Bermuda: Dorothy Simpson Krause, 2011. Dorothy Krause is a painter, collage artist and printmaker who incorporates digital mixed media into her art. Her work is exhibited regularly in galleries and museums and featured in numerous current periodicals and books. In her artist's statement she says: "My work includes large scale mixed media pieces, artist books and book-like objects that bridge between these two forms. It embeds archetypal symbols and fragments of image and text in multiple layers of texture and meaning. It combines the humblest of materials, plaster, tar, wax and pigment, with the latest in technology to evoke the past and herald the future. My art-making is an integrated mode of inquiry that links concept and media in an ongoing dialogue – a visible means of exploring meaning" Many of her books, like this one, have been inspired by her travels. This wordless book contrasts the colorful and picturesque aspects of the island with it’s somewhat darker history of slavery, Although Bermuda was a slave society, slavery was not essential to the agriculture economy, and Bermuda did not actively import slaves, instead relying on those black and Indian adults captured by privateers, then sold as slaves in Bermuda. The majority of slaves worked as house servants or domestics. Slavery ended in Bermuda in 1834. However, Bermuda is still a challenging reminder of how the past influences the present. Krause has collaged her book using images of charming buildings and a charming map with dark pages that include an image of a document "returning" slaves after their emancipation. The book has aluminum covers that use a wire binding technique called wire edge binding that was originated by book artist Daniel Kelm. In fine condition. Measures 8.5 x 5.5 inches. Unpaginated [34 pages]. ARTB/051923. Fine. More

ViewPoint Editions, 2003. Hardcover. Variant edition of 20 copies. Signed by the artist. Part of the series body and soul, which began with photographs of twin performance artists, Emily and Abigail Taylor. The text, "conceived in deception, precious cargo, stalked by hate, sacrificed to a vengeful god," refers to mothers whose children are sacrificed. Accordion bound in a lead cover with Art Noveau style metal lily decoration affixed to the front and satin ribbon closure. The lead cover symbolizes danger while also being aesthetically pleasing and the lily represents life. Printed on Epson black fine art paper with FF Beowolf Erick van Blokland, Just van Rossum typeface. Measures 4.5" x 4.5" closed and 4.5" x 45" open. Unpaginated [10 pages]. ARTB/051923. Fine. More

Athens: Dorothy Simpson Krause, 2021. A unique book with original watercolors. Dorothy Krause is a painter, collage artist and printmaker who incorporates digital mixed media into her art. Her work is exhibited regularly in galleries and museums and featured in numerous current periodicals and books. In her artist's statement she says: "My work includes large scale mixed media pieces, artist books and book-like objects that bridge between these two forms. It embeds archetypal symbols and fragments of image and text in multiple layers of texture and meaning. It combines the humblest of materials, plaster, tar, wax and pigment, with the latest in technology to evoke the past and herald the future. My art-making is an integrated mode of inquiry that links concept and media in an ongoing dialogue – a visible means of exploring meaning. In 2019, when the artist was in Athens, she began a book with watercolors of the landscape and collaged images of Athena. Returning home, she decided to explore her relation to the archetype and wrote a narrative, contrasting her comments with excerpts from Jean Shinoda Bolen’s Goddesses in Everywoman. Because she felt it presumptuous to compare herself to Athena, she printed narrative from Bolen's book on 4 vellum sheets and "hid" them by inserting them between the drum-leaf pages. Channeling Athena has 10 watercolor and collaged pages, and the 4 vellum inserts in a drum-leaf binding with a cover of vintage white leather over board. Affixed to the cover is a cream colored plaster medallion with a raised profile of a Greek head and the letters AOE ("Of the Athenians"). A lovely book in fine condition. Measures 7.5 x 6" inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/051923. More

