Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2011. Hardcover. Number 17 of 30 (numbered on case). Vellum spine titled in gilt with illustrated paper covered boards. The cover illustration varies. This book features a full color reproduction of a painting that hung over the book artist's sofa when she was a child. The painting depicts a view of the island of Capri overlooking the Gulf of Naples. Hanmer has divided the painting into eight equal portions, each of which reads as a horizon and may also function as a metaphor for memory and the unanswered questions that elude memory. "With her latest project, Karen Hanmer has created an archetype of all the family oil paintings that hung above the couches of our childhood. Not a drop of irony stains the languid shorelines and gauzy, cloud-flecked skies that fill the pages of this inviting book. Hanmer instead chooses to treat her subject with a candid reverence that raises intriguing questions about how we assign value to the objects that circumscribe our lives and how memory impacts that process" (Vera Scekic, Chicago painter and curator). Housed in an archival paper case with the edition number and artist's contact information stamped on the front panel. Measures 5.5 x 8 x 5 inches. Unpaginated [16 pages.] ARTB/121415. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2004. Number 20 or 20 copies, signed and numbered by the book artist. Karen's artist-made books are physical manifestations of personal essays intertwining history, culture, politics, science and technology. She utilizes both traditional and contemporary book structures, and the work is often playful in content or format. This is the last unsold copy of this thoughtful and nostalgic book by Karen. She uses the text of a young Navy wife’s letter written from Europe in the 1950s to her family on the farm along with her alternate personal thoughts. The book uses the flag book structure to juxtapose these texts with sections of an old photograph of her Midwestern relatives. This structure offers an effective medium for creating a visual as well as a textual experience. The full photograph of the family is revealed when the book is fully opened. The photograph and text were created using pigment inkjet prints. The covers reproduce a black and white photo of the young Navy wife with an Italian city view behind her. The back of the book opens in accordion style and shows another black and white photo from Italy. Book is 4.5 x 9 inches closed and 8 x 19 inches when fully open. Housed in an archival stiff paper storage box with Velcro closures. In fine condition. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2010. Hardcover. 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. ARTB/121212. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: 2008. Hardcover. 1 of 100 copies. Each page depicts the outline of a couple from a romance novel cover. The translucent paper allows the images to interact and form new combinations. According to Sarah Bodman of the University of West England "That shameful temptress Karen Hanmer has really done it this time! Under that tantalizing red cover is a heady series of swooning ladies and masterful men. In a whirlwind of passion, dozens of romance novels have been condensed into one steamy artist’s book of multiple outlines emerging through transparent papers." Fine in red velvet covered boards with gilt title to front cover. The interior is laser printed on vellum paper. Unpaginated [16 pages]. ARTB/060111. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2008. Hardcover. Number 17 of 30 copies. At once vast and minimal, sparse and rich, the night sky has always been a canvas upon which people project their myths and dreams. Star Poems presents quotes that document response to the night sky across the ages by philosophers, artists, and poets from Plato and Byron to contemporary writers, scientists and astronauts. This text is paired with 17th century mythological images of constellation forms and images of early star gazers on a background of a NASA photograph of the Milky Way. The book can be held in the hand and read page by page like a traditional book, can be removed from its jacket and unfolded flat to reference historical astronomical charts or contemporary NASA composite photos, or can be folded into an infinite variety of sculptural shapes. Measures: 6.75x5.75x.75" closed, 17.5x 23" open. Housed in a blue cardstock box with velcro closure. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2014. Hardcover. Number 9 of 100 copies. Signed by the author. This book was inspired by a call for entries by the Guild of Book Workers with the theme of "vessel." Karen describes the text of her response as 60% memory and 40% casually researched, mostly on Wikipedia. Karen's book focuses on the iconic containers and conveyances of her childhood and adolescence between roughly 1962-1979. She juxtapositions her text with photographs of such "vessels" as the Chevy Nova, Crock-Pot, Electric Frying Pan, Mood Ring, Frye Boots, the 747, and more. Her words are often amusing, but they also offer astute observations on her family and our society during the period covered. This is the deluxe edition with marbled paper covers by Pamela Smith. Digitally printed and housed in a purple paper covered slip case. Digitally printed. In fine condition. 5 x 7 inches. Unpaginated [26 pages] PRI/121415. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2013. Paperback. Open Edition. A flip book starting with the word Yes, which dissolves into Maybe, then into No, then back into Yes, and so on. Karen describes it as "A quick flip through an indecisive decision-making process." Size: 2 x 4.75 x 1.5 inches. Fine. More

Basel, Switzerland: Romano Hänni, 1988 / 89. Hardcover. Number 74 of 81. Six artist proofs were also printed. Signs from the Stone Age consists of symbols (primarily comprised of lines and dots) reproduced from imagery found in the cave of Lascaux in Dordogne, France. Also includes photographic reproductions of the original cave paintings, excerpts from literature about the people of the Stone Age, and text by the book artist giving his interpretations of the imagery. Fine in off-white paper covered boards with black title to spine and front cover. There is a flaw in the paper on the first page of the text resulting in a discolored marking; otherwise, the interior is very clean and bright. Handcomposed and handprinted in red and black ink with five photographs printed in offset. Text in German. Includes a one page English explanation of the book and its design. 20 pages. ARTB/011713. Fine. More

