Joshua Heller Rare Books, Inc.
Washington, D.C. Catalog 41
JOSHUA HELLER Rare Books, Inc. P O Box 39114 Washington D C 20016-9114 U S A Telephone: 202/966-9411 Fax: 202/363-5658 E-Mail: HellerBkDC@aol.com
www.joshuahellerrarebooks.com
Introduction to Catalogue 41 - Winter 2011/2012 The conclusion of 2011—a difficult year indeed for the economy and the well-being of so many people— nevertheless brings us to the decsion to publish or be damned! So, in the catalogue you are perusing we have again assembled 60 fine examples of the Book Arts with many exciting and interesting works featuring well-known artists and printers, calligraphers and binders. All in all an interesting overview of what is current. In addition we feature for the first time the work of three professors of Art from three distinguished institutions: Dean Allen Dass - University of Virginia (17-21), Keith Dietrich - University of Stellenbosh, South Africa (22-23), and Kerry McAleer Keeler - Corcoran School of Art and Design, Washington DC (32-38). We do hope you will find this new Catalogue 41 of interest and, in particular, we wish you a happy and peaceful Holiday Season. Joshua and Phyllis Heller.
John Eric Broaddus - 1943-1990 Artist Extraordinaire! Broaddus’ work, rarely seen on the market, is in international private and important public collections, including the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the New York Public Library, the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, Wellesley College Library, the Arts of the Book Collection at Yale University, and the Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Florida Atlantic University. 1.
(John Eric Broaddus) Seasons of the Pine. Unique Artist’s Book by John Eric Broaddus. New York. Book - 12.5” x 12”; Box - 13” x 11”. Seven thin board leaves, including covers, painted in many colors, all with cut-outs. Both the painting on each page and the cut-outs reinforce the shapes and colors of a pine tree through various seasons. The smaller secondary square design forms a contrasting contrapuntal effect. Black boards with title and artist’s name/signature on front with open black square exposing a characteristic construct of changing shapes. Endpages of a black and green design. Spiral wire binding. Black board slipcase with green painted splatter over front and sides; small glass-covered cut-out at bottom left. Very slight chipping to cover boards, else fine. $1300.00
No. 1.
1
No. 2.
2.
(John Eric Broaddus) Black Book. Unique Artist’s Book by John Eric Broaddus. New York.1986.8.5” x 6.5”. Black painted and textured boards. 10 leaves brightly painted and with cut-out pieces, which allow the viewer glimpses of pages already viewed as well as those ahead. Fine. $750.00
3.
(John Eric Broaddus) Green Cow. Unique Artist’s Book by John Eric Broaddus. New York. n.d. 8” x 10.5”. Seven board leaves with wire spiral binding. Each leaf painted in different colors, with a cutout; on leafing through the book the viewer sees a different image at each opening. Black with tan splattered slipcase with illustration of a green cow against a landscape. Fine. $1000.00
No. 3.
2
Ken Campbell - Eye-catching letterpress printing of text and image
No. 4. 4.
(Ken Campbell) Father’s Hook. Artist’s Book by Ken Campbell. 1978. 48p., of which 6 leaves fold out. 13” x 6.5”. Printed letterpress at the Bath Academy of Art. Sheets of thin Chinese handmade paper folded at the fore-edge. Chinese bound with invisible thread and held between two pieces of varnished plywood, secured by an elastic band. Text in Akzindenz Grotesk type. Imagery achieved by the manipulation of rectangular lino blocks which were worked and turned and printed in black, yellow, orange, green and red. No. 4 in an edition of 100 copies, signed by Campbell. Fine. $1500.00 The text is a cycle of poetry written during and after the death of Campbell’s dock-worker father, and dedicated to him and his laboring. Campbell: “To attempt ... to float images in colour fields and work within structures of feeling rather than structures of injunction ... while describing my father's life of grinding labour was irresistible. The book is on very fine Chinese paper - it was the first time I fell in love with paper; it was sensuous but could not be pushed around; it had to be worked with; ... As a result of the paper being so thin and the pressure so great the ink went right through it and came out the other side. The backs of the leaves were very beautiful, and the pages were folded to reveal the reverse.”
No. 5.
3
No. 5. 5.
(Ken Campbell) A Knife Romance. Artist’s Book by Ken Campbell. 1988. 19.75” x 12”. 32 leaves, including endsheets. Printed letterpress in several colors on T. H. Saunders mouldmade paper, with etching and blind embossing, silver and gold dusting and handwork. Full page illustrations in various colors and techniques, including letterpress and relief engravings. Bound in illustrated black boards with black cloth spine. Illustrated board slipcase. No. 14 in an edition of 25 signed copies for sale. Fine. $3500.00 Two poems, Knife and Widow's Song, and other fragments by Campbell; also quotations from various sources. A stunning book. “During my adolescence my mother kept burying my sheath knife in the garden to guard me from 'the crimes it might commit me to'. This almost farcically Freudian compulsion called forth a poem many years later called A Knife Romance; thereafter a book in the 1980s. This work took around four years to resolve. “The basic pulse to the book came about by the following process. The main poem was printed in the condensed woodletter of AbaB and laid out on a table to reasonable typographic laws, as in Terror, Terror. There was insufficient vertical space for the whole poem. The table was photographed in perspective and at an angle. Then the first six lines were removed, the next six added to the poem's foot, and the whole moved up and photographed again. The process was repeated until it was complete. “The resultant oddly wedge-shaped plates, bearing the words in apparent perspective, were photo-etched and printed while nestling in a background plate that positioned them and supplied a pale ground. The poem rolls like a film credit while shape - as knife or tombstone - cuts into the surface of the paper. “Meanwhile the story of Solomon, two women-who-would-be-mothers, a child and a knife is graphically alluded to. A surface as skin, or lung, was etched and contained a knife that roved. Widow's Song as verse recorded the sickening and demise of my mother. The ugly-mindedness of the poem and the knife's inherent violence is acknowledged by the history of the Nazi salute. The cut hand of the maker is shown in pain and triumph. “A Knife Romance was the first book to deploy graphic and verbal elements at its beginning to give tongue to a drama found in their articulation. “At the end mother and son as twinned weapons rest in a common grave” - Ken Campbell website.
6.
(Ken Campbell) Firedogs. Artist’s book by Ken Campbell. 1991. 86p. 15” x 10”. Printed by polychrome letterpress deploying handworked zinc plates, type-high nails and sandpaper. Text set in monotype Spartan, Stephenson Blake Bodoni, and a variety of woodletter types. Pages divided into four vertical columns and five horizontal, with six poems set in Bodoni printed within the largest rectangle so created, and with textual echoes in 6-line san serif within the dark margins. Outer areas impressed with type on its side. Endpapers printed deeply from the heads of nails hammered type-high into a base. Printed boards and slipcase. No. 2 of 33 copies signed and dated by Campbell, plus 7 A.P. copies. Fine. $3000.00 “Firedogs is a rich, dark, bloody book, full of threat and doom and yet intimating redemption by virtue of its own coherence and integrity ... Before anything else, [it] is a gorgeous feast for the eyes, luxuriating in a limited palette of rich and glossy colours veering from warmth to chill ...” - Cathy Courtney: Art Monthly, October 1991, London. 4
No. 6.
Circle Press - Blind-embossing and experimental screenprinting from Ron King 7.
(Circle Press) An African Folktale. Artwork by Willow Legge. Guildford. 1979. 15” x 11.5”. An Efik Ibibio folktale illustrated with 18 blind-embossed intaglio designs printed from carved linoleum with some silkscreen. Text handset and printed letterpress in Baskerville on Somerset rag-made paper. Unbound (as issued) in a cream cloth covered tray case with a crab motif blocked on upper cover and titling on spine. No. 62 of 200 thus, in a total edition of 245 copies, signed by the artist. Fine. $500.00 “This is the`` story of why the sun and moon live in the sky.” - An African Folktale.
No. 7.
5
No. 8. 8.
(Circle Press) Late August on the Coast. [Poetry] by Kenneth White. Illustrated with screenprints by Ronald King. [Guildford. 1986.] 11” x 13.5”. Five unbound four-page sections in a buff card folder covered in Indian handmade paper, black titling on uppr cover and spine. Ten screenprinted illustrations by Ronald King for six poems by Kenneth White. Screenprinting done by the artist using various experimental methods of wiping the ink through the stencils with cloths soaked in diluted inks. Poems printed letterpress in Baskerville on Somerset mouldmade paper. Blue board slipcase. No. 31 of 50 copies thus in an edition of 60 copies, signed by the poet and the artist. Fine in slipcase with slight fading. $450.00
Last complete copy available 9.
(The Press at Colorado College) The Cycle of the Day: A Book of Hours. Colorado Springs, Colorado. 1991. 14” x 20”. Title page, 8 loose signatures and colophon folded in three. Illustrations, designs and diagrams. Color plates printed letterpress, a few hand-done inclusions and hot-stamped foil. Bird drawings are from photographs, altered by James Trissel. All in a blue dropback box. Slight bump to top right-hand corner of box, else fine. An unsigned copy in an edition of 50 copies. $2000.00 “This contemporary Book of Hours was influenced by the Rule of St. Benedict and other Books of Hours printed from 1460-1800. The materials chosen for this Book are those of the designer and printer ‘tempered with advice from friends.’ “Each Book of Hours is an invention; no two are alike. The opening diagrams and schemes are obvious references to the daily cycle. The emphasis upon the Psalms is traditional and meant to be ecumenical, ... The color printing of the central panel of each section is entirely consistent with elements found in manuscript paintings of the hours.” - Colophon. This great production by the late James Trissel is a tour de force, with both printing and illustrations of fine quality.
No. 9.
6
No. 9. 10.
