessoa and Pavese), first finalist in the essay contest organized by La Nación (Intellectual Capital, 2008). As a journalism teacher at the TEA school (Workshop, School, Agency) he received a special distinction that rewards his career. Later in his career, Gruss edited books belonging to an academic collection sponsored in Argentina by the IDAES (Institute of Higher Social Studies).

Bound in full dark grey leather covered boards printed with an embossed pattern. Both boards are decorated with relief inlays of white Japanese paper. The title is handstamped in grey to the front board. Handsewn white endbands and Japanese endpapers. The interior is clean and bright overall with a few scattered spots of foxing. The construction of the text block uses a reversible stub structure, which allows for easy access to the sewing threads, making any future repairs for a conservator simple. For more details about this reversible stub structure, see this page: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afzoVW9qSzVaQchryT8gzpL9MRi4iGvC/view Housed in a custom-made clamshell box with white leather spine printed in matching embossed pattern over grey paper covered boards. The title and author's name are hand stamped in black title to spine. The book is hand-paginated in pencil on bottom corners. [48 pages.]

Sol Rébora is a designer bookbinder working in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 1999. She is a well-recognized practitioner, receiving awards both in Argentina and abroad. Her work encompasses innovative and experimental work in designer binding and contemporary conservation methods. She studied with Deborah Evetts, Monique Lallier, Pascale Therond, Edwin Heim, Helene Jolis, Sün Evrard and Kathy Abbott, among other teachers. She currently works and teaches courses out of her studio in addition to giving lectures and workshops in person and online at schools including the SF Center for the Book and Iowa University Center for the Book, American Academy of Bookbinding and Penland School of Crafts. She has participated in group exhibitions such us Epémère, Tomorrow’s Past and Les Pages Bien Gardees. Sol’s work may be found in many privet collections and inside of institution’s collections in USA, Mexico and UK such as Athenæum Library and British Library. Fine. (#36584)

Price: $2,800

Slavery in Bermuda - A Unique Artists' Book

Krause, Dorothy Simpson.
Slave Trade.
Bermuda: Dorothy Simpson Krause, 2011.

Dorothy Krause is a painter, collage artist and printmaker who incorporates digital mixed media into her art. Her work is exhibited regularly in galleries and museums and featured in numerous current periodicals and books. In her artist's statement she says: "My work includes large scale mixed media pieces, artist books and book-like objects that bridge between these two forms. It embeds archetypal symbols and fragments of image and text in multiple layers of texture and meaning. It combines the humblest of materials, plaster, tar, wax and pigment, with the latest in technology to evoke the past and herald the future. My art-making is an integrated mode of inquiry that links concept and media in an ongoing dialogue – a visible means of exploring meaning"

Many of her books, like this one, have been inspired by her travels. This wordless book contrasts the colorful and picturesque aspects of the island with it’s somewhat darker history of slavery, Although Bermuda was a slave society, slavery was not essential to the agriculture economy, and Bermuda did not actively import slaves, instead relying on those black and Indian adults captured by privateers, then sold as slaves in Bermuda. The majority of slaves worked as house servants or domestics. Slavery ended in Bermuda in 1834. However, Bermuda is still a challenging reminder of how the past influences the present. Krause has collaged her book using images of charming buildings and a charming map with dark pages that include an image of a document "returning" slaves after their emancipation. The book has aluminum covers that use a wire binding technique called wire edge binding that was originated by book artist Daniel Kelm. In fine condition. Measures 8.5 x 5.5 inches. Unpaginated [34 pages]. (#36602)

Price: $900 

Racial Tensions Throughout U.S. History - Hand-drawn

Williams, Thomas Parker, book artist.
Descendants.
Philadelphia: Thomas Parker Williams, 2023.

Thomas Parker Williams lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA. His work includes handmade artist book editions, unique book works, printmaking, and painting. Some of his artist book editions contain an audio element – music or sound work – composed, performed, and recorded by the artist. Tom's artist books are in numerous private and public collections.

This is a unique book signed by the artist in which he addresses the continuing issues in the United States surrounding race, terrorism, and insurrection. As he writes on his website: "From the antebellum South through the Klan, Jim Crow, police terrorism and violent insurrection, the hatred continues. Descendants is an artist book about America's past and present." In this powerful, wordless work, Tom traces this history with a series of acrylic ink and wash original drawings done in shades of brown, cream and white. There are six double sided panels on Strathmore acrylic paper, with each panel's drawing presenting an image representing a period of our sad history from the antebellum South and slavery, through the Civil War, the rise and terrorist activities of the Ku Klux Klan, and modern protests.

