Minneapolis: Angel Bomb Press, 2020. Limited to 125 copies signed and numbered by the book artist, Todd Thyberg. He writes in the colophon that the book took over two years to write, create, and print. He states: "This experiential read was conceived as an ode to H.P. Lovecraft, whose books I had discovered and read profusely as a teenager growing up in a small town in rural North Dakota....I knew I wanted to be a writer, to breathe life into stories that transported the reader to realms unknown. H.P. Lovecraft gifted the world with a style of cosmic horror and weird fiction that was previously unknown. In homage, Todd created a mythical and mystical expedition to the steppes of Siberia to find the temple and artifacts of a mysterious people that supposedly once inhabited this barren and forbidding land. He says, "In the winter of ‘18, I rented a cabin in the woods of Wisconsin and sequestered myself for a week, sketching, researching and writing down plot points. I took an historic event that fascinates me and turned it on its head, spinning it into the world of old gods and monsters that thrilled me as a kid. I wanted to celebrate and honor the creepy cosmic horror that made Lovecraft’s work so unique. One of the men on the expedition is required to document their findings. Odd diagrams and even odder structures are found and recorded for the archives at Miskatonic University. What is it that they find? What happens to the expedition when they find it?" It’s all hidden within. But be forewarned! Many who have seen the contents of The Miskatonic Papers have died horrible deaths or gone completely insane! The valiant quest for knowledge may lead you down a path that branches into dark corners of the night, filled with arcane shadows. Never travel there alone and be cautious where you step. If you hear a wet, rustling noise behind you, you had best run screaming. After exploring Todd's remarkable and complex production, the reader will indeed understand Todd's warning! The work comes in a foil-stamped grey clothbound clamshell box with three sealed folders inside.Todd urges the reader to break the seals and pore through the contents of the folders. One includes a broadside for the expedition, drawings, two letters, a rubbing, telegrams from the field, and an amazing handwritten expedition journal. All of them letterpress printed, aged, and weathered. The Expedition Broadside appears stained with ale and smudges from the hands of inquisitive sailors. It states that Professor Tyler Freeborn seeks able-bodied men to risk life and limb for the advancement of science. Do you have a thirst for adventure? Perhaps you should apply. Each piece of the book was made to look as if it was created 100 years ago. Stains, creases, and even burned edges will provide the reader with a rich experience when delving through the ephemera and piecing the story together. Printed on a selection of stocks as well as vintage business cards and journal pages, with too many typefaces to name and lots of handwriting as well. Letterpress printed at the Angel Bomb studio. In fine condition. ARTSB/071320. Fine. More

San Diego: Bay Park Press, 2010. Hardcover. Number 4 of 10 copies. Book artist Sibyl Rubottom grew up on Long Island Sound where Esther Williams was her hero. She grew up watching her movies trying "to relive the fabulous water ballet sequences." As an adult her love of water continued and she began swimming in La Jolla Cove near her home and later in an olympic sized outdoor pool in Mission Valley. She dedicates this book to La Jolla Cove, one of her regular swimming spots when the water is warm enough. Illustrated with six etchings and three unique oil paintings on mylar. Printed on Fabriano Rosapina Bianco paper using letterpress and intaglio prints, some with chine colle. Set in Bernhard Modern. Oblong folio. Housed in a blue clamshell box. Unpaginated. Fine. More

Wien: k/haus, 2001. Hardcover. An Austrian artists' book packaged with an engineer's compass and a four lens action camera, all housed in a custom fitted green tupperware box. This two book set appears to have been issued to document an exhibition of design with work from design students at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna and the Royal College of Art, London. The "exhibit is made up of work-in-progress responses to some of the major issues raised around contemporary theory dealing with globalization and new technologies. Each has interpreted this project according to their own understanding of the imperatives of design in contemporary culture and, in this way, the project aims to open up an increasing vital debate around the nature and role of practice in the twenty-first century" (Vorwort / Foreword). The books include "Global Tools," bound with white cloth spine and white paper covered boards titled in black on front and "Think Tank," which is side-stapled in black paper wrappers with white title to front. Both books include photographic illustrations of the design projects with descriptions of the pieces (some in German and some in English). Sample project proposals include the Phrenology Hat, which changes shape according to your mood; the Audio Tooth Implant, which acts as an "electronic third ear"; Step N' Charge, which is a mat that can generate and store energy by being stepped on; and much more. Finger smudges to covers and minor rubbing, else clean and bright. 35 mm film for the action camera is not included; however, there are manufacturers directions in English for both the engineer's compass and camera. There is also a card for the tupperware container laid in with text in German. Most text in "Global Tools" is in German with some in English. The text in "Think Tank" is mostly in English with some German. All items are housed in a light green tupperware lunchbox that has been custom fitted with yellow foam. Empty plastic label on front of box and light wear / soiling. "Think Tank" is 61 pages; "Global Tools" is 197 pages. Size of box: about 11 x 9 x 3 inches. ARTB/050319. Very Good. More

