Washington DC: Abstract Orange, 2024. Softcover. Number 8 of 20 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Lauren Emeritz is a book artist, letterpress printer and graphic artist who founded and runs Abstract Orange. She creates prints and books by hand using a Vandercook press and wood type, including type she designs and carves herself. Lauren holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Delaware. She is the President and Creative Director of Abstract Orange, a graphic design firm in Washington, DC, and a letterpress associate at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Hyattsville, Maryland. Her work can be found in many institutional and private collections.

This is another powerful work by Lauren in which she addresses social and political issues and events. It is based on the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964. The book has a series of 10 sheets of brown cardboard paper, each with text from provisions of the Act printed in green from hand-carved wood letters of the alphabet. The texts include "equal access to public accommodations," "access to public education," "expand civil rights commission," "equal employment opportunities, " and more. The ten sheets are housed in a bright green paper folder with the title printed in darker green on the cover and a velcro closure. In fine condition. Measures 7 x 11 inches. ARTB/041525. Fine. More

Octon, France: Editions Verdigris, 2026. Softcover. Number 8 of 28 copies signed by the printers and illustrator. This handsome and compelling new work from the esteemed Verdigris press addresses the impact that the current American presidential administration has made on our society and culture. These visionary quotes by George Orwell, taken mainly from 1984 and Animal Farm, were chosen for their worrying pertinence in 2026. They invite us to consider the links betwee fiction, reality, and the ways that history will repeat itself without proper intervention (from the colophon).The book was designed by Nora Cornell, Mark Lintott, and Judith Rothchild. Nora Cornell and Mark Lintott created the typography and printed the book in letterpress, and Judith Rothchild the linocuts. Mark Lintott created the slipcases that are covered with the black and gray image of a hand. adorned with the linocuts. The 28 copies were printed on gray Rives BFK paper primarily in Univers with additional French wooden characters. on a Vandercook press in the Editions Verdigris workshop in January 2026. In fine condition. Measures 7.5 x 9 inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/030426. Fine. More

Philadelphia: Luminice Press, 2024. Hardcover. Number 3 of 12 copies, signed by the book artists. Thomas and Mary Agnes describe this interesting and introspective book about the state of America as follows: "In images and text, our artist book ‘American Progression’ encapsulates the sources of deep fissures in this country: white supremacy, the legacy of slavery, the constant influx of immigrants. And yet, there is progression beyond the fear and hate that separate Americans, as many find community and joy together, and share hope for the future."

The following offers excerpts from the text that capture the realities of both inequality and despair that exist, juxtaposed with the hope and affirmation that also define America today: “In 1950, 89.5% of Americans identified as white . . . By 2050, whites will be a minority (47%) . . . Many on the right bitterly resent losing privilege and power . . . . . They remember the easy days before civil rights . . . When an ordinary white man was always better and smarter . . . When the sheriff looked the other way . . . . Desperate to hold on, they search for a leader who will raise them up again, a savior who will take control and lead them back to the white promised land. …For hundreds of years African slaves were submerged in American soil: endless brutality in endless fields of cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar cane . . . .. Unlike Africans, Latino families have been desperate to escape their homes for a better, safer place, risking everything to migrate north . . . Poverty, injustice and hate are realities in America . . . Despite it all, people still find joy and see hope for the future . . . Black, brown, white . . . We can dance!”

The book is constructed as a double-sided accordion. It is printed on Stonehenge Polar White papers. The cover is multi-colored pochoir using 50 stencils on paper over board. Illustrations on six panels with oil based inks over flood coats. Pochoir using 50 stencils. Letterpress printed from polymer plates. In a black slipcase with mylar insert that allows the brightly colored cover to be seen. Concept, design, illustrations, pochoir, printing, binding by Thomas Parker Williams. Original text, text layout, printing by Mary Agnes Williams. A thought-provoking work in fine condition Measures 12.25 x 4.25 x .5 inches. Unpaginated [12 pages]. ARTB/041525. Fine. More

New York: Russell Maret, 2025. Hardcover. Number 26 of 70 copies, signed and numbered by the book artist. Russell writes in this powerful and provocative new work by first discussing the the effects of banning books, then describing the long history of book banning in Florida. This then first leads to his thoughts about not having read the list of books most recently banned in that state. He then engaged in a thought experiment about these titles, focusing on nine titles he found particularly evocative and inspiring. These were The Bluest Eye, Fade, Beyond Magenta, Rainbow High, Triangles, Tilt, Half of a Yellow Sun, Smoke, and Red Hood. He started drawing, saying "What I see when I read these titles is not a library shelf but a catalogue of views, They bloom in my mind as images, patterns, and colors, coposed with no thought to the textual content of the books that inspired them." Thus these stunning images inspired by the books' titles are colorful and beautifully designed. The tenth view is actually an impassioned personal statement about the harms caused by book banning.