This is an accordion bound book that measures 9 x 12 inches closed and opens to 72 inches. The dark orange cover is made with dry pigments in polyurethane and acrylic ink. The drawing with the United States and confederate flags is from a photograph by the artist. On his website, www.thomasparkerwilliams.com , there is a video of the book accompanied by the original music written by Tom for the book. The book is housed in a white wood and thin plywood case with a pinhole photograph by Mary Agnes Williams of an antebellum building. The case measures 13.5 x 10 x 1.25 inches. It in turn is housed in a white stiff paper folder. In fine condition. (#36568)

Price: $4,500 

First Edition of the Second Johnson Folio
3 Plays from 1640 bound together

Johnson, Ben [Jonson].
The Magnetick Lady or, Humors Reconcild. A Comedy; A Tale of a Tub; The Sad Shepherd: or a Tale of Robin-Hood.
London: [Richard Meighan], 1640.

First edition, from the second Johnson folio of his collected works, published posthumously. English playwright and poet Ben Johnson (Jonson -1572 - 1634) is best known for his satirical plays and is thought of as the most important playwright after Shakespeare during the time of King James I. Includes three comedies bound together: The Magnetick Lady or Humors Reconcild, A Tale of a Tub, The Sad Shepherd: or A Tale of Robin-Hood. Each work has separate title pages; however, the pagination is continuous.

Bound in later three quarter tan leather over marbled paper covered boards with dark brown leather and gilt title label to spine. The label reads: "Ben Johnson Plays 1640 - 1." This book has been professionally restored with a modern leather spine and modern endpapers. The boards and title label are original to the 19th century binding. Heavy rubbing to boards and wear to edges and corners. Even toning to pages, dampstaining to top gutter, top margin, and some text of most pages (very light on early pages and darker on later pages), and occasional spots of foxing. Penned ownership signature to first title page, dated 1883. Multiple misprints including year on first title page and several page numbers, as is common with books from this period. 155 pages. Very Good. (#36346)

Price: $1,000

Kelmscott Press

[Kelmscott Press]
Caxton, William; H. Halliday Sparling, editor.
The History of Reynard the Foxe.
Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1892.

One of 300 copies of which 275 were to be sold by bookseller Bernard Quaritch. "This translation of Caxton's is one of the very best of his works as to style; and being translated from a kindred tongue is delightful as mere language. In its rude joviality, and simple and direct delineation of character, it is a thoroughly good representative of the famous ancient Beast Epic" -- William Morris, in a note for a catalogue issued by Bernard Quaritch (Peterson bibliography A10). The Caxton text was taken from his 1481 translation from the Dutch.

Beautifully bound in a later full dark brown morocco binding with raised bands, gilt rules, gilt frames, and lettering on front board. Interior is very clean with beautiful large, ornate woodcut title and exquisite woodcut ornamental borders and initials throughout. Printed in red and black on Flower paper,with the text in Troy type and the glossary in Chaucer type. This is the first Kelmscott title to have trimmed edges at Morris's request. Edges are very lightly darkened. Faint ownership signature on a free front endpaper. A superb Kelmscott Press edition in about fine condition. Small quarto. 163 pages  (#36151)

Price: $8,000 

Covid Pandemic & Political Statement - Letterpress & Wood Engravings

[Midnight Paper Sales]
Schanilec, Gaylord, book artist.
American Crow: Report From Quarantine.
Stockholm, WI and St. Paul, MN: Midnight Paper Sales, 2021.

Number 75 of 88 copies signed and numbered by the book artist, Gaylord Schanilec, a noted wood engraver, printer designer, poet, and illustrator. In this powerful and complex work, he contemplates the state of the country from the outset of the Covid pandemic in 2020 until the inauguration of Joe Biden in January of 2021. The crow - a corvid - becomes a visual symbol of the impact of the covid epidemic and other events on the country.

Schanilec writes of his book: "During the first week of March 2020, as the novel covid virus blossomed in Manhattan, people from all over the world were gathered at the Lexington Avenue Armory, and across the street in the basement of the Saint Vincent Ferrer Church, to buy and sell books. Though the virus was on everyone’s mind, few refused to shake hands, and there were no masks. A week later, when I returned to the Midwest, the storm had struck. The list of the dead was growing dramatically—everyone was masked—and everyone stood at a social distance…almost everyone. I returned to rural Wisconsin where I found a matted crow feather in the wake of receding snow on the floor of Glen’s Woods, and Glen had been dead for years. I made an engraving of the feather, set a few lines of type and printed, but the result did not feel right—it felt rushed and unresolved. I was feeling jumpy, like a needle across a scratch. I decided to embrace that feeling. Tossed by the relentless jolts of the news cycle, what began as a simple rumination on death evolved into a volume of illustrated concept journalism."

This compelling work comprises seven four-page, french-folded sections printed on gampi papers, with text handset in various typefaces. With three multi-color wood engravings, and various other elements engraved, or cut in wood. The text and illustrations together offer a searing portrait of the effects of the pandemic and of the Trump era on so many of us. The seven loose sections are contained in a black chitsu case made by Matthew Lawler Zimmerman at Studio Alcyon. In fine condition. Measures 9 x 12 inches.  (#36439)

Price: $2,800 

Extinction of the Western Black Rhinoceros - Deluxe Edition

[Lone Oak Press]
Rorer, Abigail, book artist; Don McKay, poem.
Extinct. The Western Black Rhinoceros.
Petersham, MA: Lone Oak Press, 2022.