(The Press at Colorado College) Printed Poem/The Poem as Print. Twenty-four Broadsides of American Poetry. Alastair Reid, Dana Gioia, editors.Press at Colorado College. Colorado Springs. 1983-1985. 22” x 16”. Many sheets printed on unique handmade papers of various colors. Display type faces, many uncommon to ‘fine printings’, were used. Virtually all the many devices of relief and letterpress printing - photo-engraving, blind debossing, transparent color, tint blocks, linoleum and woodcuts, even gold stamping - were employed. The entire group is housed in an archival black box. One in an edition of 150 sets, all of the poems signed by the poets. Slight bump to top right-hand corner of box, else fine. $2500.00 Poets are Donald Justice, W.S. Merwin, Carolyn Kizer, Dana Gioia, David Barton, Robert Bly, Jared Carter, Amy Clampitt, Laura Gilpin, Judith Hamschemeyer, Barbara Howes,Ted Kooser, Sidney Lea, Howard Moss, Robert Pack, Jay Parini, Franklin Reeve, Alastair Reid, Louis Simpson, Radcliffe Squires, May Swenson, David Wagoner, and Richard Wilbur. Exceptional papers were located or commissioned for each poem. In every case vital elements of the design resonate with the text. This collection was printed between 1983 and 1985 by James Trissel, Professor of Art and founder of The Press at Colorado College. Alastair Reid, an editor for The New Yorker, now retired, and Dana Gioia, then director of the National Endowment for the Arts, served as editors for the collection. Trissel designed the broadsides in response to each poem and printed them with the aid of his students. These Broadsides have been exhibited at universities and libraries across the United States. An outstanding portfolio of broadsides.
No. 10.
7
A beautiful calligraphic book from Nancy Culmone
No. 11. 11.
(Nancy Culmone) Lunar List Three. Unique variant calligraphic book by Nancy Culmone. Florida. 1999. 9 accordion folded pages. 6.75” x 6.625”. Materials used were Arches Text Laid paper, wheat paste, paper dyes, acrylic paints, gouache, pastels, colored pencils, PVA and glair. Black silk-covered binding with inlaid paper illustration. Housed in a black silk handmade clamshell box lined with handpainted sides. Signed. Fine. $2000.00
Joseph D’Ambrosio (1934-2009) - Innovative book and binding structures and a splendid memoir 12.
(Joe D’Ambrosio) Trapeze. By D’Ambrosio. Typography by the Compulsive Printer. Portage, Indiana/Chicago, Illinois. [1978.] 47p. 8.25” x 10”. Binding, text and serigraphy by D’Ambrosio. Printing by Elmore Mundell. Twenty serigraphs, including the cover, each numbered and signed by the artist, and some signed by the printer. Text in Centaur with P.T. Barnum titling on Rives BFK paper. Printed on a number 3 Vandercook proof press. All serigraphs and binding produced by D’Ambrosio at Alta Vista Terrace. Bound in canvas over wood, the front with a serigraph set in a frame and binding threads used as part of the graphic design of a circus tent; housed in a card sleeve of textured handmade paper. Title label on spine. No. 21 in an edition of 50 copies and signed by the artist and some by the printer. Small neat bookplate of Julia Parker Wightman. Fine. $850.00 “Trapeze is a murder mystery that takes place within the arena of a traveling circus - specifically among the high-flying aerialists. Everything about the design had to evoke the feeling of the big top. “The pages are sewn together with waxed thread. The threads exit through eyelets in the spine and work their way around an outer frame (shadow box) which has a series of eyelets in it. They thread through those eyelets to then become the straining ropes of a circus tent serigraphed within the frame of the front cover ... “Nine separate graphics follow before one reaches the title page. The graphics are meant to put the reader into a mood reflective of the circus.” - D’Ambrosio.
No. 12.
8
No. 13. 13.
(Joe D’Ambrosio) Daisies Never Tell. By D’Ambrosio. Sherman Oaks, California. 1982. 8.75” x 6.25”. Printed in Joanna type on Rives BFK. Eighteen unnumbered text pages, most with serigraph decorations. A four-leaf section in the middle titled ‘Ladies of the Garden’ each with a full-page signed and numbered serigraph of a different flower. Title page pop-up and several front pages with cut fore-edges to produce the effect of daisy petals. Dark green cowhide over boards, small circular title label inset in spine; two cut-outs in the upper cover, each with glass inserted to form a window showing the hand-cut daisies and decorated edges of the front free endpaper. Housed in a green dropback box, lined with green felt and a title label on spine. In place of a headband, an overarching small fan cut-out attached to front and rear pastedowns. No. 3 of 50 copies, plus 10 artist’s proofs, signed by D’Ambrosio. Fine. $850.00 “This allegorical story was prompted by witnessing my ageing grandmother’s children strive to keep her alive when her body no longer functioned. Theirs was an act of love intruding upon a wise old lady’s wishes to depart after more than ninety years of coping. Nell, the daisy in this story, is in reality my grandmother.” - D’Ambrosio.
14.
(Joe D’Ambrosio) The Twilight of Orthodoxy in New England. By William Nykamp. Santa Susana Press. Northridge Library, California State University. 1987. 65p. 8.5” x 5.75”. Designed, printed and bound by Joseph D’Ambrosio. Printed in 14pt Centaur on Johannot paper with a Vandercook proof press. Three woodblock prints, each numbered and signed by D’Ambrosio, and a title page cut-out serigraph. Hinged binding of black leather spine and back.; marbled paper over front board, with an egg-shaped gilt cast-paper see-through. Book attached to the box. Small marbled paper circle on spine in lieu of title. No. 36 of 60 copies. Fore-edge covers of box structure split, else fine. $350.00 An example of D’Ambrosio’s looking to extend the boundaries of the book arts and, in particular, of forging new avenues away from self-imposed or chance restrictions. The text is attributed to William Nykamp, but was, in fact, written by Norman Tanis, Dean of Libraries at that time for California State University, Northridge. It concerns the resistance in the New England colonies to Thomas Paine’s revolutionary concept of secular responsibility.
No. 14. 9
No. 15.
15.
(Joe D’Ambrosio/Ray Bradbury) Christus Apollo. Cantata Celebrating the Eighth Day of Creation and the Promise of the Ninth. Words by Ray Bradbury. Designed and printed by D’Ambrosio for the Gold Stein Press. Newport Beach, California. [1998.] 6.5” x 4.75” x 3.25”. The book consists of nine trays within outside covers. Each tray with collages of various materials, chiefly south Asian colored handmade papers, and also tiny simulated pearls, mirrored mylar and aluminum foil constructed around the author’s words, and set on handmade Asian paper. Bound in dark blue cloth with cut-outs on front and back; front with title details in black against rose colored paper; back with colophon details on the same paper. Glittering pyrites epoxied into niches created in the front cover. Laid in a blue cloth box with white & black paper title label on spine; white textured paper trim to sides. Lined inside with toning blue textured handmade paper. No. 41 in an edition of 50 copies (plus 7 A.P.s), signed by Bradbury at the end of the text and D’Ambrosio in the colophon. Fine. $750.00 “The box design that I am most pleased with is the one where a giant nebula of gases arises in deep red and pastel pink crumpled paper when that section is opened. Because of the degree of difficulty of trying to get crumpled paper to pop up on command, I wondered how I was going to repeat the fabricaton of this fifty-seven times. But it turned out to be a pleasurable task.” - D’Ambrosio.
16.
(Joe D’Ambrosio) A Memoir of Book Design 1969-2000. [Designed by] Joe D’Ambrosio. The Book Club of California. San Francisco. 2003. 212p. 11.25” x 8.25. Printed offset in Della Robbia type on Mohawk Superfine paper. Black cloth spine with silver title; black cloth back and white and silver patterned paper over front board. Glassine wraps. An edition of 350 copies. Fine. $200.00 A wonderful generous account of how and why this innovative book-maker approached each of the 92 books he created during these 32 years.
Dean Allen Dass - Artist and Teacher Artist and teacher, Dean Dass looks at many influences and sources going back to Pindar (5th century B.C.) and Girolamo Fracastoro (16th Century) right up to the present day. His work is filled with myth, symbol and dreams, being the structures of the unconscious. He brings his talent and artistic expertise as artist and printmaker together with his interest in the natural world to the imagery of his bookmaking. His books take the viewer on a journey of awe and delight with the touching and turning of the pages. His is a unique voice that stands alone in the art of the contemporary Artist’s Book. Dass has participated in solo and group exhibitions in the U.S.A. and internationally. His work has been shown in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and the U.K., as well as at numerous locations in the United States. His work is in private and many public collections, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Des Moines Art Center, Free Library of Philadelphia, National Collection of Poland, Krakow, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Virginia Art Museum, and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Dass is currently Professor of Art at the University of Virginia.
10
A visual book illustrating an epic curse 17.
(Dean A. Dass) For Girolamo Fracastoro. Unique Artist’s Manuscript Book by Dean Dass. [Charlottesville. VA] 2004. 218p. Approx. 11” x 9.5” x 1”. Collage, pencil, gouache, pigments, inkjet, typing. Handsewn over raised cords, bound in parchment with gold stamping on front cover. Black slipcase. Signed in pencil by the artist. Fine. $4000.00 Dass writes: “Early in the 16th c. Girolamo Fracastoro (an Italian physician) was commissioned by the King to write in celebration of the discovery of the New World. Fracastoro's resulting Syphilis (1530) however was more than a mere celebration or literal history of the events after 1492. It was even more than a speculation on the nature and consequences of a disease that still was past all understanding. Fracastoro's poem was also an allegory of the times with its themes of colonization and manifest right and destiny. This work also foreshadows contemporary issues such as HIV, species loss, and environmental degradation. “In this poem, no sooner had Columbus's men arrived on a paradise-like New World, when, observing the vast array of living creatures, they began shooting at the huge flocks of birds overhead. ‘Some of the birds retreated, flocking together in terror, into the dense grove and to the high rocks. From their highest point one (marvelous to say) sang a dreadful prophecy and filled the men's ears with terrifying words, speaking like this” "You who have done violence to the birds of the Sun, his sacred flying creatures, you men of Hesperia hear now what almighty Apollo prophesies, what he declares to you by our mouth. Although you do not know it, you have with favoring winds at last touched and gained the shores of the Ophyre you sought so long. But it will not be granted you to place in subjection new lands and a people that have enjoyed long liberty and peace, ...” - pp. 265-266, David Quint, Voices of Resistance: The Epic Curse and Camoe's Adamastor" New World Encounters. Editor Stephen Greenblatt. 1993 University of California Press. Translation by Geoffrey Eatough.