Fort Lauderdale: Dorothy Krause, 2018. A unique work signed by the book artist. Dorothy Krause is a bookmaker, painter, collage artist and printmaker who utilizes digital mixed media. Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts College of Art, she and has been a Visiting Artist/ Artist in Residence at the American Academy in Rome, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University and on Oceania Cruise Lines. Krause is the author of “Book + Art: Handcrafting Artists’ Books”, (North Light, 2009), and co-author of “Digital Art Studio: Techniques for combining inkjet printing with traditional art materials”, (Watson-Guptil, 2004). Her books can be found in many public and private collections throughout the country. Her archives and the books featured in Book + Art reside at the University of Miami. Begun on a trip to Arizona, this compelling small book explores our appalling treatment of Native Americans. In the colophon Krause writes: "Historically, much of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma belonged to the semi-nomadic Apache tribes. In 1848 the United States moved into the Southwest and sought to subjugate the Apaches, who defended their homelands. The gold rush and the completion of the transcontinental railroad led to increasing numbers of white settlers coveting Apache land. The Apaches were finally defeated in 1886 when 5,000 US troops forced Geronimo and a group of 30 to 50 men, women and children to surrender. Some Apaches became prisoners of war, while others were forced onto reservations. The population of Apaches has been drastically reduced, their lifestyle lost and their languages, culture, religion, and ceremonies have fallen into decline. The demise of the Apache led to the prosperity of the white settlers who gained the land, natural resources and wealth of the Southwest United States. Our treatment of Native Americans is a shameful part of our past and present." This pocket accordion book was created using a structure developed by Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol. The title is printed on an actual paper tag that has a muted multi-colored painted design. Vintage photos of Apache Indians from the Heard Museum in Phoenix are collaged onto small eco printed tags which are placed into the pocket accordion, with their knotted strings hanging out of the top of the book. The book is housed in a well-worn brown leather pouch with a long attached strap. In fine condition. Measures 5.5 x 3.75 x 1.75 inches closed and 5.5 x 28 open with 10 inserts printed back and front.. Unpaginated. ARTSB/030123. Fine. More

Rochester NY: Leopard, Sue Huggins, 2005. Leopard, Sue Huggins. Hardcover. 8vo. 3 of 10 copies. SIGNED BY ARTIST. Lovely work by this noted printmaker and book artist. Fine in beige cloth boards with title label on front and long beige ribbon ties. Six accordion style fold out pages reproduce stunning color prints by Huggins, each with a water theme. Unpaginated. PRI/051107. Fine. More

Petersham, MA: Lone Oak Press, 2022. Hardcover. Number 10 of 56 standard signed and numbered copies. Master wood engraver Abigail Rorer is considered one of the finest engravers working today. She founded her Lone Oak Press in 1989 and has published many beautiful works that often focus on nature - animals, flowers, trees, and water. Abigail has also provided lovely illustrations for other private and commercial presses. Her fine press books have been in numerous exhibitions in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland. They can be found in many public and private collections.  Abigail writes in her prospectus about this important new work, saying that it is the first book in the "Extinct Pentalogy" series. Originally she had planned one larger volume covering five diverse animals, four that are extinct and one that came perilously close. But she decided that each animal deserves its own tribute. The western black rhinoceros was declared extinct in 2011 and all remaining rhinoceroses are endangered. She writes on her website: "Extinction as a theme has been a focus of The Lone Oak Press for a few years now, beginning with the publication of our book Extinction in 2015. We are living in the age of the Sixth Extinction, the Anthropocene: the Human Epoch. Human activity has made such an impact on our planet that climate patterns are changing, glaciers are melting, the ozone layer is thinning, and species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. For such a magnificent and noble animal as the rhinoceros to be on the verge of total extinction is tragic and unacceptable. The rhinoceros has lived and flourished on this earth for tens of thousands of years. Within only a relatively short period of time, the last two hundred years or so, with the advent of guns, the Industrial Revolution, exploding populations, and other factors, we have decimated the rhino population and brought it to the brink of total extinction. This book is a way to honor a subspecies of the black rhinoceros that disappeared in 2011 and to highlight the plight of all species of rhinoceros.” Bound in a gray and black paper created from a hand-draw closeup image of rhinoceros skin over boards with a gray leather spine and red title label. The rear board includes a bullet sized hole in the board with red leather showing underneath – a visceral reminder of the contents of the book. The text was set in Dante and Othello type. The text and engravings were printed on Zerkell paper. Many of the engravings are multi-block color with some hand-coloring. Amy Borezo of shelter Bookwords bound the books. With prospectus. Housed in a slipcase covered in matching gray paper with rhino skin print In fine condition. Measures 7 x 9 inches. 52 pages. ARTISTSB/071923. Fine. More