Number ix/xiv of the fourteen deluxe copies that are accompanied by an extra suite of prints. Signed and numbered by the book artist. There were also fifty-six standard signed and numbered copies. Master wood engraver Abigail Rorer is considered one of the finest engravers working today. She founded her Lone Oak Press in 1989 and has published many beautiful works that often focus on nature - animals, flowers, trees, and water. Abigail has also provided lovely illustrations for other private and commercial presses. Her fine press books have been in numerous exhibitions in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland. They can be found in many public and private collections.   

Abigail writes in her prospectus about this important new work, saying that it is the first book in the "Extinct Pentalogy" series. Originally she had planned one larger volume covering five diverse animals, four that are extinct and one that came perilously close. But she decided that each animal deserves its own tribute. The western black rhinoceros was declared extinct in 2011 and all remaining rhinoceroses are endangered. She writes on her website: "Extinction as a theme has been a focus of The Lone Oak Press for a few years now, beginning with the publication of our book Extinction in 2015. We are living in the age of the Sixth Extinction, the Anthropocene: the Human Epoch. Human activity has made such an impact on our planet that climate patterns are changing, glaciers are melting, the ozone layer is thinning, and species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. For such a magnificent and noble animal as the rhinoceros to be on the verge of total extinction is tragic and unacceptable. The rhinoceros has lived and flourished on this earth for tens of thousands of years. Within only a relatively short period of time, the last two hundred years or so, with the advent of guns, the Industrial Revolution, exploding populations, and other factors, we have decimated the rhino population and brought it to the brink of total extinction. This book is a way to honor a subspecies of the black rhinoceros that disappeared in 2011 and to highlight the plight of all species of rhinoceros.”  

Bound in a gray and black paper created from a hand-draw closeup image of rhinoceros skin over boards with a stamped gray leather spine. The rear board includes a bullet sized hole in the paper with red showing underneath – a visceral reminder of the contents of the book. The text was set in Dante and Othello type. The text and engravings were printed on Zerkell paper. Many of the engravings are multi-block color with some hand-coloring. Amy Borezo of shelter Bookwords bound the books. This copy from the deluxe edition comes in a special clamshell case covered in gray Cave Paper with cloth sides and a stamped red leather title label. It includes the book, a set of the prints in a portfolio, and a unique recessed well with a trap door called the "Cache of Curiosities." Contained within are seventeen small engravings and two stamps with images of rhinos. With prospectus. In fine condition. Measures 7 x 9 inches. 52 pages.  (#36512)

Price: $2,500 

First Edition of George Moore's Second Publication

Moore, George and Bernard Lopez.
Martin Luther. A Tragedy in Five Acts.
London: Remington & Co., 1879.

First Edition. This was Moore's second publication, and apart from a broadside of which only one copy is known, this is by far the rarest of his books. No copy has appeared at auction in the past decade. George Moore (1852-1933) was an Irish novelist, poet, critic, and dramatist who is often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist. This play was done in collaboration with French dramatist Bernard Lopez, who had ignited Moore's interest in drama when they were fellow residents at the Hotel de Russie in Paris. Moore made the suggestion to collaborate after the failure of his first work, Flowers of Passion. The result was this, a five act verse tragedy that was never produced. It was considered at the time almost unreadable because of its poor verse and wooden characters. In later years Moore had very little regard for this early effort and never considered its reissue in any of the collected editions of his work.

Bound in original blindstamped black cloth with gilt title and authors to front cover and title to spine. In Edwin Gilcher's bibliography of Moore he describes this as the "Theater (?) impression, slightly larger in size, repaged and without prefatory matter presumably...issued to send to theater managers in an effort to secure a production." Corners lightly bumped and small piece missing from top on spine. Interior pages are very nice. Ownership signature of Henry Knight on title page and bookplate of Rosita de Texada. In very good condition. Housed in a green silk folding case. 139 pages. Very Good. (#28496)
Price: $1,600.00  

Hand Painted Working Lantern and Book -
documenting the international Basel Carnival Lantern Exhibition

Hänni, Romano.
The Basel Carnival Lantern Picture Book.
Basel: Romano Hänni, 2022.

Number 27 of 30 copies, each unique. This is a remarkable production from Basel book artist and printer Romano Hänni. It celebrates the famous annual Basel Carnival Lantern Exhibition. The Exhibition has existed since 1921 and was inducted into the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity in 2017. This work is comprised of three parts: a lavish digitally printed photo picture book in eight languages with over 600 lantern pictures and with hand painted elements; a unique hand painted actual lantern; and a custom slipcase. The lanterns represented in the photo book are a selection from the carnival years 2003 -2019. Romano writes: "Basel’s three most beautiful days, as the Basel Carnival is called locally, begin promptly each year, on the Monday after Ash Wednesday, at four in the morning., This year there was a colorful sea of lights from February 24 to March 26 2022. An international public of thousands moved around some 200 works of art - lanterns - that reached up to four meters in height."

