2011. Hardcover. Unique Artists' Book. Signed and dated by the book artist and binder. This is a hand-lettered manuscript of Poe's classic poem "Annabel Lee" which was designed, hand-written, gilded, and decorated by Maryanne Grebenstein. Each page is decorated with an elaborate floral motif border with flourishes and initials in gold. Bound in three quarter purple cloth with marbled paper covered boards by Elizabeth Rideout of Charlotte, VT. This manuscript was hand lettered in the Italic style using Moon Palace Sumi ink and Leonardt and Soennecken pen nibs on Pergamenata stationery weight paper in antique. The gold leaf is 23.75 karat on gesso and the decorations are with Winsor & Newton gouache. Unpaginated [8 pages] Calligrapher and book artist Maryanne Grebenstein (Marblehead, MA) is a student of Sheila Waters, Jeanyee Wong, Robert Boyajian and others. She owns The Abbey Studio which offers professional calligraphy services and classes and Turn-in-the-Path Books which produces unique and limited edition books and broadsides. Maryanne also teaches at the North Bennet Street School in Boston and is a Visiting Artist at the Corcoran College of Art+Design in Washington, DC. ARTB/081711. Fine. More

Portland, OR: Anne Greenwood. One of 12 deluxe copies. The Lunar Maria (pl.) or Mare (sing.) are large dark basaltic plains on the Earth’s Moon formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. These plains Oceanus (Oceans), Mare (Seas), Lacus (Lakes), Palus (Marshes), and Sinus (Bays) were named by Giovanni Battista Riccioli in 1651 after states of mind and conditions of water. I have editioned three decks of 44 oracle cards named after the Lunar Maria: one wool hand-embroidered original, twelve cotton digitally printed, finished w/ hand-stitching, and 100 paper digitally printed. All the decks include a letterpress printed, hand-bound booklet, and indigo dyed bag and cloth with machine stitched text. The booklet describes how to use the cards and includes 44 poetic fragments that correspond to each basaltic plain and embroidered image. The booklet was designed, printed and bound by Daniela Del Mar. This project was conceived in the midst of studying magical tools and practices with Colette Gardiner in her Blue Iris Mystery School in Portland, Oregon, working as an artist-in-residence at the Icelandic Textiles Center in Blönduós, Iceland and learning from Carmen Spagnola's Numinous School of Intuition Development. The combination of these experiences helped me further understand, connect and embed my ancestry, place and natural world within my art practice. Ten percent of all sales from this deck, and funds generated from any readings will be donated to The Chúush Fund: Water for Warm Springs which directly benefits the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon as they work to restore their access and infrastructure for clean water. Edition size: 12 5.5”x 7.5”x 2” finished bag w/ contents, 4”x 5.5” cards & booklet, 20”x 20” cloth. In fine condition. ARTB/080221. More

Portland, OR: Anne Greenwood, 2016. Number 2 of 12 copies in the special edition portfolio signed and numbered by the book artist. There were also 138 copies of the chapbook. This beautiful and complex work was inspired by the poetry of the Portland poet and seamstress Hazel Hall (1886-1924) and pays homage to her to writings and resilience. She survived either scarlet fever or a fall at the age of 12 and used a wheelchair for the rest of her short life. The poems are republished by permission from The Collected Poems of Hazel Hall. From the colophon: "The special edition portfolio is made of crinoline; it is machine sewn, hand-dyed in fustic, and pressure-printed with machine-stitched text from poems originally written by Hall and then pieced together by Anne Greenwood. The chapbook cover is machine-stitching on crinoline; the under print is pressure-printed, hand-stitched embroidery with pochoir and the book is hand-bound using the pamphlet stitch. The decorations are hand-stitched embroidery sigils by Greenwood and Shannon Ayuyu pressure printed on washi paper. The tapestry is made of crinoline hand-dyed in madder, fustic, cochineal and indigo, with hand stitching and pochoir. The applique: the moon is pressure-printed, found, hand-made doily, and the poem Loneliness is written by Hall and printed with a polymer plate. The machine-stitched texts are cut-ups of Hazel Hall’s poetry made by Shannon Ayuyu and Anne Greenwood. The printing is all by Clare Carpenter (2016) in Portland, Oregon." Anne Greenwood is a well-known artist who has exhibited widely and whose works can be found in museum and library collections around the country. She was born on the high Dakota Plains and was led to an art degree by her artist grandmother. In 1990 she moved to Portland, Oregon and began her career as an artist and horticulturalist. Anne’s artwork explores an interest in folk art and speaks of her kinship with the natural world and how this influences her connection to daily life. In 2002, Anne set up a textiles studio integrating handwork, book arts, and textiles into an interdisciplinary practice. From Anne's artist's statement: "My artistic practice navigates an infinite network of connections: narrating the simple and complex, physical and ephemeral, past and present, within the context of place, history, and transformation. I form relationships that expand and fortify admiration and reverence, leading to the discovery of new truths about the world around us." When the tapestry is folded the work measures 8 x 12.25 inches. In fine condition. ARTISTB/031819. Fine. More

