Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 20102016. Hardcover. Signed by the book artist. This is a story by Prue Batten, an Australian award winning writer of fantasy and historical fiction. In this lovely story-within-a-story by Batten, a medieval troubadour tells his master's young son a legend of Occitan: A queen suspected of sorcery and shape-changing and how she was vindicated. The story is loosely based on the legend of Pedauque that has been part of the Occitan legend for centuries. The tale has ten illustrations with historiated initials drawn from medieval manuscripts. Pat writes that this is the sixth book that she and Prue have published together, and she has marked the event with an illustration opposite the title page with a Latin motto including both our names. The beautiful binding is an embroidered fabric of gold, turquoise, and dark blue, with a twisted ribbon spine that echoes the illustrations inside. In fine condition. Measures 2.75 x 2.25 inches. 45 pages. ARTISTSBOOK/021518. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2022. Hardcover. Pat Sweet describes herself as creating illuminated miniature books of curiosity, humor, and delight. She creates both miniature (under 3 inches) and macro-miniature (under 1 inch) books. She designs, prints, and binds all of her books and builds (by hand) all of her sculptural items. This mysterious device is made of painted wood, brass, and paper-covered wooden beads depicting the earth and moon. The elaborate base has two levels, one supported by round wooden balls and the other by oval antiqued brass fittings. The earth and moon are suspended on brass circles which lie on a bed of gears and dials, but the parts aren’t movable. That, and the fact that the rotational paths of both bodies aren’t in the least realistic, make this a tool for a magician rather than a scientist. Size: 2 5/8 x 2 x 1 1/2 inches. In fine condition. ARTB/032023. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2018. Hardcover. Limited to 10 copies. "When Duke Albert V of Bavaria commissioned his court painter, Hans Mielich, to make an inventory of the jewels belonging to him and his wife Anna in 1552,  he may not have expected the over-the-top manuscript Meilich finally produced two years later. The jewelry wasn't the half of it. The 110 gouche on paper paintings showed the back and front of each piece of jewelry, life-sized, and each was surrounded by a different elaborate frame. The manuscript is a riot of cartouches, strapwork, acanthus, foliage, flowers, grotesques, and caryatids, and yet each jewel shines forth as an individual masterpiece. The book remained in the private ducal and electoral Chamber of Artifacts for almost three centuries—long after the originals of the jewelry depicted had been lost. Only in 1843 was the work presented to the Bavarian State Library by King Ludwig I. I have tried, in my presentation of the Jewel Book, to reproduce in miniature some sense of the outrageous Renaissance ostentation that makes the original such a brilliant and worldly example of wretched excess. My favorite page is the frontispiece of the Duke and Duchess playing chess, as though their real pursuits were intellectual, surrounded by their bored courtiers and a couple of puppies. This miniature copy of the Jewel Book of Anna of Bavaria is limited to ten copies. It is set on OldStyle1 and Palatino Linotype, and printed on Monarch Superfine paper with a Canon Pro-100 inkjet printer. The book is bound in gilded snakeskin with a beaded and embellished front panel of celadon snakeskin. The tri-fold box is bound in a gold on black Indian silkscreened paper with a raised rectangle on the front bound in a textured Japanese metallic gold paper. The interior of the box is lined in a Japanese chiyogami feather print. A small pocket on the front of the box holds a booklet containing information on the Jewel Book and its patrons. Both are of the same gold paper" (Pat Sweet). The book is 2 5/8" x 2" and the box is 3" x 2 3/8" x 1" 136 pages. ARTB/120219. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2022. Hardcover. Pat Sweet describes herself as creating illuminated miniature books of curiosity, humor, and delight. She creates both miniature (under 3 inches) and macro-miniature (under 1 inch) books. She designs, prints, and binds all of her books and builds (by hand) all of her sculptural items. This painted basswood cabinet holds a collection of antique maps and terrestrial and celestial globes on antique brass stands. The It holds four larger globes (approx. 3/4" to 1" in diameter) and four smaller globes (approx. 1/2" - 1/4" in diameter) on its shelves. The cubbyholes beneath contain a collection of seventeen rolled maps, and the drawers beneath hold seven more maps. The globes are removable. Size: 5 5/8 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches. In fine condition. ARTB/032023. