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