Portland, OR: Anne Greenwood, 2018. Number 28 of 30 of the regular edition, signed and numbered by the book artist. Vestiges was conceived in Iceland where Anne was an artist-in-residence in April and May 2018. This striking work includes folded, sewn, dyed, and printed crinoline cloth pieces accompanied by text. They beautifully capture the almost intangible nature of vestiges - things disappearing or no longer in existence by Diane Jacobs of the Scranton Press in Portland. The book's wrap-around cover is white crinoline. The book is printed with Weiss Italic type on Mohawk Superfine paper. The text is hand-written and authored by the artist as are the hand-dyed fabric manipulations (from the colophon). Anne Greenwood is a well-known artist who has exhibited widely and whose works can be found in museum and library collections around the country. She was born on the high Dakota Plains and was led to an art degree by her artist grandmother. In 1990 she moved to Portland, Oregon and began her career as an artist and horticulturalist. Anne’s artwork explores an interest in folk art and speaks of her kinship with the natural world and how this influences her connection to daily life. She makes objects, installations, and works with her community. In 2002, Anne set up a textiles studio integrating handwork, book arts, and textiles into an interdisciplinary practice. From Anne's artist's statement: "My artistic practice navigates an infinite network of connections: narrating the simple and complex, physical and ephemeral, past and present, within the context of place, history, and transformation. I form relationships that expand and fortify admiration and reverence, leading to the discovery of new truths about the world around us. I enter into inquiry-based community engagement through arts education, residency, public work, studio practice, and collaboration. " A lovely work in fine condition. ARTS/031419. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2002. Paperback. Open Edition. This book was created for the 2002 exhibition BEAUT.E(CODE). It documents interviews conducted with computer software developers to explore the aesthetic values in, and their fond feelings for, computer programming. Artist Statement: "I am a visual artist. My husband is a software engineer. For years I have listened to his conversations with colleagues about hardware and software, what is good or pleasing and what is not and why, what they find new and exciting or classic and exciting. I am able to sense, but am unable to experience the excitement they feel. I wanted to find a point of entry into this world, and find a way to convey their excitement to other non-technical people. I gathered information by conducting group interviews with and sending questionnaires to computer professionals to explore aesthetic values in the art of computer programming and how they are similar to (or different from) aesthetic values in art. Or more plainly, “what excites these guys?” Three elements are combined to create the pieces in this show: quotes from the interviews which I thought best or most colorfully expressed these aesthetic values, representations of artifacts I remember fondly from my college days working in the machine room of the university’s computer center circa 1980, and my simplistic understanding of the basic inner workings of a computer." A collection of scantron forms with text keypunched onto the cards and "bound" with a custom printed rubber band reading "it is a living thing." Size: 3.25 x 7.25 x 5 inches. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: 1998. Hardcover. 3 of 20 copies. Signed and numbered by the artist. A collection of quotes and photographs of three generations of men reminisceing about hunting and fishing trips. Bound accordion style with marbled paper covered boards. Measures 6 inches by 30 inches by 3 inches when fully extended. Housed in an archival paper case with the artists' contact information and edition number on the front panel. Unpaginated. [10 pages.] ARTB/060111. Fine. More

