El Sobrante, CA: Lisa Kokin, 1992. A unique artists' book. According to the artist: 'Most Wanted' "tells the story of accompanying my mother to the post office when I was a child, looking at the FBI Most Wanted posters and WPA murals, learning about the big world outside of my small family."

The pages of this book are constructed from flattened cookie cutters, which have been connected with metal rings. The text is punched into the cookie cutters and the signature of the artist is scratched into the back of the last cutter. The book is housed in a box made from a California license plate that has been stitched together with additional metal pieces and wire to form the shape of a house. A heart shaped cookie cutter protrudes from the front of the box on a spring, and has the title of the book stamped in red to the front. A green bullet shaped wooden piece is screwed onto the title cutter, between the words "Most" and "Wanted". The box opens from the bottom with a wire and peg closure. Intentional wear / rubbing / rust spots to box. Unpaginated [16 pages.] Book size: 65 x 4 inches, extended; Box size: 6 x 8 x 5 inches.

Lisa is a noted book artist who also creates art with sewing and alterations, as well as with button work and assemblage. She also is known for acting as a mentor and coach to people in the arts. Since 2010 she has worked one-on-one with dozens of artists both locally and through Zoom. Her program is an outgrowth of many years of experience mentoring graduate students in colleges and universities. Her artists’ books can be found in a number of public collections.

Kokin describes her mixed media books such as this one: "My definition of 'book' is open-ended, a freedom which is in many ways attributable to my lack of formal book art training. I am blissfully unaware of all the rules I am breaking as I go about my routine of sewing, stapling, riveting and otherwise reassembling objects to transform them into something readable. My books address themes which have preoccupied me for many years -- loss, the rescuing of memory, cultural and sexual identity, and a critique of the prevailing social values." ARTB/100324. Fine. More

El Sobrante, CA: Lisa Kokin, 1992. A unique artists' book. According to Kokin, 'Restricted Entry' is "a book made from a found passport about reproductive rights."

Created in 1992 during the landmark Supreme Court case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which threatened to overturn Roe v. Wade (1973), but ultimately modified the original ruling to allow states to forbid abortion after the point of fetal viability, except in instances that would risk the woman's health. The Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982, which was being challenged in this case, required a woman seeking an abortion to notify her spouse prior to the procedure, amongst other things. This portion of the law was deemed unconstitutional as it allowed men to have too much control over their wives and presented women with "undue burden." Thirty years later reproductive rights are still in question in the United States with Roe v. Wade overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, ending the constitutional right to abortion.

The book is an altered passport from the 1960s with images of women, couples, reproductive systems, a hanger, and official looking stamps such as "property of United States of America", "Report to Local Authorities", "Liable for Prosecution", etc. It is housed inside of a girl's altered wooden jewelry box featuring a ballerina toy on a spring. The top of the box has been purposefully chipped, cracked, and worn. An image of a ballerina has been carved into the lid of the box and partially gouged away. The book is suspended within the red cloth lined box, resting on metal wires with a barb in the middle. The wires resembling hand-made devices used by women to perform self-abortions before they were legalized in the 1970s. The music box portion is no longer in working order, as was intentional by the artist. Book Size: about 6 x 3.75 inches. Unpaginated. [20 pages.] Box Size: about 7.5 x 5.5 x 3.5 inches.

Lisa is a noted book artist who also creates art with sewing and alterations, as well as with button work and assemblage. She also is known for acting as a mentor and coach to people in the arts. Since 2010 she has worked one-on-one with dozens of artists both locally and through Zoom. Her program is an outgrowth of many years of experience mentoring graduate students in colleges and universities. Her artists’ books can be found in a number of public collections. ARTB/100324. Near Fine. More

CA: 1998. Hardcover. This is a unique altered book by Lisa Kokin, and signed by her. She is a noted book artist who also creates art with sewing and alterations, as well as with button work and assemblage. She also is known for acting as a mentor and coach to people in the arts.

