Arabic Alphabet Book

Aly, Islam.
Statera, Mizan.
Cairo: Islam Aly, 2020.

1 of 30 copies (and five proofs). Signed, numbered, and dated by the artist. "Statera" explores the rhombic dot system behind the Thuluth script. An Arabic, elegant, cursive writing that is used on architectural monuments and manuscripts. In Arabic, this system is called "Mizan Al Horof" (balance of letters). "Statera" shows each letter's specific structure, which is built of a significant rule: the number of dots. The 28 letters are printed in Thuluth script with vibrant red color, over regular handwritten text by ordinary people. Different styles, signatures, seals, notes, and markings from legal ledger paper contrast with the Thuluth script rules. This contrast reveals an engaging perspective hidden between the balanced letters and aged documents. The fourteen rhombus pieces of camel bone are engraved with a letter on each side, echoing the book's interior. legal ledger paper from the late 1800s and 1900s, museum board, hand-printed Arabic letters from magnesium plates, laser-engraved wooden boards, book cloth, stiff-leaf binding with leather wrappings connected to laser engraved camel bone pieces. Size: 3.5 x 3.5 x 2.75

Islam Aly is an Egyptian-born book artist and teacher based in Iowa. His books explore the possibilities of historical bindings in contemporary book art practices They have appeared in international exhibitions in the United States and abroad, and in private and public collections including the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Library of Chile, Yale University, and Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In an artist's statement he writes: "When I make a historical book structure, I go through a learning process. I learn the history as well as the different physical aspects of the binding such as how a book form is constructed in a specific sequence. I learn about the use of different materials such as paper, wood, leather and dyes. I learn to make choices in selecting and replacing traditional materials that I don’t have access to. I use these different experiences to enhance my work in making artists’ books and to use historical and cultural references from these structures in the actual content. In essence, I wish to explore new ways to use the rich structures of historical books in contemporary artists’ book practice and incorporate contemporary content into strictly historical structures." Fine. (#35476)

Price: $800

Bookbinding Tools

[Boss Dog Press]
Rash, Dan.
A Catalog of Bookbinding Tools and Equipment Formerly Belonging to Dr. Loyd Haberly.
Plains, PA: Boss Dog Press, 2012.

Copy X of twenty special copies. The total edition was 70 copies. Dan Rash, the printer and compiler of this catalog writes: "The purpose of this catalog is to document a small bit of book arts history, and to perhaps provide a resource for collectors and scholars of Loyd Haberly's bindings. To this end I have organized the material as presented here." The materials presented are categorized by Equipment; Finishing Tools; Hand Tools; and Supplies. Each includes a list of the materials included, accompanied by a photograph of each item listed. Loyd Haberly(1896-1981) was raised in Iowa and Oregon. After studying at Reed College and Harvard, Haberly was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study Law at Trinity College, Oxford. However, he became interested in fine printing while in England and began to print and bind books under his own imprint, the Seven Acres Press. He was named controller of the Gregynog Press, a well-known private press in Wales, in 1933, but his tenure with the press was brief and, by most accounts, less than satisfactory to all concerned. While with the press he commissioned a typeface, variously known as Paradiso, Gregynog, Gwendoline or Foligno; when he left he was presented with a supply of the type, which he later used, after returning to the United States, in the production of a number of hand-printed limited editions for which he served as author, illustrator, printer, and binder [Wikipedia].

This beautiful copy from the special edition was printed on handmade paper with the Haberly watermark; it was produced at the Batchelor mill in England. Each center fold-out is an original page of smoke proofs, with every tool impressed onto machine made Kozi paper. The book is printed with Italian Old Style type. It is bound in lovely dark blue paste paper with a brown leather spine with gilt titling. Housed in a dark blue paste-paper covered slipcase. In fine condition. Measures 7.5 x 12.25 inches. Unpaginated [6 pages]. (#35441)

Price: $450 

New York City - in Papercuts

Coron, Béatrice (book artist).
NYC Redux.
New York: Béatrice Coron, 2012.

One of 3 copies. This exuberent work captures the diversity, energy and excitement of New York City through Beatrice Coron's intricate and artistic papercutting. The observer can see water and boats, buildings, a bridge, animals and birds, and of course children and adults from around the city.

Coron describes her book work: "For the last 20 years, I have been exploring visual storytelling in artist books, paper cutting and public art. Collecting memories from individuals and communities, I stage narrative allegories in silhouette to create a dialogue with the viewer in playful fantasies. These visual chronicles record archetypal stories that transcend time and space. I have been fascinated by the relation of people to their space and the sense of belonging. Using papercutting where everything is cut from a single piece of Tyvek, the profusion of individual stories makes a coherent whole world." [From her website]. Christina Favretto, Head of Special Collections at the University of Miami describes her work in Coron's "artfragments" portfolio: "There is a palpable joy in the work of Béatrice Coron, the kind of joy we felt as children in unwrapping a particularly enticing holiday gift. But...for Béatrice the gift is a sheet of Tyvek...or paper, and the stories to be unearthed and unleashed within and through the medium." Hand-cut on black Arches paper. Size: 10 x 8 inches closed; 37 x 6.75 extended. Housed in a black folder with title, artist, and birds on front cover and ribbon ties. Fine. (#35275)

Price: $1,200 

A Meditation on Childhood and Oblivion - created in response to CA wildfires

[Deeply Game Press]
Flynn, Nick, poet; Sara Press, photographs, book design, and binding.
Cartoon Physics.
San Francisco: Deeply Game Publications, 2019.