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: 2009. Hardcover. Number 28 of 100, each unique. A photographic, conceptual documentation of a journey across a rural Midwestern landscape. Winner of the award for best 3D entry in the 2010 Midwestern Biennial exhibition at the Rockford Art Museum (Rockford, IL). "Mirage beautifully represents the concepts of time and motion through a sequence of dreamlike images that whirl across the pages. The photographs, blurred as if taken from a speeding car, describe place and memory in a manner that is melancholic yet detached. The book is a diary of sorts, documenting the quickly passing and often unperceived moments that later prompt recollection. " Jeff Rathermel, Minnesota Center for Book Arts. A drum leaf binding with dark brown cloth spine and illustrated paper covered boards. Titled in brown on the spine. Pigment inkjet printed. Full edges brown. Housed in an archival paper case with the artist's contact information and edition number on the front panel. Unpaginated. [16 pages.] ARTB/060111. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: 2002. Hardcover. Number 8 of 20 copies. “Chicago binder, book and installation artist Karen Hanmer’s intimate, playful works fragment and layer text and image to intertwine memory, cultural history, and the history of science. Her work weds the ancient act of book binding with the high tech use of the computer to aid her process. The intimate scale and the gestures of exploration required to travel through each piece evoke the experience of looking through an album, a diary, or the belongings of a loved one. However, her works often take the forms of games or puzzles, and many include witty text” (Karen Hanmer). This work is a history of an immigrant farming family told through photographs. The family is depicted on both inside covers with one picture dating from the 1920s and the other from the 1960s. Connecting the pictures is a flowing field of corn, which is blurred on one side and detailed on the other. As you open the book the interlocking pages and imagery create a flowing movement that simulates the passage of time. The result is an engaging book that tells a story despite the lack of text. Housed in an archival paper case with the artist’s contact information and edition number on the front panel. In fine condition. Unpaginated. ARTB/060111. Fine. More

Basel, Switzerland: Romano Hänni, 2005. Hard Cover. Number 34 of 40. Each book is unique. Second Edition. This book includes a selection of proof pages from various early handprinted books by Romano. The pages include handwritten notes and marks for corrections. Because each proof sheet is different, each illustration and also each book is unique. The poems, which are interspersed with the proof sheets, are written by Romano's father. The typographic pictures and cover are letterpress printed and the poems are inkjet printed. The text is in German with no English translation. (56 pages) ARTB/011713. Fine. More

Basel: Romano Hänni, 2021. Hardcover. Number 24 of the 54 copies of the standard edition. There are 10 additional copies of the deluxe edition. Each copy of the book comes with a pamphlet with photos of the manufacturing process and a soft cover book with Romano's explanation of this new work. 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 skill. In this book, Romano states that he is reprinting the original text of the Iti Amotytoma Muxum that arrived in England from Utopia in 1535. The book was purportedly soon "lost in the darkness of history" until 2019, when it was revealed to be in the Vatican Secret Archives. The book artist says that he was able to get possession of the book for a few weeks. Although not able to translate the mysterious lost language of Utopia, he was able to recreate the harmonious overall impression of the book with its deliberately used proportions and its classical and elementary typography. According to his book of explanation, Romano created this work in response to his own ethical, moral, and political beliefs about our modern world. The book is an intriguing production that beautifully displays his mastery of symbols and letter forms. It was hand set in lead type with brass lines and letterpress printed in black and four-colors. There were approximately 52 printing forms. The book is bound in green linen with gilt titling to front cover. It is housed in a grey paper covered slipcase along with the pamphlet of photos. In fine condition. Measures 5 x 7.5 inches. Book: 56 pages; Explanation volume: 23 pages. ARTB/090321. 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