A visual narrative that explores earlier times combined with present events 18.
(Dean A. Dass) The Phalanx Continues to Advance. Vol. VII. Unique Manuscript Artist’s Book by Dean Dass. [Charlottesville. VA] 2005. 140p. Approx. 12” x 10” x 1”. Collage, pencil gouache, inkjet, etching, photogravure, lithograph, Xerox and Xerox transfer, typing. Bound in linen, with painted and collaged inlay on front cover. Signed by the artist. Fine. $4500.00 Dass writes: “This Volume VII continues a project begun in 1991 during the First Gulf War. {Little did I know what was to follow!} When American armored vehicles rolled through the desert near Babylon, I thought: We are not the first to do so. I thought of Alexander the Great and his dreams of a “New World Order.” There began a series of books continuing to this day that explore the history of the Macedonian Period. A viewer going through the various manuscripts must negotiate a paratactic narrative as that earlier time period is conflated with present events. Among the overall impressions I wish to communicate is an unrelenting sense of history. Influenced by the Alexander Romances as well as by the traditions of the Shah Namah manuscripts, I continue to work, astonished and dismayed. I’m not interested in American foreign policy and how that has played out in various administrations; I’m interested in history as myth and dreams of All-Unity.” [Illustrated top of p.12.] 11
No. 17.
No. 18.
19.
Dass worked for 18 months on his first editioned book so as not to compromise his ideas of what a book is
(Dean A. Dass) The Age of Partial Objects. Artist’s book by Dean Dass. [Charlottesville. VA] 2005. 150p. Approx. 10” x 8.5” x 1.25”. Various papers using gouache, collage, pencil, inkjet, etching, lithography, Xerox and Xerox transfer, letterpress. Bound in paper laminated on cotton, letterpress text on cover. An edition of 25 copies. Signed. Fine. $1500.00 Copy No. 1 of 25 is in the Special Collections of the University of Virginia Library. Dass writes: “This book turns Melanie Klein’s clinical term into a metaphor for an age consisting of fragments and fragmented knowledge. Rehabilitating the kunstkämmer concept with its notion of the “complete set,” as well as its hubristic categorization of everything, this book tries to both exuberantly display everything by category and demonstrate the melancholia of human existence as contingency, fracture and partial knowledge. A sense of the untimely and the sorrowful accompanies all attempts at classification. An often-quoted reference comes from Deleuze & Guattari, Anti-Oedipus, p. 42: “We live today in the age of partial objects, bricks that have been shattered to bits, and leftovers. We no longer believe in the myth of the existence of fragments that, like pieces of an antique statue, are merely waiting for the last one to be turned up, so that they may all be glued back together to create a unity that is precisely the same as the original unity. We no longer believe in a primordial unity that once existed...We believe only in totalities that are peripheral.” Dass continues: “Yet as we keep reading it becomes clear that as a metaphor this term does more than describe a loss or a lack. It is meant to describe an advanced acceptance, humility, a step forward in the sense of an insight we need to grasp. This term is simply meant to be more accurate. “Despite that I have always been a kind of printmaker, my books over twenty years have all been manuscripts. This project is my first edition. I worked for eighteen months in order to not compromise my ideas of what is a book; I did not want this project to look like a reproduction, as if there was a better project somewhere else, but unseen here. Yet the tension between the unique and the reproducible is a vital tension for me. In Deleuze’s terms, the multiple becomes a multiplicity.”
“What is man? Man is but the shadow of a dream” - Pindar 20.
(Dean A. Dass) Pythian VIII, Pindar. A Unique Manuscript Artist’s Book by Dean A. Dass. [Charlotteville. VA] 2008. n.p. Approx. 10” x 8.5” x 1”. Collage, pencil, gouache, inkjet, xerox and xerox transfer. Bound in maroon leather. Gold stamp on front cover. Signed by the artist. Fine. $2000.00 “Pindar (ca. 522-443 BC), was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, Pindar is the one whose work is best preserved.” - Wikipedia. Dass writes: “An academic study, albeit primarily visual, of Pindar’s Pythian VIII, this volume includes several English translations of the poem as well as the Greek original. Commissioned in 466 BCE to write in commemoration of a champion wrestler at the Pythian Games, this task soon leads Pindar into the loftiest meditations upon the meaning of life, its brevity and fragility. In this course Pindar has practically speaking invented lyric poetry. The images and fragments included in this volume traverse time and space and become the kind of metaphoric response structurally anticipated by Pindar’s poetry. ‘What is man? Man is but the shadow of a dream’.” 12
No. 19.
No. 20.
13
A visual meditation on our fragile planet
21.
(Dean A. Dass) Maa. A Unique Manuscript Artist’s Book by Dean A. Dass. [Charlottesville.] 2008. n.p. Approx. 10” x 8” x 1”. Collage, pencil, gouache, inkjet, etching, xerox and xerox transfer. Bound with cream paper collé over cotton, and boards, gold stamp on front cover, multi-color patterned endpages. Signed by the artist. Fine. $2000.00 Dass writes: “Maa is the Finnish word for earth. This book purports to be an astronomy text, and much of the material is collaged from Tieteen Maailma – Aurinkokunta, (1991) a volume in a Finnish scientific series perhaps analogous to our own popular Time-Life publications. A meditation on our fragile planet, solar system, and the elementary wonder and awe associated with considering where we find ourselves, Maa nevertheless gradually unravels and evolves into a series of curses, clouds and explosions. It seems Mother Earth is angry.” Illustrated above.
Keith Dietrich Keith Dietrich is currently professor of the Visual Arts at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Hundreds of art students from the late Seventies to the present day have benefitted from his long career as teacher and artist at the University of Pretoria, and now at Stellenbosch. His qualifications include an M.A. in Fine Arts (cum laude) and a D. Litt. et Phil. in the History of Art. In addition, he completed two years of postgraduate study in painting at the Institute of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium. He has been awarded numerous prizes, scholarships and travel grants spanning the years 1975 to 2011. He has participated in community projects in Botswana and South Africa, and is a past member of the Advisory Board of the Market Gallery, Johannesburg. It is with great pleasure that we introduce the thought-provoking work of Keith Dietrich to these pages with two excellent examples of his book art. Horizons of Babel can be read as an atlas of healing and salvation for a wounded country
No. 22.
22. (Keith Dietrich) Horizons of Babel. Artist’s book by Keith Dietrich. Stellenbosch. S.A. 2004. n.p. 12.25” x 12.25” x 2”. Designed, printed and published by Keith Dietrich. Set in AvantGarde Bk BT. Pages printed with EPSON UltraChrome inks on BFK Rives 180 gm. Fold-out panoramas printed with EPSON UltraChrome ink of 255 gsm Somerset 100% cotton inkjet paper. Bound by Arthur Wadman light gray glossy paper over board with the names of the various sites in gray across the entire cover. Gray pocket at back of book contains digital reproductions of the seven panoramas. Matching gray paper with the same text on slipcase. No. 6 in a signed edition of 26 copies. Fine. $3500.00 14
No. 22. “Horizons of Babel is framed against the background of a fascination with the topography of South Africa that dominated the interests of both amateur and professional artists from the colonial period to the present. The site of the project is located on a semicircle between Cape Columbine on the West Coast of the Cape, and Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. The centre of this semicircle falls on the hill Babelonstoring (Tower of Babel) in the vicinity of Paarl/Franschhoek/Stellenbosch. Seven co-ordinates were identified on this semicircle at 30 degree intervals, and each co-ordinate was systematically documented. The outcome of the project is an artist’s book and seven aquarelle panoramas (Cape Columbine, Verlorenvlei, Hottentotsberg, Roosterberg, Anysberg, Napkei and Agulhas) corresponding to the abovementioned co-ordinates. Digital reproductions of the panoramas have been included in a pocket at the back of the book. The pages of the book follow the red semi-circular line from Cape Columbine to Cape Aghulas. The original 1:50,000 maps lying on the semicircle have been retained inside the line, while the areas outside the line have been transformed to grey scale. This outer area, or terra incognita, includes a wide range of images taken from colonial travel accounts (geographical, botanical, zoological and ethnographical illustrations), early nineteenth-century schoolbooks, comics, medieval maps and other sources. “These images make particular reference to medieval Noachid or Tripartite maps that incorporated images of semi-legendary figures (such as Prester John, Mansa Musa the Lord of Mali, and the Queen of Sheba) and monstra that occupied the periphery of the known world (such as the Aethiops and Androginis from Africa, the Cynocephali from India, the Blemmyae from Libya, the Anthropophagi from Scythia and Africa, the Sciopods of India and the Pygmies from Africa). A key map to which reference is made is the Ebstorf map from lower Saxony (1240) that depicts Christ's body spanning the world (his head at the top, his hands on the eastern and western periphery, and his feet at the bottom). Horizons of Babel can therefore be read as an atlas of healing and salvation for a wounded country, where the body (represented by the bandaged head and hands) and the land are mapped over each other.” - Dietrich.
No. 22.
15
The book approaches the initial journey of Christianity into the interior of South Africa as an allegorical narrative of redemption, reconciliation and healing
No. 23. 23.