The lanterns in this production were individually hand painted by four lantern artists and then lacquered to a satin finish. Their frames were made of hemlock covered in cotton. The interiors of the lanterns are illuminated by a battery powered LED bulb. The book is found inserted into the lantern. They are housed in a slipcase made from book board. Thus each three part Lantern Picture Book contains original work by the four lantern artists. The lanterns measure 23.8 x 21.8 x 6.4 cm. The slipcases measure 24.4 x 23.3,x 7.2 cm. In fine condition.

Pictured above: Book (bound in white) with Lantern (moon in sky). The book slides into the lantern and both then slide into the slipcase. (#35525)

Price: $3,400 

Commentary on the Financial Collapse of 2008 -
with text about foreclosures juxtaposed with Samuel Sloan's Collection of House Plans from the 1850s

Hanmer, Karen.
The Model Architect: The Panic of '09.
Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2010.

Number 21 of 30 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. This book was one of six winners of the “Building by the Book” competition sponsored by the Philadelphia Athenaeum and Philadelphia Center for the Book. This work by noted book artist Karen Hanmer is based on Samuel Sloan's 1852 collection of house plans and instructions to contractors titled The Model Architect. Hanmer juxtaposes Sloan's historical text and illustrations with modern text from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's online "Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure." The artist provides commentary in the colophon reflecting on the effects of the 2008 financial collapse in her own neighborhood. She states: "Samuel Sloan's The Model Architect was published at the mid point of a century marked by cycles of rampant speculation followed by financial collapse. The Panic of 1857 came on the heels of publication of Sloan's work, and put a halt to the most active portion of his career. This milieu mirrors what has happened in my own neighborhood of modest homes over the past fifteen years. The transformation began with some owners remodeling their kitchen, or adding a family room or bedroom. Then larger additions came. Ultimately, the houses commanded high prices to be sold as teardowns. Huge new houses were built in their places. The construction proceeded with increasingly grandiose features; portions of the facade faced with thin sheets of stone, wooden garage doors with cast iron-like fittings, decorative copper accents on the roofs, turrets, lions flanking the brick driveways. Now the house across the street, the house next door, and the house next door to that are all in foreclosure, and soon will be uninhabitable. The lawns grow without interruption. Without electricity and heat the basements fill with water, the pipes burst, the mechanicals are destroyed. Few modest, affordable homes remain in the neighborhood."

Bound in marbled paper covered boards with black leather spine and red leather title label, titled and ruled in gilt. Bound using the modern drum leaf structure but replicating the look of a 19th century book. Housed in an archival paper case with the edition number and artist's contact information stamped on the front panel. Measures 14 x 11 x .5 inches. 48 pages. Fine. (#28762)

Price: $800

Novel About Beauty & Love - set in Soviet Union - Russian author & illustrator
Letterpress Printed

[Foolscap Press]
Makine, Andreï; Geoffrey Stachan (translator); Vladimir Zimakov (illustrator).
Brief Loves That Live Forever.
Santa Cruz: Foolscap Press, 2022.

Number 38 of 90 numbered copies for sale, signed by the author, translator, and illustrator. "A novel in eight chapters, each of which are distinct episodes in the life of the narrator. The chapters show us moments of supreme lucidity where the narrator is consciously alive to the beauty of the world and the possibility of love in its many aspects. The setting is the Brezhnev era in the Soviet Union where as the narrator states, love is in essence subversive.' The essence of this novel is how to move beyond recrimination of the past or even the promise of the future and to be consciously alive to the beauty around us, and to that possibility of love. Andreï Makine is an elegant stylist who allows us to witness these clear moments throughout this moving and thoughtful novel" (Foolscap Press).

The author, Andreï Makine, was born in Siberia in 1957, but has lived in France since 1987 where he was granted political asylum. He writes in French but has worked closely with Geoffrey Stachan to translate all of his novels into English. Both the author and translator have won major awards for their work. The illustrator, Vladimir Zimakov, is an art professor and director of the art gallery at Lasell University in Massachusetts. He has illustrated numerous books, specializing in limited editions.

Bound in gray cloth with red leather spine titled in grey. Includes eight full page color illustrations and eight vignettes. Designed, printed, and bound by Peggy Gotthold and Lawrence Van Velzer. Letterpress printed on Rives paper in Van Dijck type. Housed in a red cloth covered box with gilt and leather title label to spine. In fine condition. Size: 9.75 x 13.5 inches.  (#36078)

Price: $1,500 

Collection of Four Books Exploring Pattern, Memory, Landscape and Dream - movable elements

[The Bird Press]
Sgorbati, Susan; Thorsten Dennerline, book artist.
Four Emergent Forms: Visual Improvisation.
Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2017.