With this provocative work, Lisa has used a children's book titled 'Tell Me About Jesus,' written by Mary Alice Jones, illustrated by Pelagie Doane, and published by Rand McNally in the late 1960s. In the book, young Bobby learns through worship, personal relations, nature, and play the factors that make Jesus seem real. Lisa has altered both the illustrations and text by adding seemingly discrepant images to the illustrations and by collaging text in various fonts and sizes to alter the meaning of the text sentences. For example, on one page Bobby (now) says to his sister "'I am saved. I have a semi-automatic to do God's way. Did you know that?' Mary did not understand. But she could tell that Bobby was going to smite opposition, so she laughed happily" and so forth, creating a completely different meaning to the messages of the book.

Kokin says about her altered books: "I alter, appropriate, and combine text from books about religion, history, self-help, business and sociopolitical ideology. I am fascinated by the random juxtapositions of words that occur when parts of text are removed to create other stories, or when texts from two sources such as business and religion are combined. It gives me great pleasure to subvert the original meanings of books which were written to keep people in their place, and to do it with humor and levity."

Bound in the original orange cloth covers with blue titling to spine and front cover, which also has the outlined image of a little boy. Illustrated pastedowns and free endpapers. Measures 8 x 10.25 inches. Some pages from the original removed, leaving about 40 pages with many full page illustrations. ARTB/102824. Very Good. More

Nacogdoches TX and London England: LaNana Creek Press and Scolar Press, 1999. Hardcover. Number 47 of 210 copies of which 200 were for sale. Signed on the colophon by Omar Pound. This is a complex and interesting book on the history of Pound's cantos from the time they were first published in 1930, the proposed edition of them accompanied by illustrations by Dorothy Shakespear, and the abandonment of the project owing to the events of World War II. Briefly, in the late 1930s, Ezra Pound was planning an ambitious edition of the "Cantos" to be illustrated by his wife, artist Dorothy Shakespear. She created the designs, but due to Pound's involvement with Fascist propaganda, the edition was never published. This volume presents them in a limited edition. This edition presents a selection of some 50 of Dorothy Shakespear's more finished designs from period they were executed in the 1930s. The initials are printed in red with a black background design. The book includes excerpts from the poem beginning with canto number XXVIII and ending with number LI. Handsomely quarter bound in Harmatan's tan leather with red Japanese bookcloth covering the boards and the slipcase. Printed on Magnani Biblios mouldmade white wove with Hahnemüle end papers. The text is set in Gill Sans for the Cantos, Joanna for the other text, and Perpetua for display. Charles Jones designed the book and directed all aspects of its execution. The slipcase has a title label to its spine. In fine condition. Measures 8.5 x 12.5 inches. Unpaginated. PRI/112024. Fine. More

New York: Marvel Comics Group, 1985. Softcover. An uncommon full set of the four comic book volumes titled Beauty and the Beast from famed comic book writer and editor Stan Lee. As might be expected, the series was a quite free interpretation of the fairy tale. There are monsters, space travelers, romance, and much more. The volumes are all in fine condition and are protected by plastic slip covers.
PERIOD/121324. Fine. More

Niagara Falls, NY: Carol Schwartzott, n.d. Hardcover. Number 25 of 50 copies, of which this is one of the cloth bound books. There were also copies lettered A to Z that were bound in suede. This engaging miniature book was digitally printed and imaged with delightful illustrations and printed on Bodelian Moldmade and Japanese papers using Cochin Italic type. The book has in effect two colophons, with one printed and inserted several pages before the end of the text. It is followed by two blank pages with the lower right corner cut off. In a brown cloth binding with a tan paper wrap around with a decorative gilt and green design and an image of a nightingale affixed to the front cover. Housed in a slip case with gray paper covers over the decorative tan design and a silver lettered spine label. In near fine condition. Measures 1.75 x 2.5 inches. 97 pages. MINI/120524. Near Fine. More

Eugene, OR; Santa Cruz and Coloma, CA: 2022. Number 3 of 32 copies. A collaborative project about climate change and activism prompted by the catastrophic wildfires of 2020 and onward that burnt through the forests of Oregon and California, where all of the involved book artists reside. This resulting piece of 12 artists' books, which the artists refer to as a "reliquary" box includes artifacts such as a vial of ashes gathered from the remnants of the burnt forest. It was created "to bear witness to the devastation of western forests and grapple with the question of hope during this pivotal movement in the Anthropocene epoch."

