Rutland, VT: Shattuck Gallery, 2010. Number 2 of 4 copies. This powerful work addresses the issues of women's rights and empowerment. The production comprises a number of stiff paper female figures of various ethnicities and garb, eleven small white paper books by and about women, and a blue scarf printed with women's names. They are housed in a cork covered closet/box with a title label to top. States the book artist Shattuck: "Through the process of making and dressing cutout women figures, stories unfold. These figures, represented globally, bring light to the silent crimes they endure. “Rape is the culture of silence”, quotes President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In India, bride burning takes place approximately once every 2 hours. In Asia alone, one million children are working in the sex trade. Violence and abuse towards women takes place everywhere. This installation of women who stand on a named scarf celebrate their dignity while telling stories of hope." printed on Epson Radiant White Watercolor paper, cotton, vellum, Canson Mi Teintes, and cork paper. Box measures 12 x 7 x 7 inches. In fine condition. ARTISTSB/070119. Fine. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2019. Hardcover. Number 6 of 50 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. This powerful book was created by book artist and printer Jen Farrell to describe the pain and anguish she experienced as Jo, her young daughter, was treated in 2018 to stem the growth of tumor nodules around her right lung. She writes: "While the treatments were challenging, the fallout that followed over the winter was unbearable. The chest pressure, pneumonitis and inability to breathe sent us to the hospital repeatedly, with unsatisfactory results. By ‘unsatisfactory’ I mean punching-a-hole-in-the-wall angry at the lack of understanding about why Jo had these side effects and the weeks, sometimes months, it took to get appointments with specialists. I sought solace in songs that directed my frustration away from people around me. One of these was Black Star’s Respiration, with lyrics that expressed a metaphorical difficulty to breathe in an urban environment. Many of the words applied to our reality; rewriting the lyrics was an outlet for acknowledging the trauma....Respiration is a rewrite of the song, but in this case applied to watching my child struggle to breathe." The book unfolds as a poster measuring 20x14 inches that folds down to approximately 5x 7 inches within red paper covered boards. The covers are printed in two colors on Mohawk Keakolour and the interior text is printed on Fabriano Tiziano paper with ‘fuzz’ in the texture as a nod to the scarring fuzz in Jo’s lungs. The book is accompanied by a white folded paper reference guide to the lyrics with notes on Jen's rewrites. In fine condition. Fine. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2017. Hardcover. Number 20 of 50 copies, signed and numbered by artist. "The term 'girl' has a host of negative connotations; it sounds condescending to any woman who's done her share of living in the adult world. The subcultures represented here owned it, building their personas on style, music and most importantly, their attitude and approach to creating a self-defined culture. The girls of the Starshaped Press are letterpress printed with modular metal type and rule, proving even squares are hip" (title page). Includes four "girls" with accompanying lyrics: Rude Girl, Mod Girl, Good Girl, and B-Girl. Bound in black paper wrappers with circular cut out revealing title on first page (appropriately resembling a record cover). Includes prospectus, which has photographic images of the metal type used to create two of the four girls. Printed on black and metallic silver Mohawk Paper. A creative and beautifully printed book. [8 pages] PRI/051319. Fine. More

Eugene, OR: Susan Lowdermilk, 2007. Hardcover. Number 7 of 15 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. Susan Lowdermilk is a book artist and printmaker working in traditional processes such as woodcut, wood engraving and intaglio etching as well as digital media. Her artist’s books involve movable parts, pop-ups and LED circuitry. She is a professor at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, teaching courses in printmaking, artist books and graphic design. Her work has been collected by over 60 public institutions including, the Getty Museum, the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. Her artist’s books are represented in galleries throughout the United States. She earned her Master’s of Fine Art from the University of Oregon. Her artist's statement: "Our experience of reading books is increasingly changing from being physical and tactile to digital and virtual. My artist books are hand printed and hand constructed and feature low-tech movable elements that are meant to be technologically transparent. I view my artist books as a counterpart to the flood of mass-produced, digital imagery that we contend with constantly. I am interested in the dualities that complicate our human condition—chance versus strategy, faith versus reason, serendipity versus design, peace versus war, winning versus losing and our relationship to and separation from nature." She met the poet Jeanine Hathaway several years ago at a show of her prints in Eugene and they became friends. ""Jeanine was inspired by my woodcut diptych titled, “Remembering, Forgetting,” and wrote the poem, “XO, On what might have been our anniversary.” I created my artist’s book, inspired by her poem, printed with the woodblocks from “Remembering, Forgetting,” thus continuing our circle of creativity and inspiration." Bound accordion-style with red paper covered boards. The text is laser printed with Futura Book and Bernhard Modern Italic type on organdy fabric that overlays the woodblock designs printed on Zerkall Frankfurt paper. In a paper chemise with woodblock design. In fine condition. 6.5 x 4.5 x .75 inches. ARTISTSB/073118. Fine. More