New York: Béatrice Coron, 2023. Paperback. Artist's Proof of 3 copies. A papercut book on black Arches paper featuring the poem "Obsession" by Baudelaire. Coron's papercut illustrations echo the lines from Baudelaire's poem, depicting a shadowy forest, the sea, the night sky filled with constellations, and a web of eyes (with the pupils hand drawn in white chalk). The poem is printed in metallic silver and gold in French. The two panels featuring a night forest are backed with a translucent handmade paper. This eight panel accordion fold book is housed in a black paper wrapper with metallic title to the front panel and a cord closure. The wrapper is handmade paper with mica inclusions. This AP has a different paper wrapper than the rest of the edition and the text is printed in a different color. Size (open): 7 x 44 inches; (closed): 7 x 6 inches. Coron describes her book work: "For the last 20 years, I have been exploring visual storytelling in artist books, paper cutting and public art. Collecting memories from individuals and communities, I stage narrative allegories in silhouette to create a dialogue with the viewer in playful fantasies. These visual chronicles record archetypal stories that transcend time and space. I have been fascinated by the relation of people to their space and the sense of belonging. Using papercutting where everything is cut from a single piece of Tyvek, the profusion of individual stories makes a coherent whole world." [From her website] Chstina Favretto, Head of Special Collections at the University of Miami describes Coron's work in Coron's "artfragments" portfolio: "There is a palpable joy in the work of Béatrice Coron, the kind of joy we felt as children in unwrapping a particularly enticing holiday gift. But...for Béatrice the gift is a sheet of Tyvek...or paper, and the stories to be unearthed and unleashed within and through the medium." ARTB/030923. Fine. More

Gainesville, FL: Crooked Letter Press, 2020. Hardcover. Number 14 of 40 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Crooked Letter Press is the imprint of book artist and graphic designer, Ellen Knudson. Ellen is currently Associate in Book Arts at The University of Florida. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from The University of Alabama. Ellen has been a book artist for 17 years and a professional graphic designer for 20+ years . She has taught letterpress printing and Book Arts at The University of Florida, The University of Alabama, and graphic design at Mississippi State University and Wayne State University. Her work is in the collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (CA), Yale University (CT), The Library of Congress (DC), and many other national and international collections. From the artist's website and colophon: "Rule of Thumb is a moveable book about the historical human obsession with ourselves and with approval from others. In the last 10 years, we have become obsessed with living online instead of actual living. We seem to only care about how many "thumbs up”, likes, or hearts we can accumulate on social media platforms. We practice a psychological social separation. We live virtual lives. Now, with the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus, we are living with the physical reality of "social-distancing". How will we make it back? Can we make it back? I hope we will realize how much we don't want to live without one another." Rule of Thumb considers the ways in which humans have used our thumbs to, at best, twist reality, and at worst, ruin ourselves. The serious questions addressed in this book are approached through a seemingly whimsical description and movable depiction of various expressions with the word thumb - the pricking of my thumb, rule of thumb, sticks out like a sore thumb, under my thumb and more. These are accompanied by information about the phrase's origin and a few relevant quotations. Printed on and constructed from Colorplan paper (350gsm, Natural). Letterpress printed from linoleum blocks and photopolymer plates. The orange and red binding is a storage book binding with a green concertina spine made from Tyvek hand-tinted with acrylic inks. It is housed in a red portfolio with thumb images and with soft flaps (made using directions by Peter D. Verheyen). The spine of the portfolio and the book cover are foil stamped in matte black foil. In fine condition. Measures 6.5 x 11 inches. Portfolio measures 7 x 11.5 inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/030823. Fine. More

San Francisco: Deeply Game Publications, 2012. Hardcover. Number 45 of 55 copies. Signed by the author and book artists. Book artist Sara Press collaborated with Andrew Rottner to create this exquisite tribute to printing’s golden age. "The story, by Christina Lauritsen, mis-remembers H.C. Andersen’s classic tale of the same name, transforming it into a story of revelation and madness. The visual progression of the book mirrors the plot, pitting the beauty of the decorative arts against the intense and unpredictable messiness of human experience. This book confronts the inevitability of loss and bows to intellectual freedom and its attendant risks." [artists' statement]. The book is printed in Garamond and Bembo types on Moab Entrada paper. It features two 26 inch wide foldouts with illustrations by Rottner. The striking cover is done from a cut-marbled-paper and brocade. The book measures 7 x 9 inches. It is unpaginated. Deeply Game Productions creates and distributes the art works of Sara Press and her collaborators. Sara L. Press is a photographer, printmaker and book artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of her projects examine peculiar areas of overlap between nature and culture (for example: dog fighting, feral children, and our co-evolution with snakes). Sara has also wrestled with the relationship between creativity and the scientific method. Recently, Sara has turned to constructions of masculinity and femininity in our culture (such as human bloodsports and altered fairy-tales). Her work can be seen in public collections around the country and are also in many library and private collections. A lovely book in fine condition. PRI/021919. Fine. More