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2022. Hardcover. Pat Sweet describes herself as creating illuminated miniature books of curiosity, humor, and delight. She creates both miniature (under 3 inches) and macro-miniature (under 1 inch) books. She designs, prints, and binds all of her books and builds (by hand) all of her sculptural items. According to the artist: This is "a medieval version of Windows, allowing several books to be consulted at the same time. These rotating bookshelves came in two variations: vertical and horizontal. The horizontal ones were much easier to make and to use, taking up much less space while making it easier to consult several books at once." This miniature version is made of cherry with mahogany trim and antique brass accents, and a matching stool. It has two revolving turntables, the upper one smaller than the lower so that as many as ten books could be viewable by turning the wheels. There is a writing surface at the left with a sheet of an illuminated manuscript in progress, plus several scribe's tools: two inkwells with pens, a water container, a bottle of ink and a large chained volume with a brass closure. The two rotating wheels hold ten books, some fixed open and some with brass closures. All the books have blank pages. They are bound in paper copies of actual period bindings. Size: 2 3/4 inches (desk height); 6 inches (turntable with desk height); 7 inches wide x 3 3/8 deep. In fine condition. ARTB/032023. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2022. Hardcover. Pat Sweet describes herself as creating illuminated miniature books of curiosity, humor, and delight. She creates both miniature (under 3 inches) and macro-miniature (under 1 inch) books. She designs, prints, and binds all of her books. Hollow books, or book safes, have been used to hide jewelry, important papers, or more dangerous things like bombs, contraband, or secret messages. It can sit on the shelf of a library for years with either an innocuous title or one that reflects on the contents, like “A History of Handguns” or “Large Wads of Cash.” This Hollow Books Safe is half-bound in cream-colored leather and a white and gold paper decorated with brass and red glass beads. It is lined with the binding paper. Size: 2 5/8 x 2 5/8 x 5/8 inches. In fine condition. 50 pages. ARTB/032023. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2010. Pat Sweet describes herself as creating illuminated miniature books of curiosity, humor, and delight. She creates both miniature (under 3 inches) and macro-miniature (under 1 inch) books. This book is from a small open edition. According to the book artist: This is a "book inside books inside a book inside a book-shaped box. This has been called the Droste effect, after their recursive advertisements. The book inside this book-shaped box is a collection of jacket designs for books that only exist inside real books: The Necronomicon, The Whole Art of Detection, If On A Winter's Night A Traveler. Each is presented as if hidden inside a hollow book, for yet another layer of un-reality. The title, of course, is from Magritte's famous painting of 'This is Not a Pipe'." Bound in cream paper with gold fleur-de-lis and title label pastedown on front cover. Housed in a brown paper covered slipcase with title label to the cover. Size: 2 1/4 x 1 7/8 x 5/8 inches. In fine condition. 78 pages. ARTB/032023. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2016. Hardcover. Pat Sweet describes herself as creating illuminated miniature books of curiosity, humor, and delight. She creates both miniature (under 3 inches) and macro-miniature (under 1 inch) books. She also makes miniature pocket globes, astronomical instruments, orreries, tellurions, and occasional oddities. She writes: "Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, (1774-1857) had no notion of poetry when he devised his long-needed standardized scale for the effect of wind on sailing ships, but his descriptions have a beauty and clarity that come close to it: 'Surface smooth and mirror-like. Calm, Smoke rises vertically. Scaly ripples, no foam crests. Smoke drift indicates wind direction, Still wind vanes.' I've paired Beaufort's poetic descriptions with land (and sea-) scape paintings that illustrate his wind levels, with technical details on the back of each fold out page. The twelve fold-outs have tiny tabs to pull out the pages." Printed on Monarch Superfine paper in UnZialish and Tempus Sans fonts, and bound in black watered satin cloth with endpapers of blue and silver Japanese paper. There are paper titles on the front and spine. In fine condition. Measures 2 3/4 x 2 3/8 inches. 46 pages. ARTISTSBOOK/021518. Fine. More

Riverside, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2014. This is a welcome reissue of one of Pat Sweet's most inventive miniature works. "Welcome to Hell" comprises twelve pieces of Hellish ephemera that play with some of the images and ideas of the infernal regions from popular culture. The result is a surprisingly humorous and engaging production. Pat described it as one of her most fun projects ever. She writes: "Most religions have discarded the idea of a retributive afterlife, but the idea remains in the popular consciousness as folk belief. Images of old-time Hell are much more common than those of Heaven: Dante invented a whole complex gradation of torments for an exactly sorted list of sins. But grinning devils with pitchforks continue to poke burning sinners, and Satan continues to offer shady your-soul-for-your heart's desire deals in folk tales and legends." The items are