Philadelphia: Luminice Press, 2017. Number 7 of 12 copies. Book artist and printer Thomas Parker Williams began creating artists' books in 1998 while also painting. As of 2009 he has limited his art practice exclusively to artists' books. In that year he also began collaborating with his wife, photographer Mary Agnes Williams. In 2013 they started Luminice Press, incorporating letterpress printing into artists' books and broadsides. The artists' books draw on a range of conceptual sources in creating their books, including mathematics, music, literature, theology, philosophy, astronomy, natural sciences, and Eastern thought. Books by Williams or the Luminice Press may be found in over 50 public collections around the country. This inventive and provocative book is one of philosophical investigations that begin with three statements: "The truth can be found by...; The truth can not be found by...; The truth can only be found by..." These statements are illustrated on three flaps inside the cover which opens to reveal 21 double-sided cards with terms that may be used to complete the investigations or initiate further debate. On the back of each statement is another statement: "Reason is the search for evidence to support a proposition; Belief is the reliance on a personal conviction; Truth is found only if what is found is true." Bound in French split goatskin laser-cut binder's boards. The wood onlays are laser cut and painted with ink and watercolor. The text is letterpress printed with hand-set type and polymer plates. Four different marbled papers from Alberto Valese are used. Measures nine inches on each side and two inches deep. In fine condition. Fine. More

Philadelphia: Luminice Press, 2023. One of 14 copies signed by the book artists. This charming and informative book, Spider and the Stars, is a Luminice Press artist book by Thomas Parker Williams and Mary Agnes Williams. It combines an original illustrated story for young readers with factual information about spiders and the curious way they travel long distances. Called ballooning, this form of spider travel appears to be flying, but in fact spiders take advantage of the Earth's electric field to become airborne. This particular spider became so airborne that she soared past the earth and planets to weave her webs among the stars! Book artist and printer Thomas Parker Williams began creating artists' books in 1998 while also painting. As of 2009 he has limited his art practice exclusively to artists' books. In that year he also began collaborating with his wife, photographer Mary Agnes Williams. In 2013 they started Luminice Press, incorporating letterpress printing into artists' books and broadsides. The artists' books draw on a range of conceptual sources in creating their books, including mathematics, music, literature, theology, philosophy, astronomy, natural sciences, and Eastern thought. Books by Williams or the Luminice Press may be found in over 75 public collections around the country. For this delightful collaboration, both artists developed the concept and design and did the printing. Thomas did the illustrations, the moveable pop-up and the binding. Mary Agnes wrote the original story and handset the text. The round black cover has a smaller cut out circle. It is laser cut wood with oil-based pochoir printed paper. The outer circle depicts the starry skies, while the spider and her web are visible in the smaller circle. When the cover is opened the spider and her web are fully visible. On the first page is a large brown, cream, and orange spider with moveable head and legs that pop open. There are 16 pages that tells the spider's story with colorful images of her and her adventurous travel to outer space. They are done in oil-based pochoir over linocut flood coats, with hand painted accents. The text is hand set in Janson and Janson Italic on Arches book paper and letterpress printed. Housed in an acrylic case with a brown title inset. In fine condition. The book measures 7.5 x 8 inches closed. The pop-up spider opens to 19 x 24 inches. ARTB/050523. Fine. More