Number 15 of 30 copies signed by the creators of this production. This complex and ambitious work is the result of an exchange between choreographer Susan Sgorbati and Thorsten Dennerline. They take Sgorbati’s concept of “Emergent Forms” as their point of departure. “Emergent Forms” grew out of Sgorbati’s study of the spontaneous composition of form in complex systems. Elements of order and interaction create recognizable patterns in these systems, but they remain dynamic, engendering differentiations that influence and modify the form. This phenomenon – the creation of order from a rich array of self-organizing interactions – is found not only in dance and music; indeed, it is present throughout the natural world. This project consists of four emergent forms (Pattern, Memory, Landscape, and Dream), each represented by a “volume”, a unique print/object. The texture, color and gesture of each form on paper emerged through the process of collaborative dialogue, reminiscent of a shared choreography. Each volume is not only a documentation of this dialogue, but also an interactive visualization of these emergent forms [artist's statement].

Various techniques were used in the creation of the volumes, including letterpress, woodblock, and stone lithography. The four volumes are housed in a CNC milled wooden box with a cloth top. The box in turn is in a stiff paper slipcase. In fine condition. Measurements: Box, 244x390 mm (9.5x15.5 inches) Books inside box: Pattern, 78x152mm Memory, 206 x151mm Landscape, 214x94 mm Dream, 151X305 mm.

Founded in 1997 by Thorsten Dennerline, The Bird Press is an artist-run publishing project that has focused on hand printed artists’ books. All projects utilize some inherent aspect of the book and often take the form of open-ended collaborations with writers. Each project is a response to the last, both in form and content, in order for the work to continually to evolve. Poetry, broadly defined, is a major inspiration for most of the work. They produce editions of between 15-40 copies, utilizing various print media including: flatbed offset lithography, stone lithography, etching, letterpress, wood blocks, and digital pigment printing.The Bird Press books are represented by many library collections, including The New York Public Library, Stanford University, Smith College, Yale University, The Library of Congress, The Getty Research Foundation, and The National Gallery. (#34693)

Link to Video: https://youtu.be/0ZkNuAHvlFg

Price: $5,500

Quilting - Deluxe edition with hand sewn examples

Schwartzott, Carol, book artist and author.
A Brief History of The Quilt - DELUXE.
Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2022.

Number 4 of 5 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Carol Schwartzott has been creating artists' books for over twenty-five years. Her work appears in many museums, libraries, and private collections including the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. This marvelous work is an entirely new version of a book about quilts that Carol first produced in 1994.

She says that this time she wanted to create a work using her original thought of each illustration being a handmade quilt. She writes: "I selected some interesting colors and began to cut and sew...learning very quickly how hard it is to sew tiny...Each part of the story needed variations on quilt design...patchwork, appliqué, crazy quilt, etc. Needless to say, I made a lot of quilts, choosing only the best eleven for the final illustrations. They are accompanied by descriptions of the quilting techniques on the facing page and protected by tissue papers. The book itself, proved a challenge. Because the quilts were dimensional, I needed pages that would allow for hat depth but also be part of the overall design. I decided to work with a binding style that I had used many years ago in a series of books on color. [She used] 2 ply archival cotton mat board, with cut windows to place the quilts. These panels were attached to the printed pages to form the spine and binding, with Japanese accordion folded paper as an interior hinge system. The text is printed with pigmented inks on Mohawk Vellum. The book block itself is hinged onto green cloth-covered boards, with printed color endpapers. Next came the cabinet....I wanted it to be a sort of 'a visual library of quilting materials'. I had this concept early on, so I started collecting materials that I might use. I had lots of old threads, fabrics, ribbons, beads, and I knew where and how to sort out items...old thimbles, scissors, interesting needle cases...I even made tiny pincushions."

The various items are charmingly assembled on shelves and in compartments visible through the clear glass on the cabinet's top. "Little by little the actual cabinet took shape. I had collected old frames for years...luckily I found 5 that were just the right size...The glass cabinet is built into the picture frame, a shadow box of sorts...this is then hinged to the bottom, which forms the cradle that houses the book. The final curiosity cabinet [is a box that] presents itself either on a wall, or shelf, or lying on a surface....once opened it reveals the book." The green box is secured with a metal clasp. The book with a multicolored title label rests inside and there is a ribbon pull to lift it out. A beautiful and creative production in fine condition. Measures 8 x 10 x approximately 2 inches. Unpaginated. (#36567)

Price: $2,500 

The Faerie Queene - Illustrated by Walter Crane

Spenser, Edmund.
Thomas J. Wise (editor); Walter Crane (illustrator).
The Faerie Queene. A Poem in Six Books with the Fragment Mutabilitie. 6 volumes.
London: Printed at the Chiswick Press for George Allen, 1897.

One of 1000 sets on paper (there were an additional 28 on vellum). A magnificent edition of The Faerie Queene with Crane's glorious illustrations. Walter Crane (1845-1915) was renowned as an illustrator, artist, decorator, and designer during his career. This was Crane’s most elaborate and extensive commission as a book illustrator. It was inspired by the revival of the private press, particularly the Kelmscott Press, as well as by the transition from Art Nouveau to Arts and Crafts, and by the importance of the illustrator in book production.

