Chicago: Ann Tyler, 2013. Hardcover. Number 2 of 3 copies, signed and numbered by Ann Tyler, the book artist. Ann is a noted book artist and print maker whose works have been exhibited at many galleries across the United States. Her artist’s books are in the permanent collections of the Tate Gallery, London, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Joan Flasch Artists Book Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She says of this book, which took her five years to complete: It was a major culmination/combining of so many parts of my work and influences. After the work I've done specific to particular events I really wanted to develop a book that would speak to overarching and recurring issues." The result is this elegantly bound elephant folio in dark blue calfskin with embossed decoration to both boards. The book, which combines elements of a sci-fi novel, sketchbook, and scientific research log takes the reader on a mysterious and puzzling journey that examines time, space, parallel universes, and the subconscious. It includes a mixture of quotations, striking imagery of newly discovered life forms, science fiction prose about another dimension, details of experiments relating to space and time, and more. According to Ann:This book "is a science fiction tale in which the violent actions of governments in our world have created new life forms in a world somewhere in deep space. The new species and their relationship to violence are discovered through space / time laboratory investigations carried out by an 'experimenter.' The narrative is structured for the viewer to also undergo a process of discovery as he/she moves through a narrative combining stream of conscious rumination, traditional description, imagery, poetry, and scientific information. The narrative and imagery move between the possible and the impossible, from the outer world to the inner world. After establishing this causal relationship between the two worlds – human actions and new life forms in the universe – the narrative then shifts and begins to allude to the possibility that this other world may not be an exterior universe but may instead be the universe of the mind. This other world is possibly a result of larger human actions upon individual memory...Edge of Conscience refers to what lies just out of reach in our memory. While unseen it still plagues us. Conscience contains the multiple meanings of the conscious mind and morality. Unrelenting Light refers to parts of our memory that are difficult to examine and when once illuminated are understood to be a relentless part of individual experience…From a metafictional perspective the author is the 'experimenter.' The artist book itself is an experiment – an attempt to understand the impact of history on the individual and society and how we absorb the history we live through." Includes 14 plates of newly discovered species, each framed with a marbled paper border and preceded with a captioned vellum tissue guard. Archivally inkjet printed on archival Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Duo paper. All edges have been handpainted with acrylic. A striking and thought provoking piece. Size: 14 x 18 inches. ARTB/081518. Fine. More

Verdigris, 2006. Rothchild, Judith. Hardcover. 20 of 30 copies. Copies 26 to 29 were hors commerce, and number 30 was given to the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. SIGNED BY ARTIST AND WRITER. This beautiful work has eleven stunning numbered and initialed mezzotints by artist Judith Rothchild. Rothchild is an American born artist who lives in the Languedoc region of France. Also a pastel artist, she has become famous for her mezzotints, perhaps the most difficult printmaking technique. Rouanet is a well known French writer. The colophon says that the work is a collaboration between the two, who share a deep love for the Languedoc. Rouanet’s text, in French, was inspired by Rothchild’s prints of food and wine and by the spirit of a local restaurant, Le Mimosa. The folio sized pages are loose in a yellow and green box made by Lisa Knoblauch with the front board decorated with mimosa leaves done by serigraph. Printed by Mark Lintott in Vendome Romain type on an Albion press. The prints are protected by tissue guards. 20 pages including the prints. PRI/061207. Fine. More

[Toronto]: George A. Walker, [2011]. Hardcover. Number 35 of 39 copies signed and numbered by George Walker. This book is a wordless narrative “written” with 109 wood engravings. It follows the life of Canadian landscape painter Tom Thomson until his mysterious death in Algonquin Park in 1917 at the age of thirty-nine. Tom Thomson is one of the most famous nonmembers of the Canadian Group of Seven painters. He actually died before the group was formally named, but has always been included. His early death occurred in wartime when many men his age and younger were losing their lives. His death has troubled many people as much for the mystery of the circumstances as for the tragedy of his brief passionate life. In this book Walker responds to the creative life of Thomson in the language Thomson spoke most eloquently, the grammar and vocabulary of pictures. Walker builds his wordless story by breaking down the colorful paintings and life of Thomson into light and dark, the black and white of a picture text. Walker has also imagined Thomson’s happiness by the lakesides, his loves and passion for the landscape of Algonquin Park and Thomson’s life and work in Toronto, where Walker lives and works. Canadian art historian and author Tom Smart has written the introduction to this work. The beautiful black and white wood engravings are hand printed on Rising Stonehenge 100% rag archival paper. The book is bound in cream cloth with brown title label to spine and engraving of Thomson inset on front cover. Housed in a clamshell box covered by the same beige cloth as the book, with brown spine label and engraving of Thomson inset on front cover. In fine condition. The book is 6.25 x 8 x 2.5 inches. Unpaginated. [232 pages printed recto] PRI/110716. Fine. More