Basel, Switzerland: Romano Hänni, 2007. Paperback. 1 of 306 copies. This work by Swiss book artist, Romano Hänni, is a hand printed eight page altar fold with banderole and a card with a poem. The text is in German and an eight page pictorial supplement with translation in English is also included. This work is about the horrors of war and military injustice. There are multiple stories about war and murder including a piece about 306 British soldiers who were court-martialed for ‘cowardice in the face of the enemy’ and shot during World War I by their comrades. In 2006 - ninety years later - these men were pardoned. The enclosed poem is “Glory of Women” by Sigfried Sassoon. The banderole, which is printed on toilet paper, represents the blindfolds of the executed men. It features a wood engraving of a French Military Cross on the front and a statement about four French soldiers who were court-martialed in 1915 and shot in the back. A powerful piece. [8 pages]. Swiss book artist and typographer Romano Hänni (1956 - ) has been experimenting with unusual compositions of letter forms and symbols since the early 1980s. His designs can seem somewhat whimsical but often are reactions to society, politics, and traumatic events. Creating things manually with the participation of all of the senses is very important to him. A master of visual poetry, he enjoys teaching to pass on his knowledge and skills. ARTB/020212. Fine. More

Basel: Romano Hänni, 2010. Hardcover. Number 34 of 175 copies. Swiss book artist and typographer Romano Hänni (1956 - ) has been experimenting with unusual compositions of letter forms and symbols since the early 1980s. His designs can seem somewhat whimsical but often are reactions to society, politics, and traumatic events. Creating things manually with the participation of all of the senses is very important to him. A master of visual poetry, he enjoys teaching to pass on his knowledge and skills. This work offers a commentary on various aspects of life, some of which are illustrated with design elements. For example "with ritalin" shows a series of small, numbered pill shaped designs. It faces "without ritalin" which shows a variety of animals and other creatures. One unillustrated quote from the jacket reads "The daily misconduct: It is not the large catastrophes, it is he daily mistakes in the details that cause the global problems." Bound accordion style in boards with white illustrated dust jacket. Handcomposed and handprinted in black, red, blue, and gold. The text is printed in German; however, a pictorial booklet supplement with English translation is included. A thought provoking, well designed book. ARTB/092117. Fine. More

Basel: Romano Hänni, 2008. Hard Cover. Swiss book artist and typographer Romano Hänni (1956 - ) has been experimenting with unusual compositions of letter forms and symbols since the early 1980s. His designs can seem somewhat whimsical but often are reactions to society, politics, and traumatic events. Creating things manually with the participation of all of the senses is very important to him. A master of visual poetry, he enjoys teaching to pass on his knowledge and skills. Number 197 of 290 copies. This book was hand composed and hand printed in black, red, and blue ink. An accordion structure bound in boards with an illustrated white dust jacket and a paper band closure. Includes a two page laid in supplement featuring the title of the work and the colophon. A small book measuring 3.25 inches wide by 5 inches tall. In fine condition. Unpaginated [10 pages]. ARTB/060111. Fine. More

Philadelphia: University of the Arts, 2017. Hardcover. Number 6 of 10 copies. Signed by the artist. Folio. "All Disease is an exploration of hysteria in women. Images of inkblots invoke interpretive psychological tests and are paired with images of pelvic bone and language from 18th and early 19th century medical texts. The conclusion presented by the male-dominated voices in the text is that women are bound to irrationality, emotional instability, and insanity on account of the womb" (artist statement). The text that meanders through the book, often cut off against the edge of a page reads: "The womb, the starting point of hysteria. My womb, the starting point. Like some delicate plant deprived of the beneficial rays of the sun, she is a flower, which withers and droops away, even before its blossoming. On account of the uterus, woman is all disease. A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fit. Divided from herself and her fair jud ... On account of the uterus, I am all disease.... some delicate plant deprived of the beneficial rays of the sun, she is a flower, ... My womb, the starting point of hysteria. A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted. The womb, the starting point of hy ... On account of the uterus, woman is all diseas... Divided from herself and her fair jud ... On account of the uterus, I am all disease." The disjointed, repetitive text paired with the inkblots makes the reader feel as if they are descending into madness or recalling a traumatic event. As you read it, you can easily imagine a woman sitting, rocking, and whispering these words over and over in a chant of despair - and then you realize that as the reader, you have become this woman. A subtle, but powerful book about the oppression of women. Bound in quarter black leather boards with hand marbled paper covered boards. Imagery and text are appropriated from 19th century medical texts and Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Letterpress printed on a Vandercook SP20 from polymer plates. Printed on handmade cotton rag paper (including watermarks, formed shapes, and pulp painting). Inkblot imagery printed by hand lithography. Size: 22 (width) x 15 (tall) inches when open. ARTB/060920. Fine. More