Bound in white cloth, with gilt spine lettering plus red titling to front cover along with a large Art Nouveau design in gilt. This was originally issued in 19 parts, and all of the original salmon colored pictorial front wrappers are bound in. There are 88 mostly full page (one double page) black on white and white on black illustrations and 132 head or tail pieces, all from woodcut designs by Crane. The boards show very light wear and spines are slightly darker than covers. The texts are very tight throughout. Endpapers and pastedowns have varying degrees of foxing. Pages with some light aging to the margins and darkening to edges. First three pages of Volume I have brown splatters to bottom margins. Despite flaws still a beautiful set in very good condition.1546 pages.  (#35723)

Price: $2,200

Le Morte Darthur - Shakespeare Head Press

[Shakespeare Head Press]
Malory, Sir Thomas.
The Noble & Joyous Boke Entytled Le Morte Darthur. Two Volumes.
Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1933.

Number 59 of 370 copies of which 350 were for sale. A splendid edition of Thomas Malory's 15th century retelling of the famous legend of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, the knights of the Round Table and their quest for the mystical Holy Grail. Malory worked from a late-14th-century French poem, adding some material from other sources, to produce his English prose translation. In 21 books, the story covers the founding of Arthur’s kingdom and the institution of the Round Table; the various adventures of individual knights; the quest for the Holy Grail; the death of Arthur and the fall of his kingdom. This edition is reprinted for the first time from the only surviving copy of Wynkyn de Worde printing of 1498, now housed at the John Rylands Library in Manchester.

Bound in full red morocco with gilt titling to spines and top edges gilt. Minor darkening to spines, rubbing along spine edges, and tips lightly bumped. Front hinges cracked but text block firm. Marbled endpapers with light fraying along fore-edges. Text pages are clean and bright with slight browning to some along fore-edges. With copies of the 22 woodcut illustrations found in the original. A beautiful set in very good to near fine condition. Small quartos. Volume I: 316 pages; Volume II: 73 pages plus colophon. Near Fine. (#36182)

Price: $1,600 

Bibliography of the Ninja Press - with tipped in ephemera from the press

Maret, Russell, printer, book artist and afterword; Nina Schneider, bibliographic descriptions; Carolee Campbell, commentary; Harry Reese, foreword; Annie Schlechter, photography.
Dispatches From The Lizard Brain: A Descriptive Bibliography of Ninja Press.
New York: Russell Maret, 2022.

Number 37 of 102 copies, signed by the authors and craftspeople involved in making the book. This is one of the 77 numbered copies that includes tip-ins of original material. This magnificent production documents the life and work of Carolee Campbell, founder of Ninja Press and one of the country's most noted book artists. The foreword and afterword beautifully describe Campbell's ethos as an artist and bookmaker that has informed her work since she began making books in 1984. Russell Maret writes of her: "It takes a special kind of person to know that what one is working on is not ready to be discussed. It takes someone...who unhurriedly allows her books to germinate in her lizard brain until they are ready to be dispatched into the world. With each new book Carolee teaches the rest of us how it should be done - not how to make books like hers , but like her, to make books the way the books want to be made."

The extensive annotated bibliography of the works produced by the press includes books, broadsides, commissions and collaborations, ephemera, and writing, reviews, criticism. The annotations include comments by Carolee on the making of each book or broadside. There is also a section describing the Ninja Press type collection and an index. There are beautiful vintage paper tip-ins throughout of papers used, and pages from some of the books and broadsides. Accompanied by a booklet reprinting two essays by Carolee. Dispatches from the Lizard Brain was designed and edited by Russell Maret, and printed by him and Sarah Moody. The primary text face, Carolee, was designed by Maret and printed from photopolymer plates on Twinrocker Handmade Paper. The titles are set by Felix Titling. The cover design was design was adapted from an ornament by Campbell. The blue green binding with a leather spine was designed and executed by Amy Borezo at Shelter Bookworks. The book is housed in a handsome brownish orange cloth covered portfolio with a white title label. In fine condition. Folio measuring 15 x 9 inches. 128 pages. Fine. (#35604)

Price: $4,000

Retrospective of Book Artist, Maureen Cummins

Cummins, Maureen.
Retrospective.
Kingston, NY: Maureen Cummins, 2022.

1 of 30 copies. A delightful play upon the traditional catalogue raisonné, this book makes visual reference to scrapbooks, archives, and exhibitions. The text, which culminates in a list of works printed from 1985 to 2021, is comprised of one-page vignettes that speak to a variety of subjects: growing up with books, the artist's early art training and interest in book illustration, apprenticeships and early projects, the influence of travel, research, and history in her practice, and a variety of topics which illuminate - for students, researchers, and collectors alike - the nature and scope of an artist’s life. The text of Retrospective is juxtaposed against a variety of images: actual and reproduced bookpages; a diary page from age 18 describing Cummins's desire to be a book illustrator; documentation of early art projects, edited-out images from editions; and photographs of seminal places in her career, including the Yolla Bolly Press, where she apprenticed; her first printshop, in Brooklyn; the American Antiquarian Society, where she was an artist-in-residence, and Kinngait Studios, a printshop in the Eastern Arctic that she made a pilgrimage to.