(Keith Dietrich) Fourteen Stations of the Cross. 3-volume Artist’s Book by Keith Dietrich. Published and printed by The Strange Press. Stellenbosch. South Africa. 2007. Vol. I - 36p., Vols. 2 & 3 - n.p. 10” x 10” x .5”. Set in AvantGarde Bk BT. Printed with EPSON UltraChrome inks on Innova Smooth Cotton High White 220 gsm. Printed by Heléne van Aswegen. Bound by Arthur Woodman and Heléne van Aswegen with black glossy paper. Black endpages. Title in red on front cover. Volume1 - Introductory text. Volume 2 - continuous photographs with double-page openings . Volume 3 - continuous photographs, bound accordion fold within covers. Matching black slipcase with title and details across cover. No. 3 in an edition of 14 signed sets. Fine. $3500.00 Keith Dietrich writes: “Fourteen Stations of the Cross is a limited-edition artist’s book that explores the initial journey or pioneer period of Christianity into the interior of southern Africa. It is informed by the first fourteen mission stations that were established between 1736 and 1813 in South Africa and the southern region of Namibia across the Gariep (Orange) River. Although the title of the book makes a direct reference to the popular Roman Catholic devotional Stations of the Cross, there is no direct correspondence between the devotional Stations and the fourteen mission stations. Instead the stations stand as a metaphoric journey or passage transcending the past and present rather than a devotional journey. “Fourteen Stations of the Cross comprises three volumes contained in a single slipcase. The thirteenth-century Roman Catholic hymn the Stabat Mater serves as a thread that provides a structure to the three books. The first four verses introduce the four sections of Book One that act as a prelude to the fourteen mission stations that are contained in Book Two. Each station commences with a verse from the Stabat Mater, beginning with verse 5 (the first mission station at Baviaanskloof/Genadendal) and ending with verse 28 (the fourteenth mission station at Hoogekraal/Pacaltsdorp). Each station or chapter comprises a series of closeup inverted photographs of strips of ground from each station. A first set of gate-folded pages open up revealing satellite photographs of each station taken from roughly 14 kilometres above the ground, with mazes progressively mapping the missionary journeys into the interior of the country like rivers of blood flowing over the land. A second set of gate folded pages open up revealing church windows from each station reflected in bowls of water. Names of people (slaves, Khoikhoi, Bastaards and others) flow like a river of blood through the book. Fourteen Stations of the Cross closes with Book Three where the last two verses of the Stabat Mater correspond with the farewell hymn for the concluding prayers of the devotional Stations. The book comprises a 9-metre accordion-fold photograph of a strip of ground moving from barren land into water. “Fourteen Stations of the Cross is framed against the background of the colonial enterprise in southern Africa and the ways in which the region was converted and `civilised’. The wild and formless worlds of what Europeans saw as primitive African life lay open to travellers, artists, naturalists, missionaries, hunters, and colonial administrators whose mission was to awaken and convert what they considered to be a dark and unrefined world. ... The book approaches the initial journey of Christianity into the interior of South Africa as an allegorical narrative of redemption, reconciliation and healing. ...”
16
No. 23. 24.
(John Gerard) ANFANG ENDE. (Beginning - End.) Artist - Wolfgang Heuwinkel. Made in collaboration with John Gerard. Paperstudio John Gerard. 2010. 20p. 12.75” x 10.75”. Wolfgang Heuwinkel used chromatography to color handmade papers. The sheets have been cut to form letters to spell the words ‘Anfang’ and ‘Ende’ (Beginning and End). Gray linen dos-a-dos binding by Norbert Hoffman, Bonn. Gray linen-covered dropback box, with gold decoration on front and anthracite title on spine. In an edition of 25 unique copies this is No. 6, initialed, dated and numbered by the artist. Fine. $1600.00 John Gerard writes that from conversations with the artist, the selection of colors has been based on his intuition for the age-old theme of the alpha and the omega: His thoughts for each word are : "ANFANG" (beginning) "A" begins with yellow for sunrise/beginning of day; "N" brown for earth ;"F" green for nature; "A" red for the colors of the garden; "N" blue for the sky; and "G" yellow for sunset/end of day. ENDE (end) "E" violet, complementary color to yellow, the opposite to beginning; "N" brown for the past or transitoriness; "D" yellow for the shimmer of hope; "E" blue for the vastness of space." A brilliantly colored book celebrating a clever concept.
No. 24.
17
A new look at Allen Ginsberg’s famous homage to New York
No. 25. 25.
(Allen Ginsberg) Erwachen (Waking in) New York. [German and English texts.] [Poem] by Allen Ginsberg. Graphics by Christiane Baumgartner. Editions Balance/Henry Günther. Gotha. Germany. 1996. n.p. 19.75” x 10”. Designed by Henry Günther. Full-page frontispiece, four full-page mixed media black, gray and cream/yellow illustrations, one double page spread in black, gray and cream/yellow, and 2 smaller woodcuts. Handset and printed on Zerkall-Bütten in Garamond and Helvetica by Thomas Glöss, printed in black for the German text and gray for the English text. Black cloth spine, gray paper boards with title and woodblock in black on front cover. Blue cloth dropback box. No. 30 in an edition of 38 numbered copies, signed by Baumgartner, Glöss and Günther. Fine. $2500.00 A fineedition of a famous Allen Ginsberg poem. Highly recommended.
26.
(Paul Johnson) Sailing to the Dance of Day. Pop-up book by Paul Johnson.[Manchester. 2005.] 9.5 x 6.75. Hand-painted pop-up book designed and made by Paul Johnson. Laser printed on mould-made 90lb Hahnemuhle Aquarell. Hand assembled and hand bound on mould-made hand dyed red Waterford paper over board. Maroon spine. Deep red protective card envelope. Second redesigned edition of 20 copies containing original hand coloring by the author. Signed. Fine. $185.00
27.
(Paul Johnson) Small book. Unique painted and cut-out book by Paul Johnson. Manchester. n.d. Approx. 4” x 3”. Small hand painted book with cut-outs on pages. titled and signed in ink by Johnson. Card slipcase. Unique Signed book. Fine. $40.00
No. 27.
No. 26. 18
Victor & Caroline Hammer - melding incunabula woodcuts with Uncial type a book designed in the 1960s and only completed in 1975
No. 28. 28.
(Victor & Caroline Hammer) Aratus. Phenomena. With Woodcuts from Erhard Ratdolt’s Poetica Astronomica MCCCCLXX. Translation by John Lamb. With Notes by Paul Q-Holbrook. King Library Press. University of Kentucky. 1975. Approx. 90 p. 10.5” x 8”. Victor and Carolyn Hammer designed this book for the Anvil Press, Nancy Lair was its printer with Carolina Kerry Hermandez and W. Gay Reading. The work was completed at the King Library Press, University of Kentucky with various assistants at the press. Printed in black and red Uncial type on handmade Tovil paper. With 50 woodcuts, also in black and red. Decorated paper-covered boards; paper title label on spine. Thick oatmeal handmade paper wrappers with embossed designed and title on front and back. No. 70 in an edition of 75 copies. Errata slips laid in. Slight sunning to dust jacket, else fine. $475.00 A Third Century BCE poem on astronomy, written in hexameters, containing a descripton of the constellations, the most important Circles in the Celestial Sphere, and the relationships of the constellations to the signs of the Zodiac.
29.
(Janus Press) Tatata, 24 cordells. Twenty-four chapbooks drawn and written by Peter Schumann. Newark. Vermont. 2011. Boxing - 10.5” x 10.25” x 1.5”. Booklet - 7” x 4”. The charcoal and ink drawings were scanned by Ellen Dorn Levit and printed using a Xerox Docucolor 700 with Judi Bourque at Silver Mountain Graphics, Vermont, on Mohawk Superfine eggshell white 100 lb text. The crayon cover drawings were scanned in New Hampshire and printed using an Epson Stylus NX515 on Mohawk Via cream linen 65lb cover by Andrew Miller-Brown who also did the letterpress printing. Chapbooks sewn in differenct color thread. Display pocket panels are Fabriano Miliani Ingress. Each booklet is 8p. plus illustrated wrappers. 6 booklets laid in colored envelope-type folder against the three colored sides of a strong 3-sided navy bookcloth folder with title on top side and colophon details on the inside. Light tan bristol slipcase printed with woodtype title. No. 89 in an edition of 120 copies, signed by Peter Schumann. Fine. $350.00 Done in the spirit of the Latin American street-market cordells (books-on-a-string and sometimes in trays). “These booklets are a group Schumann drew for Christmas 2009 in the spirit and tradition of Hispanic Cordells. These are chapbooks made from one sheet of paper folded into eight pages plus a cover. They are hawked by poets in Latin American marketplaces strung up pinned on lines like laundry or arrayed on trays similar to those that were carried by cigarette girls. The subject traditionally cover a variety of subjects as do Peter’s; political, tales, ruminations, admonitions, kids’ stories and even the weather.” - Van Vliet.
No. 29. 19
Shirley Jones - A United States journey through an artist’s eye
30.
(Shirley Jones) Impressions. By Shirley Jones. Eight poems and prose pieces writen by Jones about her first visit to the United States. Red Hen Press. [London.] 1984. 15” x 13”. Eight color aquatints. Printed on Barcham Green Waterleaf. Handset and printed by the artist throughout in 18-pt Baskerville. Bound in navy blue cloth-covered boards, gray morocco spine with dark blue markings, matching gray onlay on upper cover depicting a tall modern building on which the book’s title is inlaid in black leather elongated letters. Gray textured handmade endpapers. Matching navy blue dropback box, title label on spine. No. 32 in an edition of 40 copies, signed and dated by Jones in pencil. One of 15 copies formatted for fine binding. Fine. Illustrated above. $1750.00 Homage to a father
31.