The four artists involved gathered in 2019 during the Codex book fair to discuss creating this project, which was originally intended to focus on trees and forests. When they were able to meet again in 2021, after experiencing catastrophic wildfires near their homes, they hiked in Yosemite. On their hike they discussed broadening the scope of their project to "a more significant consideration of climate change," what can be done about it, what "hope" meant to each of the participants, and what information could be shared through the project. The group gathered research, specimens, and inspiration as they spent a week camping in the McKenzie River watershed area. They also met with Forest Service scientists, a forest management company, photographer, and an Emergency Manager responsible for responding to wildfires. Finally, they began designing their books and the reliquary box collaboratively, creating wood and linocut illustrations, making paper, setting type, and printing (artist statement). The resulting books incorporate burnt wood gathered from the forest, ashes, hand made paper, painted wood, and more.

A variety of structures are included such as: a scroll book, a flexagon, a coptic bound booklet, a folder with removable sheets, and an accordion with pop-ups. Techniques include: letterpress printing, gouache, watercolor, linocut, woodcut, photograms, relief prints, pressure prints, digital printing, and paper marbling. All of the books and artifacts are held in a wooden box along with a 40 page trade paperback book with artists statements by each of the four participants as well descriptions and pictures of all included books. The reliquary box was constructed by Taylor Millar with repurposed Douglas fir and locally sourced coast redwood from near Lagunitas, CA. It features a hand-stamped brass title label and an interior paper label with printed colophon. ARTB/120324. Fine. More

Iowa City: University of Iowa Center for the Book, 2022. Hardcover. Number 50 of 100 copies. From the colophon: "This project was supported in full by a grant from the Nadia Sophie Seiler Fund, as part of the NSS Visiting Artist Residency at the University of Iowa Center for the Book. Designed by Russell Maret to celebrate twenty-six years of letter design. Printed with the assistance of students from the UICB in an edition of one hundred copies during the second week of October, 2022." Russell Maret is a noted printer and type designer. In this interesting and inventive work, he and the students from the Iowa Center for the book showcase 26 various typefaces. For each typeface on one side of this accordion book, there is a quote in that typeface from such luminaries as William Morris, Mary Shelley Henry Thoreau and Helen Keller, among others, accompanied by the letters of the alphabet in that type with both capital and lower case letters. The other side of the book has large samples of different types printed in large black letters. The book is a single folded sheet oriented vertically and attached to two split decorated paper covered boards. the number 26 is affixed to one side with an orange label. Printed in red and black. In fine condition. Measures 2 x 10 inches. PRI/121624. Fine. More

[Boston]: Merrymount Press, 1928. Hardcover. One of 500 copies printed for The Commission by the Merrymount Press, of which only 250 were for sale. This copy has a marvelous provenance. There is a book label affixed to the front pastedown, "From the Library of C.H. St John Hornby Shelley House Chelsea." Hornby was the founder of the famed Ashendene Press. On the front free endpaper is the card of Mr. John Pierpont Morgan, with the handwritten "With the compliments of" above his printed name. Also attached to the free front endpaper is a printed slip of paper with "Acknowledgment of the receipt of this copy should be addressed to Mr. J.P. Morgan/The Pierpont Morgan Library/33 East 36th Street/New York City. [From Wikipedia] "In 1928, the Episcopal Church decided to issue a revision of its Book of Common Prayer, to be financed by J.P. Morgan, Jr., whose father had funded the previous revision in 1892. Morgan solicited designs from several printing houses, including the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, William Edwin Rudge, and Merrymount Press. Daniel Berkeley Updike, a devout Episcopalian, provided two designs for the Prayer Book, one in Lutetia typeface and one in Janson; the Dutch Janson was ultimately chosen for what would become known as Merrymount's finest work."