stored inside a shopping bag labeled "Welcome to Hell." Your goody bag from Hell includes: Welcome To Hell! (with FAQs! - for example, "Am I really here for all of eternity?" "Yes") A Gallery of Hell (Hell in famous paintings) Visitor's Book (Yes, some people get to leave) Hellhounds of the Underworld (Hell has a surprising number of dogs) Go To Hell (a board game for sinners of all ages) Devil Cards (collect 'em all!) Seven Deadly Sins Post Cards ( by Bruegel) Hotel Grand Pandemonium dinner menu (Annual Famous Last Meals Banquet),an extra gameboard, Hellmouth Pop-up Cards (three thrilling maws) Maps of Hell (maps of Dante's Hell). Also included is a complimentary fan - Hot Enough For Ya? - with picture of devil's head - not that it would do much good. The bag is 3 x 2 3/8 x 1 3/8 inches. The items in the bag vary in size but are all miniature. In fine condition. PRI/060121. Fine. More

Easthampton, MA: Cheloniidae Press, 1982. Hardcover. UNIQUE COPY WITH A SET OF THE 26 ORIGINAL PENCIL DRAWINGS BY ALAN JAMES ROBINSON. There were 300 copies of this book published; 200 were regular copies, 50 were deluxe copies with quarter leather binding and 50 others bound in full leather. The deluxe editions were issued with a set of proofs of the wood engravings and a set of proofs of the line-cut initials, with a large calligraphic manuscript initial beneath each image. The wood engraving proofs are lettered and signed by Robinson, and the line-cut proofs are signed both by Robinson and the calligrapher, Elizabeth Curtis. This copy shows some variation from the copies described in the prospectus. The colophon has been signed and numbered VI of L and internally seems to be a straightforward copy of the deluxe full leather edition. The binding varies somewhat from that pictured in the prospectus but uses many of the same elements. Also, the chemise is thicker that the regular chemise because it contains the 26 pencil drawings. This may have been a special copy prepared by Robinson for a particular subscriber/collector. This wonderful abecedary illustrates each letter of the alphabet with a masterful wood engraving by Robinson. Each animal is described at the bottom of its page in texts chosen primarily from the earliest first-hand accounts of the animal depicted. The descriptions are printed in red. The printed source of each text is identified, and at the end of the book there is a detailed and useful bibliography of these sources. A page with a small, different illustration of the animal precedes each animal’s page, with the calligraphic letter written in red by Curtis. The animals depicted are often wondrous and strange, and some, such as the basilisk, may never have actually existed. This is a two volume folio (including a chemise containing an additional suite of illustrations, and the group of original pencil drawings). The bound volume is in full red morocco, done by David Bourbeau of the Thistle Bindery. The covers have a large central, slightly sunken panel, with the title in red and black and with a Sea Turtle device blocked in blind (Cheloniidae is the name for a species of sea turtles). The proofs contained in the chemise are unbound as issued within the original red morocco-backed, linen cloth covered boards. Both volumes are housed in a red morocco-backed cloth covered box, with the spine lettered and dated in gilt and a small Sea Turtle device in blind. “The blocks were cut by the artist at the Cheloniidae Press & printed by Harold P. McGrath in the summer of 1982.... Mackenzie-Harris set the types in monotype with some hand-setting by Arthur Larson. The text was compiled and annotated by Laurie Block. The hand calligraphy is by Betsy Curtis. The paper is Rives lightweight” (from the colophon). The 8-page prospectus is laid in. A remarkable production from this press. In fine condition. PRI/020112. Fine. More

Vermont: Bridge Press, 2001. LIMITED. Hardcover. 138/500 c. SIGNED BY ARTIST/AUTHOR. Compilation of reproductions of Cohen's beautiful and powerful black and white etchings and engravings from books and broadsides. His uses a variety of intaglio techniques in his printmaking including mezzotint, drypoint, and double printing. The results are rich and often haunting. Black cloth boards. Bembo type on Mohawk Superfine paper. Printed by The Stinehour Press. 75 pp. BOB/042707. Very Good Plus. More

New York: Béatrice Coron, 2003. Paperback. Number 2 of 3 copies. Beatrice Coron creates a charming papercut work to illustrate the poem "Le Mot et la Chose" (The Word and the Thing) written by The Abbot of Lattaignant (1697-1779). "Although his name is forgotten, the verses written by the man who was nicknamed in his lifetime 'The great songwriter' have passed through the centuries" [poesie.net].The poem is addressed to "Madame" and Coron's papercut depicts Madame being addressed by the gentleman who composed the poem. Inserted in the folder holding the papercut illustration is what appears to be a charred letter that unfolds to reveal the text of the poem. Housed in a red cloth covered folding box with a black ribbon tie created by Barbara Mauriello. Handcut on Arches paper. In fine condition. Measures 8.5 x 9 x 1 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]. ARTB/081921. Fine. More