Washington DC: 2017. Hardcover. Number 5 of 10 copies. Initialed and numbered by the book artist. Jennaway Pearson is a printmaker and book artist residing in Washington, DC. She teaches at American University and George Washington University. Her work is held in institutional and private collections across the US including the Museum for Women in the Arts, the Library of Congress, and UCLA. In this provocative work, Jennaway explores the meaning of “champion” by connecting figure skater Tonya Harding with the goddess Juno, protector of women. Despite being a record-breaking skater, Harding was a victim of her family, a demanding sporting organization, a tragic marriage, and an insatiable tabloid culture. Pearson suggests that Harding, like many women, would have benefited from the protection of Juno, whom the Romans saw as presiding over all aspects of a woman’s life. The book begins with three pages of text printed as handwritten script on yellow tablet sheets. It offers a sympathetic telling of Harding's life, drawing from an early documentary and a later media reports. This is followed by striking images representing both her life and the themes of the book. The text and images are each in a gathering with a cover sheet with two white squares and black numbers representing skating competition scores. The book was supported by a grant from the College Book Arts Association. Bound in black cloth with title in blue script on front cover. In a coptic-style stitched binding. The book is entirely screen printed on Arches 88 and Rives BFK papers. Housed in a black cloth slipcase with title on front. In fine condition. Measures 11.5 x 13.25 inches. Fine. More

New York: Marianne R. Petit, 2021. Hardcover. One of 25 copies. Inspired by the 1917 edition of "Health Knowledge, the Most Essential Thing in Life", this pop-up collection focuses on six insects that spread disease in people. The featured insects include: the body louse, the house fly, the itch mite, the bed bug, the mosquito, and the human flea. Presented here in two formats - an accordion pop-up book and 6 stand alone pop-up cards. When opened, each page reveals the uncomfortable sight of a moving insect crawling in the palm of a hand. The text reveals disturbing facts about each insect and the diseases they spread; for example: "Bed bugs spend most of their time hidden in the dark and can survive up to 70 days without feeding." To emphasize the feeling of revulsion, the artist has chosen to color the hands green rather than skin toned and to intersperse images of stains, dirt, and mold into the backgrounds. The movement of the insects on each page, the scratchy sounds of the paper moving as the insects twist, the grungey imagery and colors, and the graphic text all come together to effectively stimulate the reader's feelings of horror and disgust. Digitally printed with archival ink on velvet rag paper. Pop-ups are constructed by hand. Book size: 5 x 4.5 inches closed, 5 x 63 inches open. Each card: 6 x 7.5 inches. Marianne is "an artist and educator whose work explores fairy tales, anatomical obsessions, and collective storytelling practices through mechanical books that combine animation and papercraft. My interests are in combining technology, traditional book arts, and sequential storytelling to create new forms of narrative for the 21st century. [Her] artwork has appeared internationally in festivals and exhibitions, been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, Make, and Wired, and broadcast on IFC and PBS. My movable books can be found in numerous museum and library collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the British Library, the Berlin Public Library, Boston Library, as well as numerous University and private collections. [She is] an Associate Arts Professor at New York University’s ITP and IMA (Interactive Media Arts) Program located in the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. I am a co-founder of the Interactive Media Arts Program at NYU Shanghai and I also serve as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Network Academic Planning for the University. I received the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016" (artist's statement). ARTB/061522. Fine. More

New York: Sarah Plimpton, 2019. Number 2 of 12 copies signed and numbered by the artist, who is also the author. Sarah Plimpton was born in New York City and divides her time between New York and France. She works in several media; oil painting, printmaking and artists’ books and is also a poet. Her books are in such collections as The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The New York Public Library, The Morgan Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This lovely little poem is printed on five bifolds, accompanied by evocative aquatints. "same steps/same steps/same steps/down/should one remember/buried days?/the door is open/step inside/where should one sit/there is no place now/walking out/the day is cold/the steps are up" In a review, John Ashbery describes Plimpton's poetry: "As quiet as a moment just before sleep, Sarah Plimpton's poems are like preludes to dreams. The “everyday” happens daily, but it is also rare and precious in Ms. Plimpton's transparent telling." Set in Minion type and printed on Somerset paper. The aquatints were editioned by Peter Pettengill, Hinsdale, NH. The text was printed by Brad Ewing at The Grenfell Press in NY. In beige softcover wrappers and housed in purple and cream clamshell box made by Claudia Cohen. In fine condition. Measures 6.25 x 9.5 inches. Unpaginated. ARTISTSB/070522. Fine. More