New York: Russell Maret, 2021. Number 60 of 90 copies of which 87 were numbered and 3 were proofs. Signed and numbered by the book artist. This work comprises three volumes housed in a custom clamshell box. It is a powerful response by one of our most acclaimed contemporary book artists to the alarming state of the country and the fractured state of political discourse in America. Maret writes in his colophon: "This book was designed and printed between November 2020 and February 2021. During that time Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the presidential election by a margin of 74 electoral votes and more than 7 million popular votes. Rather than concede defeat, Trump has continued to promote the baseless claim that the election was rigged by the Democratic party and its "deep-state" operatives. At a rally on January 6, 2021, Trump incited a violent insurrection of the United States Capitol building, an action that is clearly described in the Constitution as treasonous (Article III, Section 3). Despite this, the mob that carried out Trump's failed coup attempt overwhelmingly identified as people willing to die or, more likely, kill to defend the Constitution.....Three Constitutions is my response to these events and the culture that bred them. It is well known that Trump does not read, but the glaring disconnect between basic constitutional principles and the actions of Trump's followers raises the question of whether these self-described patriots have read any part of the constitution besides the second amendment. Three Constitutions is my response to these events and the culture that bred them. The large volume contains the full text of the Constitution and its amendments. It is set in a typeface that, though difficult to read, is legible once one becomes accustomed to its forms. The texts of the two smaller volumes were arrived at via the two most prevalent modes of constitutional interpretation: algorithmic skewing and selective redaction. The text of the volume titled Constitution. United States. was arrived by feeding the text of the Constitution through Google Translate,going from English to Esperanto to Russian to Chinese and back to English. The other small volume was set in metal type and subsequently redacted by physically turning key words and phrases over and printing the underside of the type. The resulting text is not the hopeful re-write I would conceive; it is intended to reflect the cynical, ineffectual state of political discourse in the United States." All of the typefaces were designed by Russell Maret. Printed on Zerkall and Twinrocker Handmade papers. The large volume is 10 x 14.25 inches and held in a clear acrylic box. The two smaller volumes measure 7 x 10 inches and have black cloth covers with white titling to front cover. All three are housed in large clamshell box covered in gray cloth. It measures 16 x 11.25 x 2.75 inches. Accompanied by the prospectus. In fine condition. Fine. More

Seattle: Marquand Editions, [2017]. Number 23 of 25 numbered copies signed by the author and the photographer. In this remarkable edition, environmental scientist Gretchen C. Daily and photographer Charles J. Katz describe how one relic tree, the magnificent Ceiba pentandra in the village of Sabalito, Costa Rica carries physical and spiritual importance far out into the world. In poetic language interwoven with scientific fact, Daily also describes the historical and natural history of this tree and of the ceiba species in general. Katz's photographs of the tree and village amplify this message quietly yet forcefully. Gretchen Daily is the recipient of the Blue Planet Prize, the world's most prestigious award for environmental sustainability [Description from Marquand Editions]. This powerful artist's book by Daily and Katz is created in the form of text, 9 color photographs and a wood carving of the magnificent tree. The carved tree is folded down to fit into a semicircular insert box to be pulled out and detached from the container slipcase. It opens up to reveal the One Tree (attached to the lid by a string that lifts it upright as the lid is lowered). The tree is cut from 3 layers of plywood laminated together and attached tongue-in-groove to the center edge. The photographs and 2 letterpress printed booklets reside in a cut-out recess. beneath the folded tree. The indentation is also made of built up, laminated layers of plywood. The inside of the lid is illustrated with a watercolor print. The first booklet of 14 pages contains Daily's essay about the tree, with an additional signature by the author. The other supplementary booklet of 9 pages One tree / Gretchen C. Daily, Charles J. Katz Jr., contains the foreword by Charles J. Katz Jr., acknowledgments, and artist biographies. Accompanying the booklets are the nine numbered color photographs by Katz. The book is in a semicircular shape measuring 11.5 x 22.5 inches. It is housed in a rectangular slipcase. In fine condition. ARTISTSB/042219. Fine. More