(Shirley Jones) Five Flowers for My Father. A Portfolio by Shirley Jones. Red Hen Press. [London.] 1990. 18” x 13”. Seven mezzotints of wild flowers, including title page, and mezzotint of her father. Printed by her on Tervakoski handmade paper, enclosed in folders of gray Fabriano Roma printed with the text. The five narrative pieces, together with three of her poems, were set & printed by the artist in 24-point Baskerville type. Black cloth dropback box with black leather title on lid. No. 6 in an edition of 40 copies, signed and dated by the artist. Prospectus laid in. Fine. $1250.00 The core of the book is a set of mezzotints of wild flowers juxtaposed with objects of significance in the life of Jones’s father, for whom she made the book.
No. 31.
20
Artist Kerry McAcleer-Keeler - inspired by Joseph Cornell - creates boxed assemblages We have pleasure in introducing the innovative work of Kerry McAleer-Keeler to a wider audience with seven beautiful examples of her creativity. Kerry is currently Director of the Master Program in Art and the Book and Assistant Professor at the Corcoran College of Art, Washington, DC. She holds a MFA degree from George Washington University. “Kerry is an artist who wishes to tell a story. To her, artwork is created to bring a spectator into the world of the artist’s imagination—where the viewer can participate and relate to the narration depicted in her book objects. A reaction is what she is interested in evoking whether it is joy, understanding, humor, or even controversy. “McAleer-Keeler enjoys making tangible, permanent objects; items that are not so easy to toss away in a consumer driven society. It is important that her book works expresses a commonality of human experiences. Her work seeks to address universal issues confronted by all individuals over a lifetime; namely those of love, origin, isolation, spirituality and comfort. “In her work certain symbolic elements have developed into a visual vocabulary. Birds, hands, materials from nature, antique photographs, playing cards, butterflies and spirals are all elements that perform an important role in her pieces. Freedom, chance, the human spirit, and the life cycle of the natural world are all ideas that these objects reflect.“ - Artist’s Statement. 32.
(Kerry McAleer-Keeler) Key to the Imagination. Unique Artist’s Book/Object by Kerry McAleer-Keeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2005. 12” x 10.25” x 4”. Bookboard, book cloth, cyanotype print, Robert Frost poem, decorative papers, and found materials (wrapped manikin hand, medical and botanical illustrations, glass bottle, bird’s skull, compass, tintype, and sheet music. Fine. $1950.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “Key to the Imagination pays homage to what transpires in a young girl’s mind on the cusp of adulthood; things that are valued and that will transform through life experience. It is also a tribute to innocence; a celebration of an adolescent neither unspoiled nor tarnished by the hardships of life. The found objects selected reflect daydreams, hopeful expectations, and fanciful curiosities.”
No. 32.
21
No. 33.
Addressing the question of alcoholism - the battle of both mind and body
33.
(Kerry McAleer-Keller) Skeleton’s In the Closet. Unique Artist’s Book/Object by Kerry McAleer-Keeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2005. 12.75” x 10” x 3.5”. Bookboard, bookcloth, decorative papers, cyanotype print, prohibition medical alcohol prescriptions, and found materials: bottle caps, bottle tops, scrabble letters, light bulb, wine corks, toy figurines and children’s block. Fine. $1950.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “Skeleton’s In the Closet addresses the legacy of alcoholism and the battle that wages on from generation to generation because of what’s passed by heredity. This battle is both of the mind as well as the body. Objects and images chosen for this book object depict visually the mind’s struggle in the throes of this disease. The concept of the closet also reflects the need for a secret to be carried on for generations by the family unit.”
22
The holding on to old objects helps in the retaining and healing of old bonds 34.
(Kerry McAleer-Keeler) For the Love of All Things Damaged. Unique Artist’s Book /Object by Kerry McAleer-Keeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2005/6. 12.5” x 10.5”x 4.25”. Bookboard, bookcloth, cork, decorative paper, and found materials: used shooting target, tintypes, wrapped manikin hand, fragile stamp, scapula necklace, antique glasses, skeleton key, glass shards, egg shells, stamp, buttons, quail feathers, shell and butterfly wings. Fine. $1950.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “For the Love of All Things Damaged transpired from an exploration of how relationships evolve. The healing of old ties and the reason we keep sentimental commonplace objects holds metamorphic value. The handmade box structure that was developed seeks to explain in visual detail this dialogue between the salvaging of objects—holding no monetary value but instead symbolic meaning—with that of a lost or injured relationship. Items such as shards of glass, a used paper target, and woolen green scapular depict the concept of personal relationships needing repair coupled with the belief that the original bond possesses pure beauty.”
No. 34.
23
No. 35. A longing for connection, compassiion and healing 35.
(Kerry McAleer-Keeler) Van Gogh’s Dream. Unique Artist’s Book/Object by Kerry McAleer-Keeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2006. 4.75" x 7.5" x 5.75". Bookboard, Japanese paper, oil painting, photographic etchings, transfer prints, and plaster casts of ear and paintbrush items. Fine. $650.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “Van Gogh’s Dream is a symbolic representation of the artist’s life long search for love and acceptance inspired by letters to his brother Theo. The two ears (one small, one larger) embody Van Gogh’s longing for connection, compassion, and healing. They also reflect the inner peace he might have found if he had located a partner who would have returned the same passion and sentiment.” Inspired by conversations with her mother, McAleer-Keeler reflects on the choices women have had to make in their lives
No. 36.
36. (Kerry McAleer-Keeler) Pinned Down. Unique Artist’s Book/Object by Kerry McAleer-Keeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2007. 6” x 5.5” x 2”. Bookboard, bookcloth, transfer prints, decorative papers and found materials: insect illustrations, sand, and butterfly. Fine. $500.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “Pinned Down is a box structure created to embody the emotional response of a woman questioning choices that forced her to abandon some of her own aspirations over the course of a lifetime for the betterment of others. The concept for this piece was inspired from a conversation I had with my mother after she confided that she would have liked to be a pharmacist. She went on to inform me that during her generation many women were encouraged to be teachers or nurses since these were considered to be female occupations. I had never thought of my mother being anything else occupationally but a teacher—I wanted to explore this theme further in my art so perhaps others could relate. The transfer printed images in the piece are actual pictures from the 1950’s of my mother and her girlfriends. The butterfly represents the inner spirit forced to give over its essence of movement, thus representing the loss of personal fulfillment.”
24
No. 37. A celebration of femininity and family history 37.
(Kerry McAleer-Keeler) Gifts From Our Elders. Unique Artist’s Book/Object by Kerry McAleer-Keeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2007-8. 13” x 11” x 5.5”. Bookboard, decorative papers, bookcloth, cyanotype, and found materials: hourglass, antique glasses, wrapped manikin hand, medical and spiritualist illustrations, feathers, sheet music, tides chart, butterfly, T.S. Eliot excerpt and French Victorian fashion advertisements. Fine. $1950.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “Heredity, family origin, and womanhood are key topics addressed in my work. Gifts from Our Elders reflects this celebration of femininity and family history. “Gifts” is a book object that pays tribute to the things that are given to us through heredity and the gift of life. Old medical pop-ups point out the awards of sensitivity and the heart—while an image of the brain sectioned into zone parts denotes the favor of intellect and a love for the arts passed on by legacy and genetics. Lastly, Victorian French fashion advertisements communicate an ovation to virility, womanliness, and life cycle.” Life as a dance of negotiation with a collision or two along the way 38. (Kerry McAleer-Keeler) Opposite Attraction. Unique Artist’s Book/Object by Kerry McAleerKeeler. [Fredericksburg, VA] 2008/9. 4” x 10.5” x 5.5”. Amish Box and found materials: pins, needles, manikin hand, broken tea cup, sheet music, lace glove, Art Deco Advertisements and cow horn. Fine. $725.00 McAleer Keeler writes: “Opposite Attraction was conceived through the discovery of many antique finds. The Amish box was arranged to articulate the ageold relationship struggle between partners. For many individuals, neither can go without the companionship of another for very long. But together, life is a dance of negotiation with a collision or two along the way. The pins and needles reflect the clash of love many couples must endure to keep their unity solvent. No. 38. 25
Rockwell Kent - in a striking binding with rare dust jacket
No. 39. 39.
(Rockwell Kent) Architectonics. The Tales of Tom Thumtack, Architect. Volume One. William J. Comstock. New York. 1914. 174p. 7.5” x 5.25”. 85 illustrations, including the color frontispiece and title page designs, and some decorative initials by Rockwell Kent. Dark blue cloth binding with a design in red and gold against blue of Tom Thumtack leaping in the night sky within a lettered border. Small dent at foot of spine; an extremely fine copy in a very good rare dust jacket. This book precedes Kent’s own first published book, Wilderness, by six years. $1500.00 This first apearance of Kent’s work in book form was done to accompany a collection of architectural stories written by his friend Frederick Squires, a class-mate at Columbia.
No. 39.
26
A wonderful typographic feat! 40.