Hollywood, CA: Sylvester and Orphanos, 2005. One of 367 numbered copies, out of a total edition of 424 copies. A folio in celebration of Greece's greatest modern artist, Yannis Tsarouchis. With tributes by authors Odysseus Elytis, james Merrill, Reynolds Price, Yannis Ritsos, Sir Stephen Spender, and John Updike; artists Paul Cadmus, Alekos Fassianos, and David Hockney; cinema directors Michael Cacoyannis, Constantine Cost-Gavras, and Jules Dassin; composers Manos Hatjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Vangelis, and Stavros Xarhakos; photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Horst P. Horst, and Constantine Manos; fashion designer James Galanos; hotelier Dimitris Tsitouras, and the publishers Ralph Sylvester and Stathis Orphanos. The preface is by Melina Mercouri, the former Minister of Culture of Greece and the afterword is by Yannis Tsarouchis. All copies of this edition have already been signed by each of the twenty-five contributors, many of whom have worked with Yannis Tsarouchis in film, stage, and the book arts, while others are owners or admirers of his work. Two portfolios with loose sheets housed in one beige cloth covered clamshell box with illustration in brown to covers and spine. The first portfolio contains a foreword by Melina Mercouri and essays by twenty-four others. The second portfolio contains a "List of paintings," and 36 facsimiles of Tsarouchis's paintings mounted on paper. Letterpress printed on heavyweight somerset paper with 36 large color plates. Size: 16 x 13 inches. The text is in English and Greek. More

Chiapas, Mexico: Taller Lenateros, 2007. Taller Lenateros, or The Woodlanders' Workshop, is a community of Mayan artists who produce handmade paper, artists' books, silkscreen and wood block prints, pansey graphs, natural dyes, and magic spells. The society was founded in 1975 by poet Ambar Past, and continues to flourish while offering training and employment to men and women who have no education and no career. Inspiration for many of the projects comes from dreams, nature, and Mayan history and tradition. This book was originally volume two of the "Portable Mayan Altar," which included a small cardboard hut, 3 books, several ceramic sculptures, and some votive candles. The book is written in Tzotzil with an English translation. Bound in black handmade paper with gilt title to front board and gilt volume number to spine. It has marbled end pages, full gilt edges, and a black ribbon book mark. It contain spells, directions for casting, and illustrations. The spells read like poetry. For example: “I want him to come with flowers in his heart. With all his heart, I want him to talk to my body.” In fine condition. Unpaginated. ARTB/061219. Fine. More

Indian Head Park, IL: The Big Crank Press, 2018. Hardcover. One of 30 copies. David Anderson is a noted Chicago graphic designer with many honors and appointments over the several years of his career. He is now retired and has turned to his enthusiasm for producing fine letterpress printing by establishing The Big Crank Press. He writes about this work: "For 35 years I lived and worked in Oak Park, Illinois....While living there, things would happen - things that spoke to me in more than one way and persisted in my mind. This is the first of The Suburban Fables, an interpretation of my observations of those events and ideas." This book relates an incident where a crow is disturbed by the daylight ramblings of a raccoon, normally a nocturnal animal and what ensued. The story is told using striking and bold illustrations that fill their pages. Printed on Jannot 125 GSM and grey Rives B.F.K papers using Gill Sans MT Alt One type. Printed on a Vandercook 3 proof Press that Anderson found in an alley twenty-five years ago. Bound in brown cloth with silver title and author to spine and front cover. In fine condition. Measures 9.5 x 12.5 inches. Unpaginated [22 pages] PRI/021320. Fine. More

Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2014. Number 18 of 30 copies, numbered and signed by the artist. A collaborative project between poet, Mark Wunderlich and artist, Thorsten Dennerline. Wunderlich describes the process: "I receive[d] a maquette of the book with the photographic images - devoid of drawings and voids which were added later - and in response to the images and the limitations of these pages, I would write a poem." A few months after he received the images, the poet's twenty-one year old nephew died, which altered his initial response from "hopeful and rather lonely" to melancholy - as if the images were "inhabited by a ghost." His poem "became a meditation on [his] nephew ... an elegy." While Wunderlich composed his poem, Dennerline drew the illustrations - neither knowing how the other was interpreting the photographs or how the three components would come together. According to Dennerline, they chose to work in this manner "in order to create an element of unpredictability, as well as a sense of improvisation and openness to the artistic process." The book is accordion bound in orange cloth boards with illustrated paper pastedown to front cover. The illustrations were printed by the artist from lithographs and etchings. The text was letterpress printed at Wild Carrot Letterpress on paper produced by the Saint Armand Papeterie of Montreal, Canada. Bound by Mark Tomlinson. Housed in a grey cloth slipcase. Thorsten Dennerline creates paintings, drawings, and prints in addition to artists' books. He has exhibited work across the U.S. as well as in Chile and Denmark; and his work is represented in numerous collections including Yale University Library, the Library of Congress, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Kunstindustri Musset (Denmark). Size: 7 x 5.5 inches, closed; 210 x 5.5 inches, open. ARTB/032717. Fine. More

Niles, MI: Eugenie Torgerson, 2009. Hardcover. UNIQUE ARTISTS' BOOK. Eugenie Torgerson is a book artist, photographer, printer, and illustrator from Michigan. She has been represented by art galleries across the U.S, and her work can be found in many corporate collections. In her artist's statement she says: "I build book and box forms with traditional bookbinding materials and methods. These sculptural objects contain my own pastel drawings and imagery generated from my own photographs. The stories they tell are contained in my words and the poetry of Kevin McCue. My subjects are the allure of the horizon, the power of the land, the experience of loss, and the sweetness of redemption." This exceptional book object comprises three individual parts. There is a small illustrated book with short poems that rests open on a box stand. The book and stand are covered by a box with a glass window on the top. Each object has been meticulously and creatively designed and produced using Ms. Torgerson's art, photography, and writing. The book is 3 inches wide x 4 inches tall x 3.5 inches thick. The poems are printed on vellum paper and coated with shellac, and the images are printed on various interesting papers. The book is bound in silver cloth with silver metal medallions on the front and back, and black and white beads around the edges. The spine is of brown suede and also has small beads sewn on. The book rests in a cradle at the top of its box stand. The stand is 5 inches tall and 9 x 10 inches at the base. The cradle is covered in green/gold cloth and decorated paper. There are the same small beads which are seen on the book cover, and there is also a medallion in the middle. The sides of the box have beautiful landscape images which are printed on Yupo synthetic material and waxed. The box base has two levels, one covered in orange cloth and the other with cloth in a gold and black design. The cover is 8 inches x 9 inches x 9 inches. The top and base are covered in decorated cloth. Each side is covered in brown cloth and has a landscape image printed on Yupo synthetic material and waxed. It has a window on top which allows one to look in at the book. This singular, stunning book object perfectly reflects Ms. Torgerson's creativity and artistry. In fine condition. ARTISTSBOOKS/011411. Fine. More

Portland, OR: Triangular Press, 2005. Hardcover. Limited Edition. Number 581 of 1000 copies. First Edition. A survey of the editions of the Triangular Press with excerpts from "Gymnopedia No 4," a catalog of the books, and a chronology of the work of Barbara Tetenbaum. Fine in blue cloth over exposed boards with paper title label to spine and front board. Pristine with color images on every page. Quarto. 48 pages. ARTB/052611. Fine. More

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