Portland, OR: Anne Greenwood, 2018. Number 3 of 10 copies in the deluxe edition, signed and numbered by the book artist. This deluxe edition includes a hand-written poem in a rear folder with a bound in fabric piece. 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. The book's wrap-around cover is white crinoline. The book is printed with Weiss Italic type on Mohawk Superfine paper by Diane Jacobs of the Scranton Press in Portland. 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

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

Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Viewpoint Editions, 2015. Number 6 of 10 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. This handsome and intriguing work is from well-known artist Dorothy "Dot" Krause. In her artist's statement she describes her work: "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. " "PreScribe" exemplifies her artistic philosophy. This work offers a statement on the medical and pharmaceutical professions and also the impact of opioid drugs in our current society. As Dot states on the title page, Prescribe "is from the Latin prae +scribere to write previously, to recommend, advise, authorize or order the use of a drug or other remedy." In this portfolio, images are printed on pages from a prescription ledger kept by a pharmacy in the late 1800’s and housed in a black paper over boards box covered with prescription images and lined with red handmade paper. The imagery is taken from work that was produced during an Artist-in-Residency at Harvard’s Countway Library, one of the world’s leading collections of medical history. Photographs of their anatomical specimens, medical artifacts, rare books and manuscripts are incorporated. The processes include prints onto the ledger pages using Pronto, Toray and Solar intaglio and planographic plates and Gocco screens. The title page, introduction and colophon are letterpress printed on Rives BFK tan. The font used for the title is “Ambulance Shotgun” by Guillaume Seguin. Completed at the Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Boca Raton, Florida. The book measures 11.5 x 17.25 inches and is housed in a box 12 x 18” inches. 9 pages + title/introduction and colophon. In fine condition. ARTB/022723. 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

Dania Beach, FL: Claire Jeanine Satin, 2019. Number 2 of 2 prints. "An original recreation of the Leonardo da Vinci painting 'The Last Supper.' It was in fact a Seder dinner attended by Jesus, a Jew, and the twelve disciples. The one disciple who betrayed him, Judas, wears a red string around his finger. All the foods and drinks and edibles on the table, the edge of the tablecloth, and on the ground ar those that would traditionally be found at a Seder celebration" (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

Buenos Aires: Marina Soria, 2022. A calligraphic work on paper. The text that inspired this piece was written by the famous Argentine historian, Ruth Corcuera, in her book, "Teleras, Memoria del monte Quichua." Ediciones Arte Etnico Argentino. Following is an English translation of the text that inspired this piece. Soria's calligraphy includes pieces of this text in the original Spanish:   “Thousands of years ago, when only the voice recorded small and big events of everyday life, women would cover their newborn child in a wrap. In this we see a space created between the mother´s womb and the world outside.   We believe textiles were born from such gestures, within the realm of feelings and from a women´s view: to protect, to give warmth and to sustain life.   In time, textile art will be the means to tell us through colors and designs that the world can be read through symbols, (signs) as in a written text.   In the great American cultures these symbols were a kind of lingua franca and textiles a major art with many roles, among them to express that where words did not suffice.” Gouache on purple colored handmade paper from Papeterie Saint-Armand. In 2022 this piece was featured in an exhibition at the Embassy of Argentina in DC and was sewn to a hanging textile, leaving several tiny and obscure needle holes to each corner of this piece. In fine condition. Size: 37.5 x 28.5 cm Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Marina Soria is a seasoned artist and educator with degrees in Fine Arts and Graphic Design. Not content to just immerse herself in learning calligraphy at international conferences, and through courses with renown calligraphers, she studied Eastern principles of Beauty in sumi-e (Japanese painting). She distilled and blended these principles with her rich experience and background in the fine arts, typography and graphic arts, employing unique approaches and techniques. She has also dabbled in the textile arts, creating a metaphor for weaving; letters as stitches and text as if it were a textile. Her works, vibrating with a love for nature and exploding with life and color, can be found in calligraphy collections in museums, universities, and libraries in the U.S., Europe, and South America. Marina has received numerous national and international awards, and has been featured widely in calligraphic arts publications. A prolific artist, experimental calligrapher, book artist, and educator, her goal is to mingle diverse disciplines to challenge the limits of conceptual art and technique. ARTISTSB/101422. Fine. More