Number 28 of 40 copies signed by the poet and book artist. Sara Press is a photographer, printmaker and book artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area who distributes her works and those of others through Deeply Game Publications. Many of her projects examine peculiar areas of overlap between nature and culture as well as the relationship between creativity and the scientific method. Her work can be found at the Library of Congress,the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and many university special collections.

At the core of this beautiful and thought provoking book "are two photographic series, interwoven. On the white pages, images of modern childhood in all its fragility, awkwardness, & ambiguity conjure loveliness with all its potential for heartbreak. Layered with these are cameraless images of light itself, which has crept through a stack of sensitized paper. Transcending scale, they might be wildfires, supernovae, or solar flares. Dispassionate foils to our human conceits, the timeless principals of physics contrast with the flickers of human joy and sorrow. Nevertheless, the human scale holds its own in this balance: what we stand to lose is still important, even if only to us....The photographs comprise an inner book, wrapped in a soft cover that can be peeled away to reveal the spine’s stitching (the book’s own vulnerability).

Encasing this is a folio featuring Nick Flynn’s poem, “Cartoon Physics, Part 1”, a bittersweet meditation on childhood and scale, obliviousness and oblivion. Cartoon Physics was conceived in the wake of the 2016 election, and created after a subsequent wildfire destroyed thousands of homes in my community." [artist's statement]. The text is letterpress printed on Mohawk Superfine paper. Measures 6.25 x 8 inches. Unpaginated. [48 pages]  (#35455)

Price: $525 

Romance of two artists who lived at Kelmscott Manor during WWII

Godwin, Joscelyn, editor.
The Starlight Years. Love & War at Kelmscott Manor 1940-1948.
Dorset, England: The Dovecote Press Ltd., 2015.

A fascinating recounting of the compicated lives and romantic relationship of artists Edward and Stephani Scott-Godwin while living at Kelmscott Manor, as told through their letters and journals, here selected and explained by their younger son, Joscelyn Godwin. This is the story of how they fell in love with each other, Kelmscott Manor, and William Morris, whose home it was from 1871 until his death in 1896. The Godwins were the first permanent residents after the Morris family. While living at Kelmscott Manor, Edward and Stephani created an aesthetic and produced a body of figuative painting unique for its time. Illustrations of their works are printed throughout the book, both in color and black and white. Softcover bound in dark blue with white spine titling and illustrations to front and back covers. In fine condition. Measures 7.25 x 10 inches. 194 pages including index.  (#35493)

Price: $15 

Miniature featuring Soviet money

Goozairow, Emile, book artist.
Money Book.
Moscow: Emile Goozairow, 2016.

Emile Goozairow is a Russian artist who paints and draws, produces movies, and creates exceptional miniature handmade books that are printed on rare types of paper and published in limited editions. His techniques create unique designs that often are made with natural materials alone or in combination with relief decorations made from metal or polymeric clay. He creates books that he describes as "pop up," “kinetic carousel," “liporello” or “3D origami.” He also writes fairy tales, stories and mystical scenes.

The Money Book is an inventive and unusual miniature book from Emile. The book consists of old Soviet bank notes from 1961 in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25 rubles. The binding is painted in red, orange, and green acrylic on canvas. A small coin is affixed to each cover, and the book is held closed by a brown cord that attaches to a button. When the book's "pages" are turned, the rubles open up in the form of "paper mills" or "paper flowers." In fine condition. Measures: 65x40x20 mm. (#35329)

Price: $185

Oracle Cards

Greenwood Anne.
The Lunar Maria.
Number 85 of 100 trade copies.

The Lunar Maria (pl.) or Mare (sing.) are large dark basaltic plains on the Earth’s Moon formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. These plains Oceanus (Oceans), Mare (Seas), Lacus (Lakes), Palus (Marshes), and Sinus (Bays) were named by Giovanni Battista Riccioli in 1651 after states of mind and conditions of water. I have editioned three decks of 44 oracle cards named after the Lunar Maria: one wool hand-embroidered original, twelve cotton digitally printed, finished w/ hand-stitching, and 100 paper digitally printed. All the decks include a letterpress printed, hand-bound booklet, and indigo dyed bag and cloth with machine stitched text. The booklet describes how to use the cards and includes 44 poetic fragments that correspond to each basaltic plain and embroidered image. The booklet was designed, printed and bound by Daniela Del Mar.