(Peter Malutzki) Monochrome Bücher 1-6. Set of six artist’s books by Peter Malutzki. FlugBlatt-Presse. [Lahnstein. 1993-95.] Illustrations are printed with polymer plates, woodblock (No. 1), linocut (No. 4). Box - 13.5" x 10". All texts are handset with Bauer Bodoni. Each of the six volumes has its own size and all fit into a gray cardboard box, with title in relief on lid. One in an edition of 50 sets, numbered and signed by Malutzki. Fine. $1250.00 No. 1: schwarz. 40p. 6.25" x 6.25". Printed black onto black kraft paper, with black card boards with title and wood engraving. Text passage from Konrad Bayers Der Kopf des Vitus Bering deals with the question 'where is the world (our planet) situated’. A wood engraving from the 19th century (showing a round piece of an old machine) is printed on every page, rotated by 30 degrees from page to page. Thus the tool becomes a rotating planet. It is orbited by the typography in the opposite direction. No. 2: rot. Tatjana Tolstaja, Saßen auf goldenen Stufen... 4p. 9.5" x 6.25". Printed red onto red kraft paper. Red decorated and titled paper board covers. The collage illustrations (running over all pages) are made up of pictures from magazines and newspapers showing people and places in Russia. The author writes about her childhood in Russia. No. 3: grün. Poems about the four seasons by Friedrich Hölderlin. 96p. 8" x 6.5". Poems are printed onto a background of leaves. Original leaves of four different trees (maple, ash, beech, oak) were used. They are printed green onto green kraft paper. Green printed paper over board with title and leaf illustrations all in green. No. 4: gelb, ‘isch.’ 48p. 13" x 9". Printed yellow onto yellow kraft paper. Thin card covers with title and thick yellow line across card. The volume takes rhymes with the ending »isch« out of a German rhyming dictionary (Willy Steputat, Deutsches Reimlexikon, Leipzig. 1896.) and set them in relation to colored spaces printed with linocuts. Cut-out sheets add to the complexity of the design. No. 5: blau - Eduard Mörike, Die Historie von der schönen Lau. 60p. 9.75" x 7.125". With 17 illustrations. Underwater photographs by Malutzki. Printed blue onto blue kraft paper; with shaded blue paper boards, title on front and spine. Bound by Ines v. Ketelhodt. Mörike is one of Germany’s greatest lyric poets of the 19th century. His story tells about a water nymph (the beautiful Lau) who could not get pregnant because she never laughed. Once she had laughed five times, then she would become pregnant. No. 6: weiß. [Poems by] Rafael Alberti, Blanco/Weiß. 76p. 6.875" x 9.5". Printed white onto white waxpaper. Title in white on translucent wax paper over thin board. 33 poems about the color white (from the cycle ‘A la pintura’) in the Spanish original with a German translation. The translucence of the paper allows the next page to be viewed as though in shadow.
This series of six monochrome books by Peter Malutzki follows (concerning the chosen colors) the theory of colors by Göethe who takes green also as a primary color like red, yellow, and blue. These 4 books are placed between the black and white books.
No. 40.
27
A poetic vision of the Wallace Stevens poem
No. 41. 41.
(Mnemonic Press) 13/14. Poem by Wallace Stevens. Artist's book by Harriet Bart. [Minneapolis. Minnesota. 2004.] 64p. 14” x 10”. Designed and printed in collaboration with Philip Gallo at The Hermetic Press. Handset type printed in Delphin I and II, with Trump Mediaeval used for display, on Magnani Pescia. Figures and poem printed on rectos, stanza numbers on versos. The thirteen figures scanned and converted to polymer plate, from which they were then printed. Book printed in black, gunmetal blue and a fugitive gray. Bound with black goatskin spine and boards covered in iridescent blue/black cloth with a blackbird foil-stamped in matte black. Slipcase of grey cloth. No. 17 in an edition of 50 copies signed by the artist. Fine. $1800.00 Bart writes: "13/14 is a book of startling contrasts and exquisite beauty. It is the confluence of a poem and a puzzle, bringing together the fourteen polygonal forms of The Loculus of Archimedes and the poetic vision of the Wallace Stevens poem, Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird. The book pairs disparate found objects, images, and texts to create unique contexts and give new meanings to everyday objects. Bart has inventively used the fourteen shapes that comprise the ancient puzzle to create dynamic silhouette figures for each of the thirteen stanzas of the poem.”. An outstanding fabric book from Lois MOrrison - rarely available
42. (Lois Morrison,) The End. [Poem by] Wilfred Owen. Illustrations and design by Lois Morrison. 1999. 10 leaves. 9.25” x 10”. Stitched collage fabric book. Various colored stitching and collage against a pale green see-through fabric. Text printed on thin strips of cloth and stitched on by hand. Binding technique of 4 strips of cloth tied to a brown wood ‘spine’ with rounded ends. These strips contain the text and to continue to the edge of the pages. Laid in a plum cloth dropback box, and further protected with a brown cloth bag.The only one for sale of 2 copies. Signed by Lois Morrison. Fine. $3000.00 Wilfred Owen was one of Britain’s brilliant young World War I poets. He died in the last week of that war. The moving poetry of Wilfred Owen is well complemented by Morrison’s sensitive handling of the illustrations which amplifies the reader/viewer’s emotional response to the work.
No. 42.
28
“Shall life renew these bodies?” - quote from Item No. 42. 43.
(Edgar Allan Poe) The Pit and the Pendulum. By Edgar Allan Poe. Illustrated by Thomas Rug. John Gerard. Rheinbach. 2005. 28p. 7.25" x 9". Printed on paper handmade by John Gerard in 12pt Garamond-Antiqua at the Copernicus Graphische Werkstatt, Alfter. Paper French folded. Open sewn binding with black linen spine and black thread, natural paper boards with black title on front. In a black linen dropback box with title in blind on front and spine. An edition of 25 copies, plus 5 artist's proofs, signed by Thomas Rug and John Gerard. Fine. $900.00 First published in 1842, this is one of Poe's best known works, illustrated here with new etchings by Professor Thomas Rug. Inspiring words from a calligrapher for his mother
44.
(Don Rash - Calligrapher/Bookbinder) PSALM 66. Unique calligraphic manuscript by Don Rash. Pennsylvania. 1983. 26 leaves, 6 blank. 8.75" x 13" x .75". Lettered in red and black on J. Barcham Green handmade paper; bound by Rash. Sewn on four alum-tawed thongs with red silk endbands. The thongs are laced into a calf vellum limp binding. Housed in a clamshell box covered in natural linen with a calf vellum spine. The box spine is lettered "PSALM 66" by hand. Fine. Small stain on box cover. $1350.00 “This piece was strongly influenced both in concept and style by Friedrich Neugebauer's book The Mystic Art Of Written Forms. It was done as a present for my mother, Edith Rash, and is inscribed to her and dated & signed on leaf 24” - Don Rash.
No. 44.
No. 43. 29
No. 45. A Color printing triumph 45.
(Monika Rohrmus) I GING. A visual artist’s book by Monika Rohrmus. Berlin. 2010. 68p. 10.5” x 10”. Printed on Japanese Tosa Shi paper from woodcuts on an etching press. Accordion fold. Black mouldmade paper wrappers Canson Mi-Teintes. Black linen covered box; title embossed with black glossy paint. No. 3 in an edition of 3 copies, signed by the artist. Fine. $4500.00 Rohrmus writes: “The ancient I GING, ... is not only a book of wisdom and philosophy, it’s also written down by the first binary code. Only 8 signs and each of these signs are joined to a new sign with each of the other. So you get 64 grafics [sic] with very high meaning. Each of the 8 signs has a sense of 2 levels, a real and a spiritual level. I [tried] to find a special color for each sign which also harmonized together. “The concept and the sequence of the signs [was] defined in the old book 5 thousand years ago. So I print[ed] the book with my defined colors and my created woodcuts and regard what happened. On some pages I printed a third color under the grafic signs. So I get a dramaturgically always surprising book. The old signs get a contemporary, artistically actuality. This is a book without text only with grafics (signs). I made the accordion folding to visualize the concept of the changes.” Copy No. 1 is in the collection of The National Library of Luxemburg, and Copy No. 2 is in the Color Collection at Yale University.
No. 45.
30
No. 46. 46.
sailorBOYpress) The Twelve Articles: How Joan of Arc and John affect the same persecution. Artist’s book by Jeffrey W. Morin. Stevens Point. Wisconsin. [2001.] n.,p. 11.5" x 9". 16 reduction woodcuts plus 5 illuminated letters loosely based on Goudy’s Cloister Initials. Printed in red and black primarily set in Bodoni cast specially for this project. Handmade papers of various colors that use cotton scrapes of bedding. Open sewn wrappers ending with a decorative edging to the thread. Gold cord attached to the front wrappers folds around the book with a printed card at the end. Blue dropback box lined with salmon pink paper. One in an edition of 40 copies. Fine. $1,000.00 The woodcuts illustrate a contemporary figure assuming the accusations against Joan of Arc. The text has been ‘cannibalized’ from the trial record of Joan of Arc. "To deal with his sense of persecution, John folded his life into Joan’s and there are probably several other Johns on our landscape dealing with life in a similar way." - Colophon. The illuminated letters and the woodcuts are in strong and bold colors which add to the impact of the book, which is a pain filled contemplative on God, sexuality and AIDS. A time for reflection - a major work of great artistic integrity
47.
(sailorBOYpress) 14 Stations. Artist's book by Jeffrey Morin. Stevens Point, Wisconsin. WI. 2008. 62p. Book - 9.5" x 9". Box - 12.5" x 10" x 3.5". Printed in Gill Sans on Indian Village paper. The 14 double-page color illustrations are from reduction linoleum blocks that are printed with a heavy hand to produce a more painterly image. Made by Brian Borchardt, the spike-like shapes in the brown cover stock emulate a crown of thorns. The book is encased in a black leather box, lined with black cloth with a matching separate lid. Laid in the bottom of the box is a metal crown of thorns which is painted red/brown in parts, with a Rosary wound round it. An edition of 45 copies. Fine. $1500.00 Morin writes: "Why this book and why in this incarnation? My work will on occasion remain about the AIDS pandemic because I believe that it is a dangerously robust force that is consuming parts of our population here and abroad. Some worry that there is activist fatigue so less attention is being focused on this subject. I also believe that artists have a dialogue with the past and must bring something new to the conversation. The 14 Stations of the Cross are among my earliest memories of going to church because they were set at the outer aisles and my family always sat in the same outer pew across from a station and across from a particular stained glass window. The 14 stations are so well known so the question becomes: What can one bring to the historic dialogue that has not been presented or said before? This is my attempt to add to the conversation and make the historic relevant. "Whenever I can, I draw from the figure and have done so for the past 30 years. It has been a constant as I work through several media: design, paint, print, paper etc... It is also a way to problem-solve in a quick way. I engaged two models to work through this project and had them pose together with simple instruction about the particular station that I was working on. Because this is a story about a contemporary couple, they would be the constant characters throughout the story regardless of the original reference. I would give the biblical reference to the models and then my take on the reference as regards the "new" story. When models have not been comfortable posing together, I have had to create the interaction so it was a great opportunity to find two models that were friends and comfortable working through this
31
No. 47. content. I transferred the reference material (some photo, some drawn) to linoleum blocks, did the reduction cuts and edition-printed the color. Reduction printing is interesting/challenging because the final result is not known until the last color is printed. And at that point, the linoleum block has been completely destroyed. This final book is actually the second version. In the first, I transferred the text to the blocks as well with the intention of hand-cutting the typography. The limitation with this idea was that the text was to be shorter and larger (a practicality of cutting the letterforms). The reason for the abandoned format was to emulate block books which predated letterpress work in Europe. "I wanted to create a story that was both new and familiar so took some references directly from the New Testament and then began to deconstruct the story - looking for a way to deal with confession, accusation, and reconciliation. These are fairly basic interactions that most people can relate to. I was also intrigued by the changing nature of the name, Jesus. In the Latino culture it is common today. In the non-Latino community it seems to be a sacrilege to name someone after Christ. The relationship between the sacred and profane has always been compelling to me." 48.