Moscow: Emil Goozairow, 2018. Hardcover. Emil Goozairow is a Russian artist who paints and draws, produces movies, and creates exceptional handmade books that are printed on rare types of paper and published in limited editions. His techniques create unique designs that often are made with natural materials alone or in combination with relief decorations made from metal or poymeric clay. He creates books that he describes as "pop up," “kinetic carousel," “liporello” or “3D origami.” He also writes fairy tales, stories and mystical scenes. This striking book presents Poe's "The Raven" in both English and Russian. The book opens in an accordion structure with the text and illustrations printed in black and cascading down the accordion folds. Bound in green felt fabric covers with hammered copper wire title affixed to front cover. Braided green cord with copper hook and eye closure. In fine condition. Measures 1.5 x 8 inches closed. Folded out accordion pages measure about 10 inches. ARTISTSB/052323. Fine. More

New York: Purgatory Pie Press, 2012. Hardcover. Number 18 of 60 copies. A beautifully crafted datebook for 2013. Each binding is unique with different colors of leather and threads. Bound in full orange leather with a black leather tie. The interior is printed in week-at-a-glance format on repurposed nautical charts with wood type that is over 100 years old. The datebooks are a tradition for the Purgatory Pie Press - they have been producing limited edition datebooks since 1980! The leather is slightly discolored on the bottom edge of the rear cover. Designed by Esther K Smith, hand-set by Dikko Faust, and printed on a Vandercook 4 letterpress. Fine. More

New York: Purgatory Pie Press, 1983. Hardcover. Number 75 of 85 copies bound into hard covers. 95 additional copies were issued in wraps. Signed by the author, printer (Dikko Faust), and designer (Esther K. Smith). An inventive collection of eight tales in which portions of the story have been replaced by lines of color allowing the reader to make up their own stories utilizing the given words. A vibrant book printed in red, yellow, green, blue, and black. Fine in yellow paper covered boards with red title to spine and front cover. Printed at the Center for Book Arts on Lana Laid all rag with red Kozo endsheets. Unpaginated. [24 pages.] PRI/010212. Fine. More

New York: Purgatory Pie Press, 2004. Paperback. Number 172 of 200 copies. Each page features a linoleum cut of a different character including G-Squirt, Drip Nose, Jolly Notso, Scrubby, and more. The face of each member is depicted in a cartoonish, grotesque style. The verso forms a different book - Team Evil - with an additional set of grotesque characters. Fine in off white paper wrappers with yellow illustration and red title to front panel. Unpaginated. [8 pages]. PRI/010212. Fine. More

Moscow: Emile Goozairow, 2020. Hardcover. Emile Goozairow is a Russian artist who paints and draws, produces movies, and creates exceptional miniature handmade books that are printed on rare types of paper and published in limited editions. His techniques create unique designs that often are made with natural materials alone or in combination with relief decorations made from metal or polymeric clay. He creates books that he describes as "pop up," “kinetic carousel," “liporello” or “3D origami.” He also writes fairy tales, stories and mystical scenes. This small open edition miniature book offers the poem "The Prophet" by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, printed in both Russian and English. The poems are digitally printed on each side of a "two-way" book and accompanied by 17 striking illustrations. This three dimensional binding in the shape of a chevron is embellished with faces and patterns on both sides. It is painted in gilt, black, and red. Something inside mysteriously rattles. Size: 3 x 1.5 x 1.5 inches. A stunning book in fine condition. ARTB/052323. Fine. More

Aurora, CO: Alicia Bailey at Ravenpress, 2020. Hardcover. Produced in a variable edition of no more than 9 copies of which this is number 4. A collection of 17 endangered frog species, each hand painted (reproduced digitally), and briefly described with terms such as "population decreasing." Labeled ink drawings of frog anatomy are incorporated into each illustration. A circle graph showing frog populations as extinct, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near threatened, least concern, and data deficient accompanied with hand-written percentiles in red adorns the bottom of the case for the book. Along the interior edges of the box the following text is printed: "Blake believed that the object of being human is to learn how to be human. Will we learn to be human in time? To live up to our full capacities in time to save ourselves? To save the world that is vulnerable to us? To fail will bring on a greater tragedy than we can possibly imagine." According to the artist: "This project began with a batch of biology notebooks from my great-aunt Ruth's archive that were created in 1920 as part of her undergraduate education. I inked over several of her pencil drawings detailing frog biology, treated the pages so they would be receptive to oil paint, then painted a variety of frogs, one to a page. Scanned at high-resolution, these images were printed on hand-dyed Mohawk Superfine Text paper with archival digital inks. The images were each mounted on a core of museum board wrapped with elephant hide paper with further details about the depicted frog hand-written in red ink. The pages are bound using a wire edge structure, onto metal rods. The book and box covers have been treated with shellac, then overpainted with gesso, oil, and wax. The covers each have a hand-painted frog behind laser etched mica labels. The diamond shaped book is housed in a custom box with text laser etched into the tray's corner pieces. The base of the box has a print out of a circle graph with a hand-written legend under a layer of cast acrylic." Alicia Bailey has been creating artists' books, limited edition books, and sculptural books since the mid-nineties. Her work has been featured in dozens of exhibitions and is held in many collections around the world. This book is held in the collection of the British Library. Size: about 8 x 7 x 2 inches. [20 pages.] ARTB/111621. Fine. More