A Century for a Century, co-author Martin Hutner writes: "Much fine work emanated from Daniel Berkeley Updike's Merrymount Press....[Updike] founded his Press in 1893. Initially heavily influenced by William Morris and the Kelmscott Press, the Merrymount Press was to become one of the longest-lived - fifty-six years - and most distinguished presses in America in the first half of the twentieth century....the Press's masterpiece, The Book of Common Prayer exhibits the elegance, superb design, scholarship, and printing which represent the best of American work.[It is listed as number 25 in Hutner's book]."

Bound in a fine ox-blood colored pigskin from Edward & James Richardson of Newcastle-upon Tyne, with five bands to the spine and titling there and on front cover in black. Top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed. Printed in black and red throughout from handset Janson type on Kelmscott Hammer and Anvil paper. The book is described: ” Without decoration, except a typographic leaf, initial letters, and rubrication, this is an austere and handsome quarto." In near fine to fine condition. Very slight rubbing to spine corners. A few light spots of foxing to fore-edge of text block, else interior pages are clean and bright. Measures 9.75 x 13.25 inches. 611 pages PRI/100224. Fine. More

Madrid: Del Prado Publishers, 2003. Hardcover. Bound in full tan leather with maroon and yellow title label box to spine and front cover. Minor rubbing to labels, else clean and bright. Interior printed in black with character names in red. A small but clearly ledgible miniature edition of this classic theatrical comedy first preformed in the mid-1600s. Printed in English. 475 pages. Size: about 2.5 x 2 inches. MINI/011425. Fine. More

New York: The Grolier Club, 1933. One of 390 copies, initialed by Stanley Morison, the British typographer and historian of printing, at the end of the preface. This magnificent book is among the most famous examples of 20th century fine printing, and one of the finest volumes designed and produced under the supervision of Bruce Rogers. Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (sometimes Paciolo) (1445 – 1517) was an Italian mathematician, educator, and Franciscan friar. He wrote one of the earliest compendia of mathematical knowledge to be reproduced on a printing press. He popularized the system of double accounting for keeping financial records and is often known as the father of modern accounting. He was a close friend of Leonardo da Vinci. The text is drawn from the Franciscan friar's larger text De Divina Porportione. The Grolier Club had previously published Albrecht Dürer's and Geofroy Tory's alphabets in editions designed by Bruce Rogers in 1916 and 1927. This beautiful work is included in A Century for a Century as Number 34 in its celebration fine printing in the 20th century. Although the book was printed at the University Press in Cambridge, England for The Grolier Club, it was very much the project of Bruce Rogers. It was noted by John Dreyfus, the esteemed book designer and historian of printing, that this book by Rogers was unsurpassed for its format, paper, inks and presswork being in such impeccable harmony. Joseph Blumenthal, the American printer, typographer, and book historian called the title page of the book as one of true grandeur, unique in the whole history of the printed word.

Bound in vellum backed brown and cream patterned paste paper covered boards with gilt titling to the spine and gilt top edge. Printed in red and black on Batchelor's handmade paper and illustrated throughout with Pacioli's alphabet. Frontispiece of Fra Luca De Pacioli printed by Emery Walker Ltd. Illustrations, frontispiece, and title page are protected with tissue guards. With the bookplate of Julia Parker Wightman (1909-1994). She was a prominent American bibliophile and collector, and one of the first women to be admitted to The Grolier Club. Her collection was bequeathed to the Morgan Library. A fine copy lacking the glassine cover and slipcase. Measures 8.25 x 12.25 inches. 100 pages plus preface and index. PRI/102924. More