Newfoundland: walking bird press, 2015. Softcover. Number 17 of 30 copies. Signed by the artists. Henry and Rose Make Contact is a sequel to Henry and Rose Go to Camp. In this story, Henry makes a crystal radio as a Scout project, and gets it to work only to hear a distress call. Rose figures out where the signal is from, and Henry, his friend Ben, and Rose manage to save the day. The book is hand-set in Bembo Roman and Baskerville monotype and letterpress printed on Environment Text paper, with letterpress and inkjet illustrations. The wrappers are St. Armand handmade paper. The book and the functioning radio are housed in a wooden box made by Garry Quinlan and laser printed at the College of the North Atlantic. The radios for the edition were assembled by the authors with the invaluable assistance of Joe Craig. In fine condition. Book is 4 x 5 inches; box is 5 x 6 x 2 inches. ARTISTSBOOK/043018. Fine. More

Luminice Press. One of 10 copies. This fascinating and intricate work by highly regarded book artist Williams is about two forms of transformation: alchemy, a physical process, and written scripture, a codification of religious beliefs. Alchemists believed that a method could be found to transmute base metals into gold. After centuries of trying, they never discovered such a method. The beliefs of some early societies were transformed from pantheistic to a concept of a single god figure, whose stories were collected in written form and used to codify new faiths. This book looks at the failure of alchemy and also how early faiths were corrupted and then used by dominant groups to subjugate and harm those who differed. The front cover is a pentagram with five triangles. The pentagram symbolized both good and evil and had many interpretations. For example, the single point up indicated the five wounds of Christ; both points up had an occult meaning. The triangles represent the base metals of alchemy. From top left in a clockwise rotation they are: silver, lead, tin, iron and copper with the sixth metal, mercury, represented by the silver dust surrounding the pentagram. Gold, the primary objective of alchemy, is at the center. The rear cover represents the four elements identified in antiquity: air, fire, earth and water. Each base metal has been associated with a planet in our solar system. Lead with Saturn, tin with Jupiter, iron with Mars, copper with Venus, silver with the moon, and mercury with its namesake planet. As the book progresses, each etching is aligned with one of the metals. The symbol for each metal, or planet associated with it, is found on the text page. Wit 11 original etchings from zinc plates on Twinrocker hand-made paper, 12 letterpress printed pages from polymer plates with alcohol based stains on Mohawk text weight paper, marbled endpapers. Covers are bound with paper over binders board. Front cover has onlays of thin steel and copper with metal pigment coatings and patina as well as silver leaf and gold leaf. Rear cover has an onlay of embossed aluminium foil from an engraved polycarbonate plate. closed, with three flaps and magnet closure bound with book cloth over binders board with Tyvek hinges. ad, tin, iron and copper with the sixth metal, mercury, represented by the silver dust surrounding the pentagram. Gold, the primary objective of alchemy, is at the center. The rear cover represents the four elements identified in antiquity: air, fire, earth and water. Each base metal has been associated with a planet in our solar system. Lead with Saturn, tin with Jupiter, iron with Mars, copper with Venus, silver with the moon, and mercury with its namesake planet. Custom case measures 9.5 x 8.75 x 1.5 inches. In fine condition. ARTISTSB/052720. More

DC: Windhorse Press, 2013. Hardcover. Number 7 of 7 copies. "In my book 'Florentine Pages', I want to take the reader through the streets of Florence in the same manner as taking journey through the book. The entire experience of walking through the streets of Florence is akin to flipping pages of a book. The text is a narrow black passage leading to a colorful illustration, represented by fountains, cathedrals and towers, just beyond the corner. The city is a live version of the book that the reader doesn’t read but live in. The city of Florence itself parallels the structure of a basic codex book form. While the exteriors of buildings represent dark gray color with some yellow from street illumination during evening hours, there is a different life inside of the buildings. The same happens with the cover and interior of the book, which are usually quite different. The codex book form includes photographic images of Florence, which I took during my trip, combining with woodcuts and manuscript, as well as letterpress" (artist statement). The text, which winds around the negative space between her illustrations, features Tatiana’s observations about Florence. It is handwritten in both English and Russian, and is printed lithographically. She supplements her personal experiences with letterpress printed quotes about the city by famous Italians such as Dante Alighieri, Bruscaccio da Rovezzano, Michaelangelo. (These quotes are in English only.) Each copy is bound a little differently. This book is bound in red cloth with dark red leather spine and woodcut illustration inset to the front cover. The silk headbands are handsewn. The images and text are printed from a combination of lithographic pronto-plates, woodcuts, letterpress, and polymer plates. Unpaginated. [48 pages.] Born in Moscow, Tatiana has been interested in books and bookmaking since her childhood. She holds degrees from the Moscow University of Printing, the University of Maryland, and the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Her work is in collections nationwide and she has recently won an award for traditional illustration. She currently resides in Takoma Park, Maryland with her family. Fine. More