East Hampton, NY: Barry McCallion, 2022. Hardcover. Signed and dated by the book artist on the colophon. This is a stunning new unique work by noted book artist Barry McCallion. Mr. McCallion has had a lengthy career in the book arts following his graduation from Columbia and move to the west coast for a period of time. His work can be found in many institutional and private collections. His career has been documented in a fine article by Mark Segal in the East Hampton Star in 2013: “A Springs Artist’s Creative Odyssey." In the article, Segal also writes extensively about Mr. McCallion’s "astonishingly beautiful and utterly unique books", saying "they use an impressive range of materials and techniques. … It’s difficult to do justice to the variety and complexity of the books in words or in photographs. They are ideally experienced by hefting and opening the boxes and exploring the contents in what becomes a very personal exploration of an artwork.” In this intriguing work, the artist was inspired by a complex and mysterious religious poem by Christopher Smart (1722-1771) titled "Jublilate Agno, Rejoice in the Lamb." It was several hundred lines long, written while he was confined at London's St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics. The poem was not actually discovered and published until 1939. In 1943, the English composer Benjamin Britten shaped a number of the poem's lines and composed his oratorio, "Rejoice in the Lamb," dedicating it to the pastor and choir of St. Matthew's church in Northampton on the occasion of the church's 50th anniversary. Mr. McCallion writes that the lines Britten selected range from exultant to desperately poignant. He then describes his book. "I composed my treatment of 'Rejoice in the Lamb' on successive shades of Rives BFK paper, with the forty pages of Britten's score laid in. I introduced the composer's text groups with a hinged 'gate' of 300 lb. watercolor paper. Colored India inks describe various background shapes, while cutout animals, rubber stamps, flower figures and musical instruments animate the pages. Both the illustrations and white text type on black match Britten's score." The text groups are in loose signatures that are held in a stiff paper folder. The folder is in turn held in a bright yellow heavy paper folder with a black spine and with a decorative black and red circle on the cover with illustrations of a lamb, mouse, and cat within the circle. The colophon was printed separately and is inserted in the rear of the yellow folder. This inventive production is housed in a custom white cloth covered clamshell box with a yellow outlined figure of a cat on the cover and title label to spine. In fine condition. Book measures 7.25 x 11 inches. Clamshell box measures 8 x 11.75 inches. ARTB/012423. Fine. More

Maplewood, NJ: Olchef Press, 2020. Number 12 of 55 copies. Signed by the poet and signed and numbered by the book artist, Sydney Jean Reisen. Reisen studied at Rutgers and at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Her books can be found in several collections nationally including the Library of Congress, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Getty Institute. Poet John Yau (1950 - ) has published over 50 books of poetry, fiction, and art criticism. His first book of poetry was published in 1976. Since then, he has won acclaim for his poetry’s attentiveness to visual culture and linguistic surface. In poems that frequently pun, trope, and play with the English language [Poetry Foundation]. Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BC), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His surviving works are still read widely and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art [Wikipedia]. This lovely book marries Yau's evocative poem to Reisen's thoughtful and beautifully executed artist's book. She writes in her prospectus: "If Catullus is going to sail to China he better have a boat that floats. John Yau’s words take a poet to his destination, but words are impermanent. Printing, in particular letterpress, give words physicality, it forms and protects them. Printing creates text. It was the mission of this book to not impede the words’ journey by making sure the text was equally seaworthy. First, there needed to be a sea. The element of water was introduced by the flexible fibers of kozo paper. Kozo was the right substrate, but in turn it created problems of buoyancy. Another characteristic of the paper, transparency, sunk the text into a puddle. To open the route and keep the text afloat, a rig and a crew were implemented. The structure of the book, the materials, and printing techniques were developed to fill these roles. Once the text was secure on the surface, the book granted the text more liberties. It was able to rise and fall, fly and dive as it journeyed eastward. Hopefully the reader enjoys the ride more than Catullus. Nine poems are printed on Sekishu and color kozo from Hiromi Paper and stab bound in a shop-made muslin bookcloth to construct a fluid and strong book. The texts are set in cold metal Bembo in tandem with prints crafted with ornamental letterpress, wood and resingrave block, and pochoir. The applied colors are distemper inks derived from historic recipes for preindustrial wallpaper production." Housed in a black archival box with a white spine with black titling. In fine condition. Book measures 6 x 7 inches; Box is 7 x 8 inches. ARTB/092821. Fine. More