The structure of the book is staggered pages which fan out like a card deck, allowing the reader to see a slice of each image simultaneously. This presentation creates a blur of color and pattern that invites the reader to explore. Housed in a wooden box that was specially designed and crafted by Jim Lee. The box contains a side piece which lifts up for easy access to and handling of the book. The cover of the box, constructed out of plexiglass and laser-etched by Sarah Pike, allows the book to be displayed even when it is safely stored. Size: 8.5 x 32 inches. 66 pages. (#36021)

Price: $2,750 

Journeys of Refugees - Egyptian Book Artist

Aly, Islam [Farid Aldin Al-Attar].
Inception.
Cairo, Egypt: Islam Aly, 2019.

Number 24 of 30 copies. Signed, numbered, and dated by the artist. "Inception is inspired by stories and journeys of the refugees. It is a bilingual codex in English and Arabic. The book is based on the twelfth-century Persian verse poem 'The Conference of the Birds' written by Farid Aldin Al-Attar. The poem is about the search for truth and integrity, which is parallel to the refugee's quest to re-discover themselves. [In the poem] birds meet to begin searching for their perfect king. But to find him, they need to start a difficult journey ... that only 30 of them complete. They eventually recognize that their king is each of them and all of them. The English text is adapted from the Afkham Darbandi translation. The Arabic text is adapted from Badee Mohamed Gomaa Arabic translation “Manteq Al Tayr”. The bird images represented are from medieval Islamic artwork. Arabic Calligraphy is done by Abdul Karim and Sabri. 'Inception' was made as part of Swarthmore College’s Friends, Peace, and Sanctuary project" (artist's website).

Hand-sewn coptic binding in wooden boards with leather wrappings connected to seven miniature books. The books all have laser-engraved titles in English and Arabic on the boards. The illustrations are lasercut on Fabriano paper as is the bi-lingual text in the miniature books. The text in the larger book is laser printed on tracing paper. All text is in English and Arabic. Size: Main book is 4.5 inches diameter x 3.5 inches thick, seven miniatures are each 2 inches in diameter x .75 inches thick.

Islam Aly is an Egyptian-born book artist and teacher based in Iowa. His books explore the possibilities of historical bindings in contemporary book art practices They have appeared in international exhibitions in the United States and abroad, and in private and public collections including the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Library of Chile, Yale University, and Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In an artist's statement he writes: "When I make a historical book structure, I go through a learning process. I learn the history as well as the different physical aspects of the binding such as how a book form is constructed in a specific sequence. I learn about the use of different materials such as paper, wood, leather and dyes. I learn to make choices in selecting and replacing traditional materials that I don’t have access to. I use these different experiences to enhance my work in making artists’ books and to use historical and cultural references from these structures in the actual content. In essence, I wish to explore new ways to use the rich structures of historical books in contemporary artists’ book practice and incorporate contemporary content into strictly historical structures." Fine. (#35887)

Price: $1,000 

Norman Architecture in Sicily

Knight, Henry Gally.
Saracenic and Norman Remains to Illustrate the Normans in Sicily.
London: John Murray, (1840).

First edition of this impressively beautiful folio of thirty plates illustrating the author's theories about Norman architecture in Sicily. Henry Gally Knight (1786-1846) was a member of parliament, traveler, and writer. After early unsuccessful attempts to write poetry, he studied and wrote about architecture. He made tours of Sicily and Normandy to study the architecture of those regions. Knight wrote in his preface: "It is the object of this Work to afford a view of the Architecture of the Normans in Sicily, of the singular difference of the style which they employed in Sicily from that which they employed in any other country, and to explain how that difference arose. The Drawings were taken from the buildings themselves by a professional architect and have, at least, the merit of exact fidelity." He believed that the Normans adopted the pointed arches of Sicily rather than building the round arches of France. The stunning lithographic plates include illustrations of landscapes, buildings, details of exteriors and interiors and doors. Three of the plates are hand-colored.

Bound in contemporary three quarter black leather with multi-colored marble boards. Leather is chipped, rubbed, and bumped. Gilt ruling and titling to spine. Marbled boards are scuffed and rubbed. Evidence of label having been removed from spine and glue remains from signout card on rear free endpaper. Light spotting to interior pages generally not affecting images. The front pastedown provides some provenance information. Bookplate of Frances Mary R Richardson Currer (1785-1861), A British heiress and important book collector in her time. She died at Eshton Hall [Wikipedia]. There is a handwritten note affixed under her bookplate saying the book was bought by Sir John Horsfall at the sale of the Eshton Hall collection at Christie's London 1916. Given by Sir John to Mr. FW Petty, Given by Mr. Petty to Geo Turner Conoley (?) in 1916. A very good copy. Measures 15 x 22 inches. Pages 1-6 with preface, list and description of plates. All plates present without original tissue guards. (#35052)

Price: $2,200 

Climate Change and World-wide Refugees - Letterpress Printed

[Two Ponds Press]
Skaar. Anneli.
Nansen's Pastport.
Rockport, ME: Two Ponds Press, 2020.

