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.

Item #36299

Price: $4,200.00