(Ilse Schreiber-Noll) Lost Cities. Unique Artist’s Book by Ilse Schreiber-Noll; with excerpts from a poem by Walt Whitman. Tarrytown. NY 2010. n.p. 9.75” x 13.25”. Painted cover with open spine and three linen strips. All pages of mixed media and collage on paper, with excerpts of Whitman’s poem printed letterpress on cream Arches paper wrapper; wrapper also with printed title and pencil signature of artist. Laid in brown textured cloth over board dropback box with recessed title and image on front. Signed by the artist. Fine. $3000.00
No. 48. 32
No. 49. A unique voice expressing an artist/printer’s present-day vision of an 18th Century text 49.
(Helmut Schulze - artist) Die Reise um mein Zimmer. (Auszüge) [A Journey around my Room.] [By] Xavier de Maistre. edition offizin parvus. Berlin. 2007. n.p. 15.25” x 11”. Designed and illustrated by Helmut Schulze. English translation of text fragments and colophon laid in. The paintings, drawings, drypoints, lino- and woodcuts and inkjet prints are created by Helmut Schulze. Text typeset in 14pt Adobe Garamond Regular and printed on Zerkallbütten, 120 g/qm Werkdruck, Japanese Tosa Shoji, Chine Wenzhou, inkjet film and transparent paper. The original graphics are handprinted. Bound in deep plum paper over boards with an similar color illustration over both boards. Title in silver on spine and paper title label with color illustration on front board. Deep red endpaper. Matching plum paper over board slipcase. No. 3 in an edition of only 3 copies, signed by Helmut Schulze in pencil in the summer of 2009. Fine. $2500.00 This book is based on the text of Xavier de Maistre’s “Voyage autour de ma Chambre” from 1794. Each of the 3 books comprising the very small edition is handmade with original work. A wonderful production. Full English translation of the text included.
Helmut Schulze - Another room, another triumph
No. 50.
33
No. 50. 50.
(Helmut Schulze - artist) Inventory of my Room/Invantaire de ma Chambre. Nineteen selected texts frm Marie O’Kennedy Inventaire de ma Chambre with original-paintings and texts by Helmut Schulze. Atelier Helmut Schulze. Berlin. 2011. 62p. 15.25” x 11.25”. Concept, design, illustrations, printing and calligraphy by Helmut Schulze. Original watercolors, gouaches, drawings and inkjet color prints with pigmented ink created by Helmut Schulze, as well as original engravings. Text fragments handwritten by the artist with india ink and also set in computer designed type - Scala Sans and Adobe Garamond. Printed on Canson Bütten paper and transparent paper. Bound in dark blue cloth with title and illustration in white, black and gold on front board; white title on spine. Salmon pink endpages. Pale gray paper board slipcase. Outer gray protective box with separate lid. No. 1 in an edition of 2 unique variants signed by Helmut Schulze. New. Full English translation of the text includedd. $4950.00 This book is based on the first edition of Marie O’Kennedy’s Inventaire de ma Chambre, published by Librairie Sarlit, J. Bricon, Paris. At the end of the 19th century, Marie O’Kennedy was a well-known author in France. In this work she describes her room and reflects on it - as Xavier de Maistre did earlier in the same century. Schulze contrasts his own reality and English texts with the French text fragments and a view of the 19th century. Even with the occasional typos in the English text, this book is a rare delight! A true ‘Artist’s Book’ with each page a visual surprise. A new superb book from Helmut Schulze - a true artist
51.
(Helmut Schulze - artist) Huysmans, A Rebours. Kunstelische Gestaltung Helmut Schulze. Excerpts from text in French, with English translations to each page. edition offizin parvus. Berlin. 2011. 54p. 15.25” x 11.5”. Original illustrations with gouach, drawings, watercolors, and ink drawing. Text fragments in Scala Regular on Canson Bütten 250g. on an Epson Stylus Pro 3880. Handbound by Christian Kluswe in maroon cloth; title in white on spine and label on front with title and illustration. Toning maroon paper over board slipcase. No. 1 in an edition of only three copies, signed by Helmut Schulze in pencil. Fine. $5000.00 “Joris-Karl Huysmans, 1848-1907. Huysmans’ work is remarkable for its idiosyncratic use of the French language, extensive vocabulary, detailed and sensuous descriptions, and biting, satirical wit. “... Huysmans’ most famous novel A rebours (Against the Grain or Against Nature or Wrong Way) (1884), which featured a single character, the aesthete des Esseintes, and decisively broke from Naturalism, becoming the ultimate example of “decadent” literature. The description of des Esseintes’ “alluring liaison” with a cherry-lipped youth influenced other writers of the decadent movement, including Oscar Wilde, and is considered an important step in the formation of “gay literature”. A rebours won further notoriety as an exhibit in the trials of Oscar Wilde in 1895, during which the prosecutor referred to the novel as a “sodomitical” book. The book also appalled Zola, who felt it had dealt a “terrible blow” to Naturalism. “Huysmans was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 1892, but only for his work with the civil service. In 1905, his admirers persuaded the french government to promote him to Officier de la Légion d’honneur for his literary
34
achievements. In the same year, Huysmans, a cigarette-smoker, was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth. He died in 1907 and was interred in the Cimetière de Montparnasse, Paris.” [Huysmans’ style is “Barbaric in its profusion, violent in its emphasis, wearying in its splendor, it is - especially in regard to things seen - extraordinarily expressive, with all the shades of a painter’s palette. Elaborately and deliberately perverse, it is in its very perversity that Huysmans’ work - so fascinating, so repellent, so instinctively artificial comes to represent, as the work of no other writer can be said to do, the main tendencies, the chief results, of the Decadent movement in literature. (Arthur Symons, “The Decadent Movement in Literature.”) - Wikipedia. 52.
(Carol Schwartzott) Oviri/Savage. [Homage to Gauguin.] Artist’s book designed, printed, illustrated and bound by Carol Schwartzott. Lilliput Press. [Niagara Falls. NY.] 1995. 30p. 7” x 7”. Utilizes a conbination of techniques including letterpess for text, monotype, block print, pochoir, collage & gilding on a variety of fine mouldmade, rag and Japanese papers. Salmon Japanese handmade endpapers. Bound with exposed spine incorporating colored collages; cream handmade paper over boards with collage and rubber stamp design on front cover. Parakeet feather on spine. Cloth dropback box with button & thread closure, paper title label on spine; lined with rubber-stamped papers of toning colors. One of only 9 signed and dated copies. Fine. $395.00 We are pleased to be able to offer one of Schwartzott’s earlier works, which is typiccal of her wonderful tactile, colorful and collectable handmade books.
No. 52.
35
No. 51.
No. 53. 53.
(Carol Schwartzott) Josef Albers: Revelation Through Constraint. Designed, printed and bound by Carol Schwartzott. Niagara Falls. NY. 1997. Accordion fold. 7.25” x 7.25”. Letterpress printed in New Century Schoolbnook & Bauhaus oin Somerset Rag with monoprined color. Cut-outs and fold-outs throughout, all in different cikirs, Sewn 8-page folder inserted inside fold-out back page containing Bibliography, Footnotes and Colophon. Lilac cloth boards with title in relief on spine; green and llilac paper square decorating front board. Green cloth board protectiver envelope-type boxing. One in an edition of 10 signed copies. Fine. $495.00 A well-designed and attractive book inspired by Albers’ use of color, with a relevant text. Sea Pen Press & Paper Mill - Handmade papers from the Pacific Northwest
54.
(Sea Pen Press & Paper Mill) Passwords. Seattle. 1980. Box - 18” x 6.5”. Eight leaves comprising six broadside poems, title page/colophon, and a cast paper frontispiece by Margaret Ahrens Sahlstrand. All six broadsides are illustrated. Texts in various sizes of Caslon. On various papers made by Suzanne Ferris. Protected by a linen-cotton wrapper and enclosed in a cream cloth-covered box by Judy Johnson with inlaid vellum title label and grosgrain ribbon ties. No. 22 of 33 copies, of which 20 were for sale. Fine. $650.00 The six poems are by David Ferry, Mark Halperin, Laura Jenson, Bill Stafford, Joan Stone and David Wagoner, who each sign their respective broadside. “Here is a package, a program of passwords. It is to bring strangers together.” William Stafford.
No. 54.
36
No. 55. 55.