Number 29 of 60 copies. Copies number 1 to 20 are the deluxe edition. This beautifully conceived and executed limited edition private press work explores in parallel two critical contemporary issues: the impact of climate change and the status of the increasing number of refugees in our world. Nansen’s Pastport is an artistic re-invention of Norwegian polar explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen’s refugee passport for post-Great War Europe.  The book, designed and conceived by artist Anneli Skaar, is re-imagined as a climate refugee passport for humanity, using Nansen’s own words in a contemporary context, inviting consideration on how to meet the pressing issues of current and future climate migration with wisdom from the past. Skaar writes: "The Pastport's design is based on the United States passport, arguably one of the most recognizable and coveted identity documents in the world. On its pages the U.S. passport features a number of iconic American landscapes and quotations by well-known citizens.... Nansen's Pastport also features landscapes and quotations. The quotations...are taken directly from Nansen's 1922 Nobel Lecture, 'The Suffering People of Europe.' Although Nansen's words reference the issues facing the displaced citizens of post-war Europe, the excerpts feel equally relevant and inspirational even today." 

The Pastport is bound from blue North Atlantic salmon leather sourced from Iceland. On its cover is the image of an Arctic tern, the animal the migrates the farthest, making a 50,000 mile trip back and forth from the poles every year. The blue cloth covered box housing the Pastport is constructed to feel like an atlas, its dominant size symbolically enforcing geography's significance to the passport within. On the inside cover of the box is a mounted copperplate etching by Skaar. Named Carta Borealis (Northern Map), it emulates the perspective of an Arctic map; its center is the star of the North Pole. The outer case measures 19 x 13 inches. Nansen’s Pastport is 5 x 3.5 inches, 32 pages, identical to a standard passport. Letterpress printing by Art Larson at Horton Tank Graphics and bound and boxed by Amy Borezo. The Pastports cyanotypes processing by Sal Taylor Kydd and the map was printed from the copper plate by Wingate Studio. Accompanied by a softcover illustrated catalog by Anneli Skaar that describes the book, with an introduction by Steven R. Koltai. In fine condition.  (#35434)

Price: $3,000

Steel Book on Life's Journey

Coron, Béatrice, book artist.
Concepts & Perceptions.
New York: Béatrice Coron, 2003.

Number 3 of 10 copies. This unusual work from Coron comprises four laser cut stainless steel panels with human figures and words such as "existence and evidence" and "conscience and motion" cut from the steel. With a fifth panel as the work's cover. The book can be read as a French or English book as the words are the same in both languages. According to Coron: "It's about life's journey and covers the four angles of being alive, having conscience of it, struggling with what we have, and letting it go in acceptance." Housed in a gray cloth covered box. Size: 11 x 10.5 x 1.5 inches.

Coron describes her book work: "For the last 20 years, I have been exploring visual storytelling in artist books, paper cutting and public art. Collecting memories from individuals and communities, I stage narrative allegories in silhouette to create a dialogue with the viewer in playful fantasies. These visual chronicles record archetypal stories that transcend time and space. I have been fascinated by the relation of people to their space and the sense of belonging. Using papercutting where everything is cut from a single piece of Tyvek, the profusion of individual stories makes a coherent whole world." [From her website] Fine. (#35266)

Price: $1,200 

Parody Edition - Based on Covid-19

[Cheshire Cat Press]
Tannenbaum, Alison; Catherine Richards, introduction; illustrations and endnote by George A. Walker.
The Hunting of the Snark: A Decimation, in Nine Zoonoses.
Toronto: Cheshire Cat Press, 2023.

Number 20 of 42 copies. Signed by Tannenbaum, Richards, Malcolm, and Walker. Quarto. A parody of Lewis Carroll's "Hunting of the Snark", written during the COVID-19 quarantine, that involves an expedition to cure infectious diseases by procuring a tissue sample from the elusive Snark, which is said to have immunity to all germs. Unfortunately, all but one of the crew members takes ill and dies from one of the diseases they set out to cure. Includes the Snark Map and a table of diseased crew members. The author of the introduction, which discusses infectious diseases during Carroll's lifetime is Catherine Anne Richards (1963). She is a retired English pediatric surgeon with a passion for Carrollinia. The author of this parody, Alison Crane Tannenbaum (1946), is a neurobiologist that spent most of her career in biomedical research at the National Institute of Health.

Bound in red cloth boards with leatherette title label to front cover and gilt title to spine. Printed in New Caledonia type on Velin BFK Rives paper by George Walker and Andy Malcolm. With wood engravings by Walker, made from end grain end grain maple wood. The engravings of each crew member are underprinted with engravings based on photographs of viruses, which were provided by the author. Housed in slipcase covered in same cloth as book with gilt titling to cover and spine. In fine condition. 54 pages.  (#36436)

Price: $550