Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2009. Softcover. Limited to 100 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. In this flip book an image of the White House deconstructs to represent blunders and evil-doings since the 2001 inauguration. Created with pigment inkjet prints. The illustration was done in collaboration with Henry Maron. In fine condition. Measures 2.5 x .5 x .75 inches. PRI/070618. Fine. More

Glenview, IL: Karen Hanmer, 2014. Hardcover. Number 9 of 100 copies. Signed by the author. This book was inspired by a call for entries by the Guild of Book Workers with the theme of "vessel." Karen describes the text of her response as 60% memory and 40% casually researched, mostly on Wikipedia. Karen's book focuses on the iconic containers and conveyances of her childhood and adolescence between roughly 1962-1979. She juxtapositions her text with photographs of such "vessels" as the Chevy Nova, Crock-Pot, Electric Frying Pan, Mood Ring, Frye Boots, the 747, and more. Her words are often amusing, but they also offer astute observations on her family and our society during the period covered. This is the deluxe edition with marbled paper covers by Pamela Smith. Digitally printed and housed in a purple paper covered slip case. Digitally printed. In fine condition. 5 x 7 inches. Unpaginated [26 pages] PRI/121415. Fine. More

Basel: Romano Hänni, 2022. Hardcover. Number 20 of 44 copies. According to the artist: "This book was born out of a decade long intention to experiment with color, the basic forms of elemental typography, and printing with a manual proof press. The decisive impetus for this was the Vifa color mixing book of the former Vindonissa ink factory from 1956." Each page of the 12 abstract geometric formations has a dominant color and is composed of the basic forms of elemental typography: point, circle, quarter circle, semicircle, line, square, rectangle, and triangle. Hänni begins the book with detailed "rules of the game" explaining the imagery and underlying gridwork for each image. He concludes with an essay explaining the connection between the geometry of the typographical forms to the archetypes of mankind: The effects of the geometrical forms "touch depths of the psyche that canot be reached with spoken words or printed characters ... They lead to the primordial basis of all things, to the root of our being, to the primordial light, to the eternal, and to the divine. Their use in everyday life disregards and destroys their spiritual and healing effect. In the alphabet these primordial images remain preserved. But in order to understand the characters, knowledge of their meaning is required, as the archetypes inherent in them remain hidden." Accordion bound with white hard covers. Hand set and letterpress printed in twelve colors on a manual, cylinder proofing press. The interior was printed using about 150 forms and 220 printing passes. In a white illustrated dust jacket with sample designs of all twelve colors used in their purest form. Includes a side-stapled full color supplement with photographs of the artist's layout sketches, drawers of type, and steps of the printing process. Both are housed in a slipcase with white paper title label to spine panel. [20 pages plus 12 page supplement.] Size: 22.1 x 27.5 cm. Produced over a period of two years during the pandemic. ARTB/122122. 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

Basel, Switzerland: Romano Hänni, 2007. Paperback. 1 of 306 copies. This work by Swiss book artist, Romano Hänni, is a hand printed eight page altar fold with banderole and a card with a poem. The text is in German and an eight page pictorial supplement with translation in English is also included. This work is about the horrors of war and military injustice. There are multiple stories about war and murder including a piece about 306 British soldiers who were court-martialed for ‘cowardice in the face of the enemy’ and shot during World War I by their comrades. In 2006 - ninety years later - these men were pardoned. The enclosed poem is “Glory of Women” by Sigfried Sassoon. The banderole, which is printed on toilet paper, represents the blindfolds of the executed men. It features a wood engraving of a French Military Cross on the front and a statement about four French soldiers who were court-martialed in 1915 and shot in the back. A powerful piece. [8 pages]. 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 skills. ARTB/020212. Fine. More

Basel: Romano Hänni, 2010. Hardcover. Number 34 of 175 copies. 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 skills. This work offers a commentary on various aspects of life, some of which are illustrated with design elements. For example "with ritalin" shows a series of small, numbered pill shaped designs. It faces "without ritalin" which shows a variety of animals and other creatures. One unillustrated quote from the jacket reads "The daily misconduct: It is not the large catastrophes, it is he daily mistakes in the details that cause the global problems." Bound accordion style in boards with white illustrated dust jacket. Handcomposed and handprinted in black, red, blue, and gold. The text is printed in German; however, a pictorial booklet supplement with English translation is included. A thought provoking, well designed book. ARTB/092117. Fine. More

Philadelphia: Heirloom Press, 2017. Hardcover. Number 4 of 5 copies. Signed by the artist. Folio. "Curio is a collection of quotidian objects that speaks to the idea of woman as domestic curator and as weaker vessel. Images of household vases, cups and bowls are paired with inkblots that evoke the trappings of middle-class existence" (artist's statement). Includes text adapted from the 1868 collection of articles, "Modern Women and What Is Said of Them" and the Kate Chopin novel "The Awakening." Many of the excerpts that the artist has chosen to include objectify women, likening them to jewelry, tables, and other precious possessions. For example: After scolding his wife for sun bathing, Mr. Pontellier looks "at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage." Also "The mind ought to be developed a little, and in such a way as to make the body more piquant and attractive. Like the candle inside a Chinese lantern, it may serve to lighten up and show to advantage the pretty devices outside. But the outside is the important thing, and the inside only incidental" (from "Modern Women ...). Others comment on how wives should be controlled or "managed" and the power dynamics within the home. A powerful book about the subjugation of women. Bound in full white alum-tawed leather with seven raised bands to the spine. Printed using letterpress, screenprint, and lithography on paper handmade by the artist. Size: 22 (wide) x 14.5 (tall) inches when open. ARTB/060920. Fine. More

