Washington DC: Abstract Orange, 2025. Hardcover. One of forty copies initialed and numbered by the book artist. Lauren Emeritz is a book artist, letterpress printer and graphic artist who founded and runs Abstract Orange. She creates prints and books by hand using a Vandercook press and wood type, including type she designs and carves herself. Lauren holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Delaware. She is the President and Creative Director of Abstract Orange, a graphic design firm in Washington, DC, and a letterpress associate at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Hyattsville, Maryland. Her work can be found in many institutional and private collections.

This is a powerful and moving new work by this book artist. In it she addresses how human violence caused the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon as representative of how the effects of human destruction have affected so many animal and bird species throughout history. The book is an accordion structure, with text on the pages of both sides. The text reads: "Book1 Passing of the Passenger Pigeon/ 1829 Portrayed in Audubon's Birds of America/1878 Birds 50,000 Killed Daily/1900 Last Sighting in Nature/1914 Last Bird Martha Dies/What Does it Mean to be Extinct?. Book2 Prayer for Peace/Pray for Us / Pray for Them /Pray for Peace." The book is printed on white translucent paper, with the text in blue and with designs in orange and yellow on each page. The orange and yellow drawings are lithographs. The blue text is letterpress printed from wood and metal type. It is enclosed in a painted gray wood cover with an orange spine and an orange cord closure. In fine condition. Measures 5.5 x 7.5 inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/040125. Fine. More

Rutland, VT: Shattuck Studio, 2023. Hardcover. Number 1 of nine copies signed by the book artist. This is another inventive work from well-known artist Carolyn Shattuck that displays her skill in using various book structures to convey meaning and context in the books she creates. In addition to artists' books, she is a painter and creator of paper art. Carolyn exhibits her work nationally in numerous juried exhibitions and has received many awards. Her books have been collected by a number of special collections libraries at universities throughout the country. She teaches Book Art workshops in New England and Florida.  

Carolyn is passionate about revealing the fate of endangered wild animals that are sought and killed for the use of their bodies for medicinal purposes, for their body parts, or for hunting trophies. This artist's book calls attention to the peril of African lions and painted dogs. It joins her previously created books about imperiled elephants, rhinos, and pangolins. She writes in the book: "Lions are rapidly losing ground. Highly valued, they are often poached for their body parts which are then used in traditional medicinal remedies or their heads are mounted by trophy hunters as status symbols." She continues: "Trophied emphasizes the need to respond to this downward spiraling truth about the animals on our earth who are vulnerable."  

This book utilizes an adapted accordion book structure to create a green environment where two brown adult lions and two cubs pop up when the book is opened. There is also an arbor where two painted dogs are standing. The book is bound in a green, felt-like paper with a paper title label to the front cover. The covers are perched above the contents by four paper covered blocks. The inside of the front cover has a paper page affixed that describes the predicament of African lions. The inside of the rear cover has a white paper volvelle affixed on a sheet of black and white paper. There is also a small page with information about the perils of painted dogs. The book is constructed with various papers including Lama Li, Epson, Mixed Media, and Hahnemuhle Velour. The book is housed in a black paper covered slipcase with a yellow title label. In fine condition. The book measures 13 x 5 x 3.5 inches when closed. ARTB/091225. Fine. More