Berkeley, CA: never mind the press, 2019. Hardcover. Number 12 of 18 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. From the website of Alisa Golden's never mind press: "As a writer, printmaker, and letterpress printer, I work with words and images on paper and cloth. The bridge between writing and art has taken the form of books and prints since 1983, and expanded into felt and art quilts since the early 2000s. Additionally, I founded, edit and publish the art and literary magazine, Star 82 Review. For many years teaching was also a main part my life; workshops for all ages and semester-long courses as an adjunct professor around the San Francisco Bay Area. My work explores interaction and change, primarily the intersection between urban environments and natural settings, conversations and conflicts." She also wrote: "Book art can be made of many materials and take many forms: an interactive, touchable object that opens; a merging of words and images and structure; it can also be sculptural work that references reading or printing or the characteristics of a book. I'm interested in how each part adds to a whole tactile and sensory experience."

This handsome and intriguing work from Golden is one of a series of three books inspired by birds. She describes this book on her website. Bearded Vultures are interesting Old World birds. We don't have them in North America. The last nesting pair in Israel/Palestine was seen in 1982. In the wild, Bearded Vultures preen with iron-rich soil, giving them a rusty color. In captivity, their body feathers remain white. I hand colored the reduction cuts with "red earth" acrylic ink. The front has a cutout for a letterpress printed, wood type V. It is bound in Japanese book cloth in a shimmery copper/navy blue. More V shapes. Doubled covers: outer and inner, like wings unfolding. Inner covers have cutout with a Bearded Vulture linocut in black. The wings unfold! Two accordions, each with handset type letterpress printed in white on Stonehenge black paper. They meet in the center, where two Bearded Vultures live. The endpapers are paste paper frottage from cutouts of feather shapes. Reduction linoleum prints of bones and fragments, the primary food of Bearded Vultures, are the first and last images. Yes, they eat bones! I printed white on white on white and loved the effect of the black paper showing through. Printed from handset Caslon and Baruch Schocken on Stonehenge paper. In fine condition. Measures 6 x 7.5 inches closed; 12 x 7.5 inches open. Unpaginated. ARTB/011525. Fine. More

Berkeley: never mind the press, 2019. Softcover. Number 16 of 18 copies signed and dated by the book artist. From the website of Alisa Golden's never mind press: "As a writer, printmaker, and letterpress printer, I work with words and images on paper and cloth. The bridge between writing and art has taken the form of books and prints since 1983, and expanded into felt and art quilts since the early 2000s. Additionally, I founded, edit and publish the art and literary magazine, Star 82 Review. For many years teaching was also a main part my life; workshops for all ages and semester-long courses as an adjunct professor around the San Francisco Bay Area. My work explores interaction and change, primarily the intersection between urban environments and natural settings, conversations and conflicts." She also wrote: "Book art can be made of many materials and take many forms: an interactive, touchable object that opens; a merging of words and images and structure; it can also be sculptural work that references reading or printing or the characteristics of a book. I'm interested in how each part adds to a whole tactile and sensory experience."

Alisa discusses this book on her website. In parallel with the project I decided would be "Birds in the Bible," I had the idea for this one. It also plays off of a biblical verse from Genesis, this time straying into contemporary territory with a look at light pollution and legibility. The Creator formed two lights: a greater light and a lesser light, and the stars. I've carved and printed a linoleum block of four bird constellations, first in black, then progressing from shades of dark gray to nearly white. Aquila the Golden Eagle is on the covers. Our night lights affect migrating birds. The book can open into a complete sun/moon circle. This is the Linked Hinge binding that I dreamed about. I heavily printed the edge of the paper (that would ultimately be the tab) with an explanation of which seasons we can see the bird constellations in the northern hemisphere: Aquila the Eagle, Cygnus the Swan, Corvus the Crow, and Columba, Noah's Dove. As with some of the other words here and there, you have to tilt the book to the light to read it. Bound in white paper covers with a soaring black bird image on the front cover along with the title. Letterpress printed from Baruch-Schocken, Bodoni, and Onyx types hovering like an eagle over linocuts and Canson Editions paper. In fine condition. Measures 6 inches square. Unpaginated. ARTB/011625. Fine. More