The book has a striking structure. It is bound in gray cloth with a vivid orange and yellow paper inset on the book's opening flap, which must be opened to allow the book itself to be opened and viewed.The nine images are printed in an accordion structure, followed by the section titled The Tenth View with five pages of text. They were made with linoleum cuts metal type ornaments, photopolymer plates, and smoke on Rives BFK paper. The book was produced for the 2024-2025 Marjorie S. Coffey Library Endowment Residency at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The book's concept and structure were inspired by materials in the Florida History/Florida Tourism Ephemera Collection in the Special and Area Studies Collections and grew to incorporate issues of book banning in the Florida Public Schools (from the colophon). Accompanied by two copies of the prospectus. In fine condition. Measures 9 x 12 inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/090525. Fine. More

Belfast, ME: Jan Owen, 2025. Hardcover. One of two copies of this splendid new book by the celebrated calligrapher, Jan Owen and signed by her on the last page. She says about this work: "I was taught Civics in 8th grade so remember nothing and have been making up for that by lettering artists books of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other documents. The founders studied historical democracy while assuming the integrity of future leaders. In this artist book, instead of 'We' I substituted 'I' for the beginning in 'I hold these truths...' and cobbled together what I think is self-evident. Now in a divided country, what truths do each of us believe are needed or a more perfect union?" This book couldn't be more timely for the times we are living through in the United States currently. The text on the covers is that of the Preamble to the Constitution. The text inside the book are the famous opening words from the Declaration of Independence. This calligraphic book is accompanied by a separate page in a folder giving the text of the inside of the book and its cover. This beautifully realized work of calligraphy from Jan, is an accordion fold book on paper, hand lettered in ink with acrylic. With paper wrapped binders board covers and housed in a drop spine box. The box is covered in light gray cloth covers with the title label "I HOLD"on the front of the box. the box also has black cloth ties at the top and bottom. The book measures 12.5 x 9.25 x .5 inches. It measures 28 inches open.

On her website she states: "My day begins with brushstrokes to music, on to lettering and then to the words. I played string bass with a symphony orchestra for many years and the music always kept moving forward. I wanted my art to be still and include brush strokes and layers of words all visible at once. Now I like planning the pacing and arrangement of pages, words and images." She says on her website about her calligraphy: "The page is silent until I mark it, a line is abstract until I make a letter. The letters become words; ideas, poems and history. In this transitional age of digital communication we still need touch and movement, metaphor and music. The hand, eye and brain work together turning the pages of a book. I write with brushes and metal dip pens using inks and acrylic. The words might be layered like a palimpsest, weaving added for touch, colors and patterns for the eyes and binary code for transliteration. I choose texts by various authors and more often now, add how the words resonate with me as marginalia." This stunning new book is in fine condition. ARTB/012126. Fine. More

Decorah, IA: Solmentes Press, 2026. One of only 20 copies. This book tells the story of Ratified Indian Treaty No. 156 of 1829, in which the Ho-Chunk were coerced into selling the hugely lucrative “lead mine country,” some 2,762,880 acres. It was the first of three treaties that banished the Ho-Chunk from their ancestral homelands in Wisconsin and Illinois, and led to a split in the Ho-Chunk Nation. The story exposes an array of characters – on the one hand, the “Great Father” (the president of the United States), generals, governors, Indian agents, fur traders and many others who play significant roles in the treaty’s orchestration, revealing a tapestry of power, wealth, familial connections and influence that extended well beyond the council fire – on the other, the chiefs, head men, families, and friends of the Ho-Chunk.



The 1829 boundary is traced over a visual backdrop of USGS 7.5-minute maps and the phonetically spelled names and the English names of every Ho-Chunk signatory are drawn within that defined space. Transcripts of the official “Journal” (recording the negotiations at the council meetings prior to the signing), correspondence, and Congressional debates are woven through the maps.

The 1829 treaty boundary is traced over a visual backdrop of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5-minute maps and the phonetically spelled names and the English names of every Ho-Chunk signatory are drawn within that defined space.