(Sea Pen Press & Paper Mill) Even Money. [Poems by]Thomas Brush. Seattle. 1988. 24p, including endpapers. 10.5” x 13”. Weiss Initials Series 2 for the title page. The book editioned on a #4 Vandercook. Text in Monotype Janson on paper handmade made by Neil Bonham, who also made the watermarked coverstock, using stencils, wax, and an epoxy matrix to shape the screen. Colored illustrations from linoleum cuts, some of which were modified with acrylic gel medium by Suzanne Ferris. ‘Tickets’ cut from xeroxed images transferred to linoleum. Pictorial blue handmade paper wrappers, in linen-covered modified clamshell box, with blue trim. Box and binding designed and constructed by Judy Johnson. No. 91 in an edition of 100 copies, signed by the author. Fine. $295.00 Seven poems about horse-racing and racetracks: Aksarben, Exhibition Park, Chalk, Closing Portland Meadows, Doo Dah, Wishes, and Golden Gate Park.
Edward Steichen - Photographer by Carl Sandburg 56.
(Edward Steichen - Photographer) Steichen The Photographer.[Text] By Carl Sandburg. Harcourt, Brace and Company. New York 1929. First edition. [270p.] 12.25” x 9.5” x 1.25”. Illustrated with reproductions of photographs by Steichen. Black cloth over board with title stamped in gold. In an edition of 925 copies, signed by Sandburg and Steichen, this is an out-ofseries copy. Extremities worn and cover cloth faded; endpages stained, nevertheless plates very good. $3000.00 Three items laid in. 1) A signed letter from the daughter of Robert Josephy, the designer, giving details about her father, the book and provenance. 2) A sheet from the AIGA Design Archives giving the physical details of the book and stating that this work is in the collection under ‘Fifty Books of the Year’ 1930. 3. A calligraphic label from the actual AIGA 1930 exhibition. A great classic. The designer’s copy, with it’s important provenance, has been in the possession of his daughter. No. 56 - image of Lillian Gish.
37
No. 57.
Beth Thielen Beth Thielen’s pop-up books allow for an emotional experience that is powerful, vivid and real. She says “I think of book art as a personal journey, an interior landscape.” In her book, Why the Revolving Door: the Neighborhood, the Prisons, the sculptural pop-ups echo the dark days of the L.A. riots - a cry from the heart. She taught in the California prison system from 1985 until a few years ago, when she moved to up-state New York. When Thielen first started teaching, it was through the California Arts Council Artist in Residency Grants. Selected by a panel of her peers, she received $1600 per month to provide 20 hours per week of instruction at the participating institution. Many young artists in the state of California started their careers with this program, which no longer exists. Thielen has used unique experimental book forms - all to demonstrate her devotion to the improvement of social justice issues. Thielen’s unusual books continue to make one stop, think, and admire. Her work is represented in the Paul Getty Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, Houghton Library, Harvard, Yale University, the Spencer Collection at the New York Public Library, as well as other important public and private collections. This special work is currently in the ‘Agents of Change’ exhibition at the Cocorcan Museum of Art, Washington, DC. 57.
(Beth Thielen) The Tower. Book design by Beth Thielen. Linoleum prints, original texts and binding by various prisoners at San Quentin State Prison and the California Rehabilitation Center between the years 2006 and 2007. California. Approximately 14” x 9” at its widest point - closed. Prints on Arches Text Wove 120 gr in Daniel Smith Domestic Velvet Black AC63. Text in Times New Roman printed on an Epson Stylus CX4600 on Neenah Classic Crest, Solar White 24 lbs acid free papers. Bound in Gray Canapetta Italian Book Cloth over acid free, Lignin free Binder’s Board. Jade 403 PVA, methyl cellulose paste, Black Arches cover, Canson Mi-Teintes Steel gray, Pearl, Barbour’s Irish Linen Thread. This work has four books forming part of the four internal sides. Also included are two small booklets; one with the physical details of the work and the other giving ‘Notes on the Tower Book’. In an edition of 30 handprinted and bound books, only about 8 copies are available for sale; the majority of the edition has been given to the participants. Fine. $4000.00 This moving work is an important social statement opening a window to the lives and situations of incarcerated prisoners.
38
Quotes from a prose poem in one of the books comprising The Tower by Adryan Piddington, one of the prisoners at San Quentin: I remember ...
On our way up the hill I saw our facility. It looked like “the projects” to me. (Still does.) All dirt, no grass. Too many people for such a small space. I remember wondering why, or how this place ws run. I remember walking through the Unit 4 gate and wishing they hadn’t called my name to get off here. I remember laughing, not understanding how they could call this a prison. Once I got on the yard I looked at the view of the city lights and the heighborhoods surrounding me from beyond the fence and it made the laughter fade to thoughts of my freedom. ...
Stnnding by that slide door on the dirt yard, I remember missing everything I took for granted!!
No. 57.
Notes on the Tower Book - by Beth Thielen: “This is the only book edition of its kind. It is a collaboration between the art program at San Quentin and the now disbanded Women’s Program at the California Rehabilitation Center, in Norco, California. ... “ “Trust is the key to working in this world. When Officer Strobelt asks me as I leave the prison: ‘Do you have your murder weapon?’ I must indeed have my retractable knife with all the snap off blades accounted for. Like the Hippocratic oath, I must first ‘do no harm.’ The officers and staff of the prison need to know I can be trusted. The inmates also need to trust me to watch my tools. They don’t want to see their cell torn up and their bodies searched because a tool is missing. We make the structure of trust transparent to everyone. When everything is well lit, it’s harder for trouble to develop. “My primary interest has been to provide art classes to women in prison. By using the ‘craft’ of book arts, I’ve been able to draw into the program many women who might not otherwise investigate art. Through private funding, I purchase the best materials I can find: Canapetta linen book cloth from Italy, Irish linen threads, archival glues, French printmaking paper. The value of the materials reflects the value I place in my students. I bring the best to encourage the best and they never fail me. It’s amazing how simple and true this formula is. Works from my classes are in collections at the Getty Museum of Art and The Library of Congress, to name a few. The purpose of the work is to give my inmate students the proper ‘dress’ to attend the ball, to become part of the conversation about incarceration when a more enlightened perception is possible. “We are living in a time of twisted priorities, of which our overflowing prisons are symptomatic. Teddy Roosevelt was the first to coin the concept of the “living wage.” That it should be ‘...a standard high enough to make morality possible.’ When I look at the images created by my students or read their stories, I see Dorothea Lange’s Dust Bowl refugees. I give this as an example to illustrate that I am responsible as an artist to see the context I exist in. Art is about seeing. As you look at this work, I challenge you to see large.”
No. 57.
39
No. 58. 58.
(Richard Tuttle) Hiddenness. Richard Tuttle and Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge. Library Fellows of the Whitney Museum of Art. New York. 1987. 15.5” x 10.14”. Six leaves, concertina form. Poem with seven numbered stanzas by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge; letterpress by Peter Kruty, Solo Press. Abstract color illuminations (lithography, silkscreen and handstamped) printed by Richard Tuttle on Dieu Donne paper. Blue cloth spine with gilt titling, blue paper over boards. Housed in folding case of blue cloth and decorated blue paper covers. One of 120 copies signed by the artist and poet. Light wear and fading at extremities of case, else fine. $4000.00
59.
(Wayzgoose Press) Wayzgoose Press Ephemera. Approximately 32 items relating to various publications and announcements of the Wayzgoose Press. Katoomba. New South Wales. Various dates. Portfolio size - 21” x 16”. Red cloth board portfolio with tan paper label on front. One of a few sets of ephemera put together for us at the Press in 2009. Fine. The 32 items, printed over several decades, document the history of this bold and creative press. $600.00
No. 59.
40
A three-dimensional zig-zag-like structure 60.
(Anna Wolf) Chinese ‘Book of the Door God’. A unique variant collaged Artist’s Book by Anna Wolf. [Berkeley.] 1995. 26.5” x 4.5”. The book opens to 31” x 26”, with the small boards forming a complete surface of 24” x 26” with a red border on each side. Based on Heidi Kyle’s book structure, this accordion-fold book opens to reveal a three-dimensional zig-zag-like structure, exposing 84 cardboard pieces of colorful 4” x 2” illustrated boards, many with collages, thin red wood sticks and yellow and gold cords wrapped repeatedly round the small boards. Red Momigami paper board covers. Laid in a box of matching red paper, with two Japanese bone clasps with black ties. Separate signed colophon. Fine. $2000.00
No. 60. The small pieces of board are covered with reproductions of parts of long, colorful paper scrolls from China, depicting Chinese Door Gods. In Chinese New Year’s tradition, replicas of two door gods are placed near the door to serve as protectors of the house during the following year. This exciting book can be viewed as a book, opened up for a complete viewing, or shown as a wall hanging.
41
No. 40.
No. 39.
In case you missed two previous catalogues published in January and June of 2011 - our 25th Anniversary year, please check our website - joshuahellerrarebooks.com . Catalogue #39 has 120 items featuring many well-known and talented artists and printers with examples of Fine Bindings and the Private Presses. The Book Arts is well represented in over 180 interesting items in Catalogue #40. If you would like a hard copy for your files please advise.
Conditions of sale: All items listed in this catalogue are offered subject to prior sale. Each item has been carefully described as to condition. Any purchase may be returned within ten days after its receipt; if unsatisfactory for any reason - safe return shipment is client's responsibility. Payment terms for new clients are "remittance with order" or from our pro forma invoice. A finance charge of 1.5% per month will be added to all bills not paid within thirty days of the date of invoice. Libraries and institutions will be accommodated by special billing on request. Prices are net, in U.S. dollars. Postage and handling are extra on all orders. Overseas orders will be shipped airmail unless otherwise arranged. D.C. residents will be charged 6% Sales Tax. Possession of title remains with Joshua Heller Rare Books, Inc. until books are paid for in full. We purchase single volumes, collections, or libraries in our field of interest. We are pleased to welcome visitors by appointment and are centrally located near convenient bus and Metro stops. We accept Visa and Mastercard As always, our special thanks to Neil Greentree. Cover design: Camden Richards.
Š Joshua Heller Rare Books 2011.