Red Cliff, CO: Helen Hiebert Studio, 2019. Number 20 of 25 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Helen Hiebert is a noted paper artist who constructs installations, sculptures, artists’ books and works in paper using handmade paper as her primary medium. She teaches, lectures and exhibits her work internationally and online, and is the author of the several how-to books about papermaking and papercrafts. She says of this beautiful and complex work: "I’ve been fascinated with light for as long as I can recall. As a child, I always looked for rainbows, and I enjoyed trying to identify every color, from red to violet. Sir Isaac Newton was the first person to articulate the science of a rainbow. In 1665, he observed that when white light passed through a triangular prism, it dispersed into seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This book explores the wonder of that interaction between color and light. As you flip through the pages, you will see 24 analogous colors (each new hue sharing some of the color of the page next to it). It’s my attempt, as a paper artist, to capture the essence of a rainbow within the pages of the book. My medium is handmade paper, and for over 25 years, I have been exploring the properties of abaca, a fiber from a non-fruit bearing banana plant. I processed the abaca fiber to create a translucent paper that resembles frosted glass. I spent a long time contemplating how to achieve a rainbow of paper and performed several color-mixing experiments. My process centered around determining how to accurately produce the spectrum by mixing pigments into wet paper pulp. After several trials, I ended up matching 24 colors on a chart that gradually change from red to orange, yellow to green, blue to indigo and finally to violet, with several colors in between each hue. All 54 pages plus the cover are stitched together into a single signature allowing the soft deckled edges of the colors to meet at the fire-edge, blending and transitioning from one to the next as colored light does in the rainbow." The front and back text pages show the abaca paper in its natural hue. The cover is a cotton/abaca blend with a pulp painting in abaca. Text was letterpress printed by Tom Leech at the Press at the Palace of the Governors in Sante Fe from polymer plates made by Boxcar Press. The typefaces are Dante and Futura. Claudia Cohen created the blue cloth covered box with white and colored spine label. In fine condition. Box size: 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 1 inches. Book size (closed): 12 x 9 inches. More

Philadelphia: Ben Iluzada, 2018. Hardcover. Limited to 3 copies. The artist describes this piece as a "haptic artist book". Bound in green cloth covered boards with paper title label to front cover. A removable blue wooden dowel threaded through paper loops binds the book. A linocut printed grey snake is coiled between the boards. Printed in gold lettering on the snake is: "Thus it came to pass that some stayed beyond the confines of the whirls: but others took their leave and descended into it." This book opens as a codex OR the wooden rod holding the binding together can be removed an inserted into holes in the boards to create a sculptural book. Linocut, lead type & photopolymer letterpress printing, gold dusting on handmade paper. Assembled size: 9.5 x 9.5 x 9.5 inches. Open size: 9.5 x 19 x 8 inches. [2 pages]. Fine. More

Minneapolis: Indulgence Press, 2007. Hardcover. 1 of 26 deluxe lettered copies. This is Letter W. Signed by author and book artist. This book contains 31 previously unpublished poems by the highly regarded poet Michael Dennis Browne. The poems are short and intended to elicit larger thoughts by the reader. Inspired by his love of music, Schilling designed the book to create a meditative environment through the placement of poems and photographs on the page. The book structure acts as a composition around the lines of text to float the poems along the way. The deluxe edition of 26 copies is printed by letterpress in Reykjavik and Philosophia type on MacGregor & Vinzani handmade paper. The pages are French folded and include cyanotype photographic prints; they are sewn with exposed cords laced into red oak boards. The book is housed in a clamshell box bound with blue goatskin and indigo dyed handmade paper. In fine condition. 60 pages. PRI/111512. Fine. More

Minneapolis: Indulgence Press, 2011. One of 20 copies. Arthur & Barbara is a portrait of art critic/philosopher Arthur Danto and artist Barbara Westman as seen reflected in the space of their New York City apartment on Riverside Drive. This book embodies their life and work in symbolic forms of thoughtful play. Arthur & Barbara is a collection of simple objects, images and “games” referring to both Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise and to Fluxus Collections. The box contains laser-etched glass with a plan view of the apartment. Beneath the glass, separated spaces hold a DVD with images of Arthur, Barbara and their apartment, a hand-bound codex filled with photographic illustrations and brief text, a glass block laser-etched with an illustration by Barbara Westman, two chairs, handmade dice, and a spinner. A drawer holds a folio of letters written by Sean Scully, Shirin Neshat and Barbara Westman, and an introduction by David Carrier. A fascinating way of documenting the lives and personalities of this interesting couple. In fine condition. Size: 13 x 12 x 7 inches. PRI/041111. Fine. More

Berkeley: Codex Foundation, 2013. Hardcover. Book Art Object is primarily a record of the third biennial Codex Book Fair and Symposium: "The Fate of the Art," held at Berkeley, California, 2011. The event showcased contemporary artist books, fine press and fine art editions produced by the world's most esteemed printers, designers, book artists, and artisans. Showcases 300 books by 140 artists / printers and presents a selection of the papers delivered at the 2009 an 2011 symposium lectures including Paul van Capelleveen, Antoine Coron, Ron King, Juan Pascoe, and Richard Ovenden. Includes 1133 color images. New in white cloth boards with red title to front cover and spine. In new white dust jacket with red title to spine and front cover. 521 pages. BOB/022515. Fine / Fine. More