Toronto: Robert Wu, 2019. Paperback. A hand die-cut and embossed notebook with 24 smooth cream pages. In the shape of a hand with marbled paper covers. Comes with an envelope for easy mailing. Size: 4 x 4 inches. Fine. More

Toronto: Robert Wu, 2019. Paperback. A hand die-cut and embossed notebook with 24 smooth cream pages. In the shape of an elephant with grey paper covers. Comes with an envelope for easy mailing. Size: 5 x 3.5 inches. Fine. More

Lincolnville, ME: Dudley Zopp, 2017. Hardcover. Number 10 of 25 standard copies of a new limited edition book by artist and scholar Dudley Zopp. Signed and numbered by the book artist. Ms. Zopp graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. and M.A. and completed postgraduate studies in Drawing and Painting at the Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville. She now lives in Lincolnville, Maine. Zopp finds inspiration in geological processes and cultural histories of place. Her engagement with restoring habitat where she lives feeds directly into her work, which ranges from site specific installations to paintings, woodcuts and limited edition books. She has completed residencies at geologically significant sites in Newfoundland, Spain and Italy. She has exhibited widely at galleries, universities and museums in New England and the Midwest. Her work is included in university and museum collections nationally. This book is offered as both a limited edition deluxe set of 25 with one of the original signed drawings and marble ,and as a slipcased set of 25 with a limited edition print. of which this is one. The book considers our relationship to the Earth in a sequence of annotated watercolors. It was originally presented digitally for a 2014 exhibition "Turning in Your Hand: The Blue Marble Project,” at Waterfall Arts in Maine. Twenty artists were given a blue marble and asked to respond to the pale blue dot we call home. Dudley's images and notations provide a unique look into the oldest of concerns: our place in this world (artist's statement). The illustrations began with a month-long daily ritual of erasing an earlier charcoal drawing and, using watercolor and ink, creating a new drawing in its place. As part of this Dudley noted the weather and the color of the ocean as seen from her studio. She also added a few lines adapted from ancient Buddhist texts. The resulting 31 watercolors were collected in a mystical and magical book that beautifully captures Dudley's artistic consideration of our place in the world. Design, typography, and assembly of books and cases are by Richard Reitz Smith. Text and images are printed as offset lithography by Penmore Lithographers. Typeset inFutura on Cougar Opaque Smooth paper. Covers are blue Dover book cloth.The book is presented in an accordion format and can be read in the round or displayed as sculpture. The book is housed in a dark blue cloth slipcase with an archival pigment print of the drawing for Day Sixteen. Book measures 5 x 7 inches. 82 pages. In fine condition. ARTISTSB/110717. Fine. More

Washington DC: Na'ama Zussman, 2015. Hardcover. Number 7 of 12 copies. A beautifully conceived and produced book from Na'ama Zussman, a powerful new book artist originally from Israel. She describes her book: "A Survey of a World scrutinizes interactions between map and territory, along with memory and reality, whether of the surveyor herself - the creator of this artist's book - or of other people. It surveys and seeks to capture the doubt in the role of the surveyor, and the inevitable immersion in this role. A Survey of a World portrays the endeavour of grasping the moment ahead of the impression of the territory, when doubt turns into representation." Na'ama's exquisite images are interwoven with her evocative text as she ponders interactions, memory, and reality. Bound in brown Cialux book cloth, with a goatskin leather spine. The images throughout the book were created through the screen printing process and are done on lovely Thai Kozo paper. The text is composed in Meta Capitals and Constantia. The book is housed in a surveyor's bag made out of grey cashmere, with a leather string. The colophon is in a pocket on the back of the bag. 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Unpaginated. ARTISTS/081915. Fine. More