Baltimore: Sarah Robbins, 2012. Hardcover. Unnumbered edition of 8 copies. According to English folklore, red dragonflies (sometimes referred to as "devil's darning needles") sew shut the mouths and sometimes the ears and eyes of people who misbehave. This carousel book celebrates the myth with comically disturbing illustrations of people who have thread twined around their eyes and lips. Clear plastic printed with red dragonflies overlays the illustrations. The book is bound in light grey paper covered boards with red title to front cover and artist's name to rear cover. It is silkscreen printed in turquoise and red inks. A red twine closure wraps around the book when not in use and can also be tied to hold it open in carousel format. "Sarah Robbins is an illustrator, printmaker, and book artist living in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work focuses on feminist themes, visual journalism, and a love for folklore and the natural world. She co-runs PaperBase, a community letterpress shop and studio space, often combining her talents with other artists to create collaborative work which bridges the commercial illustration and fine art printmaking worlds" (book artist). Her illustrations have been featured in several periodicals including the New York Times and Baltimore Magazine. [6 pages.] ARTB/051016. Fine. More

Dania Beach, FL: Claire Jeanine Satin, 2019. Number 2 of 2 prints. "This work explores the idea of da Vinci as a vegetarian, which he was purported to be. Various vegetables and fruits which were likely his diet surround his famous portrait" (Clair Satin). The first print in this edition of two was exhibited in Italy as part of the 250th anniversary celebration in homage to da Vinci. Printed on Lexan, a translucent material. Size: 16 x 20 inches. Claire Jeanine Satin, a well known book artist, sculptor and designer of public art installations. Satin's work has been extensively exhibited and collected in the United States and in Europe, including at The Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Getty (CA), MOMA, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. She is known especially for her conceptual works in uenced by the ideas of her friend and mentor the composer/visual artist John Cage, and the conversion of ordinary industrial materials into environmental constructions and book works of layered transparent mass. ARTISTSB/010822. More

Dania Beach, FL: Claire Jeanine Satin, 2020. A unique artists' book from Claire Jeanine Satin, a well known book artist, sculptor and designer of public art installations. Satin's work has been extensively exhibited and collected in the United States and in Europe, including at The Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Getty (CA), MOMA, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. She is known especially for her conceptual works in uenced by the ideas of her friend and mentor the composer/visual artist John Cage, and the conversion of ordinary industrial materials into environmental constructions and book works of layered transparent mass. This is one of a series of lovely unique works by Satin, each signed by her. Each book is created with Cordenons paper, a fine paper that has been manufactured in Italy since 1630. This book uses various papers, strips from maps, sequins, crystals, and monofilament to create precise and inventive designs on the cover and each page. In a white gauze bag. In fine condition. Measures 5 x 7 inches. Unpaginated [8 pages]. ARTISTSB/032521. Fine. More

Dania Beach, FL: Claire Jeanine Satin, 2020. A unique artists' book from Claire Jeanine Satin, a well known book artist, sculptor and designer of public art installations. Satin's work has been extensively exhibited and collected in the United States and in Europe, including at The Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Getty (CA), MOMA, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. She is known especially for her conceptual works in uenced by the ideas of her friend and mentor the composer/visual artist John Cage, and the conversion of ordinary industrial materials into environmental constructions and book works of layered transparent mass. This is one of a series of lovely unique works by Satin, each signed by her. Each book is created with fine acid-free paper. This book uses various metallic papers, postage stamps, small blue and purple plastic shapes, sequins, crystals, and monofilament to create precise and inventive designs on the cover and each page. In a white gauze bag. In fine condition. Measures 5 x 7 inches. Unpaginated [8 pages]. ARTISTSB/032521. Fine. More