Transcripts of the official “Journal” (recording the negotiations at the council meetings prior to the signing), along with related correspondence and Congressional debates are woven through the maps.
A line stretching from the Mississippi River across northeast Iowa, would become in a treaty of 1830 the central axis of a forty-mile-wide strip of land known as the Neutral Ground. My home sits in the middle of this buffer zone, in Canoe Township near Decorah, in Winneshiek County. The words Canoe, Decorah, and Winneshiek are derived from Ho-Chunk names, and for good reason – the Ho-Chunk once lived here too, but not for long. By contrast, in Wisconsin and Illinois, roads, towns, and counties with names such as Cass Street, Gratiot village, Dodgeville, and Menard County were named after people involved in the treaty machine. Curious to learn more, I began investigating. What I discovered was sobering: the Ho-Chunk (Hoc kra [Hochungra]), “People of the Big Voice,” once called the Winnebago, had been forced to move here.


The book artist, David Esselmont, has created a monumental and exceedingly detailed and saga of this treaty and its consequences. This book is so complex,starting with the research,design, printing and binding, that it took him several years to work on it and complete it.
David Esslemont is an artist who makes books, by hand. Esslemont was born in Northumberland, England in 1953 and studied Fine Art (painting) at the Central School of Art and Design in London (now The University of the Arts). He was Artistic Director of the University of Wales Gregynog Press from 1985–97 and has won many book design awards including the Felice Feliciano International Award for Book Design in 1991.Above all there is a desire to make distinctive, elegant books that are a delight to all the senses. The choice of materials and attention to detail reveal a passion for books and a respect for, and knowledge of, the history of books and printing


His work can be found in both private and public collections worldwide, (his archive to 2005 is held at the University of Iowa.) He now lives in northeast Iowa.


Edition details
The book is printed digitally using Epson Ultrachrome P10 pigment inks. The paper is Moab Entrada Rag Bright.
Typefaces – Adobe Aldine, Bembo std, Cronos pro, Rockwell extra bold, Scotch modern.

Edition of 20 copies, 69 pp., 16.8 x 12 ins, in a quarter-cloth drum-leaf binding with paste paper boards, presented in a cloth-covered drop back box together with a 44 x 60 inch calligraphic map and facsimile of the treaty. More

Philadelphia: Thomas Parker Williams, 2019. A unique artist's book from noted book artist Thomas Parker Williams signed and dated by him. Williams began creating artists' books in 1998 while also painting. As of 2009 he has limited his art practice exclusively to artists' books. He often creates videos and composes music to accompany his books that may be found on his website (www.thomasparkerwilliams.com). Books by Williams or the Luminice Press imprint under which he and his wife Mary Agnes Williams issue books, may be found in over 70 public collections around the country including the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Paradise Lost is a compelling wordless narrative accompanied by original music that explores variations of loss in America, over time and in the present. Williams describes the meaning of his book in a passionate statement: "Starting with the forests where native peoples lived before Columbus, the book follows slavery as Africans are captured and forced to work on plantations owned by wealthy white men. Although many landowners lost their way of life after the Civil War, the anonymous power figures did not die, and continue to crush black, brown and white workers and families who are expendable. Finally, as we confront the reality of climate change, even the Earth itself is expendable. In the past four years America has further revealed its dark side. Blatant racism against black, brown and Asian citizens has become almost normal. However most of the perpetrators of these acts fail to realize that they are just pawns of the real power figures who care nothing for them and will throw them away when they are no longer needed....If America, or for that matter the rest of the world, ever wants to find 'paradise' again, we must realize that resources will have to be shared and all people will have to be respected. Otherwise, our lives will be enmeshed in constant conflict that will benefit no one except the anonymous power figures."

The book is held in a custom hinged wood container with the title on a copper plate affixed to the cover. It measures 8.25 x 15.5 x 2 inches. There are 20 original black and white ink drawings that trace the history of the enslavement and misery imposed on indigenous peoples since their paradise was discovered centuries ago. There are mysterious figures on several of the drawings that represent the anonymous power figures. The drawings are done on 20 sheets of Twinrocker Da Vici Heavy Text handmade paper. The book is accordion bound, with each sheet measuring 7 x 14.75 inches that extend to 295 inches when the sheets are unfurled. There are two discs in envelopes affixed to a black paper cover: a DVD of the book's video and music made by the artist to accompany the book, as well as a CD of the music only. This original music was composed, performed and recorded by the artist. Housed in a custom clamshell gray cloth box. In fine condition. ARTB/051623. Fine. More