This project was conceived in the midst of studying magical tools and practices with Colette Gardiner in her Blue Iris Mystery School in Portland, Oregon, working as an artist-in-residence at the Icelandic Textiles Center in Blönduós, Iceland and learning from Carmen Spagnola's Numinous School of Intuition Development. The combination of these experiences helped me further understand, connect and embed my ancestry, place and natural world within my art practice. Ten percent of all sales from this deck, and funds generated from any readings will be donated to The Chúush Fund: Water for Warm Springs which directly benefits the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon as they work to restore their access and infrastructure for clean water. Edition size: 12 5.5”x 7.5”x 2” finished bag w/ contents, 4”x 5.5” cards & booklet, 20”x 20” cloth. In fine condition.  (#35248)

Price: $50 

12 Books of Magic - all in a custom case

[Marquand Editions]
Byrne, Chris; Scott Newton, designer.
The Magician.
Seattle: Marquand Editions, 2013.

One of 20 copies plus 5 artists proofs. This complicated and fascinating artist's book was described and exclaimed over by a number of reviewers and critics at its publication. Most simply, it is a magician's case of graphic story books, but in reality it is much more than that. Chris Byrne's obsessional graphic novel took a decade to realize and another two years to produce. He and designer Scott Newton worked with Paper Hammer Studios in Seattle to construct an audaciously ambitious bit of publishing magic. The Magician is an epic graphic novel, a bookmaking tour de force, a mesmerizing art object, and the completion of over a decade-long obsession of author Chris Byrne. This enigmatic box of wonders houses a dozen separate publications, printed and hand bound using a variety of techniques. Although individual works, they are considered parts of the whole. The twelve books include Theogony, Handmade, Down the Head, Mountain Man/She-Wolf, Letterpress Flipbook, 4-Ply Toilet Paper, Moleskine, The Magician Manual, M'Phase, Unfinished Versions, Colophon, and Curtains [From Marquand Editions website].

The magician's large case measuring a foot long and foot wide is custom-built with plywood and metal and sits atop casters. It is painted black and decorated by a white rope pattern that crisscrosses its width. Wrote art curator and critic Dan Nadel in 2013 about this production: "There is no single apt reference point for Chris Byrne's ingenious The Magician. It is a wunderkammer, a Cornell-ian box, a visual novel, a conjurer's tool kit. Above all it's a moving, multi-faceted graphic narrative. There's never been anything quite like it." From writer and editor Christina Geyer's review in FDLuxe in 2014: " [Chris Byrne] is indeed the author. In this case, though, author is a loaded word - and means much more than one who writes a story. For The Magician, which Byrne began working on as an undergrad student in 1987, it refers to conceptualizing, illustrating, designing and storytelling. The novel - actually 12 stylistically different books in one box - sprang from Byrne's longtime fascination with semiotics and the language of signs. Thus began the idea of creating an alternative comic strip of sorts. It is, in short, a story about a hermaphroditic magician who was conceived in a public bathroom and who eventually creates the universe. 'It's an exploration of the realms of the unreal,; Byrne says. 'It may even be a goof on the creation myth.' The books and their many visuals, illustration and symbols are meant to be read. interacted with and interpreted deeply by the reader....The result is a high-design book and a collectible art object." In fine condition. Extra shipping costs may apply. (#35461)

Price: $15,000

An Uncommon Book of Baltimore Illustrated with Real Photographs

[Mayer, Brantz].
Baltimore: Past and Present with Biographical Sketches of Its Representative Men.
Baltimore: Richardson and Bennett, 1871.

SCARCE. An attractive volume. Illustrated by the Handann Brothers. Includes a history of the city by Brantz Mayer and over seventy biographical descriptions of notable Baltimorean men, each illustrated with an original photograph. Dark brown full leather boards with gilt title, decoration, and raised bands to spine. Boards are beveled with gilt borders and decoration. Bumping to corners, minor wear to edges of boards and hinges, and minor rubbing to boards. A few scuff marks to spine. Gilt dentelles, full gilt edges, and marbled endpages. Interior is very clean overall, though there are a few spots of foxing to several pages.Tight binding. 562 pages. Very Good. (#35480)

Price: $750

Ruskin's Classic Work on Architecture

Ruskin, John.
The Poetry of Architecture: Or, The Architecture of the Nations of Europe Considered in its Association with Natural Scenery and National Character.
London: George Allen, 1893.

This text is substantially a reprint of essays originally published in Loudon's Architectural Magazine beginning in 1837. The essays are in two parts: the first describing the cottages of England, France, Switzerland, and Italy. The second part is on the villas of Italy and England. The illustrations are taken from drawings by Ruskin, done as a series of plates "executed in the best possible style of photogravure" [Introduction]. There are fourteen plates, a color frontispiece, and fourteen text illustrations.

Bound in full dark blue leather with raised bands on spine with gilt titling and fleurs de lis. On the cover is a gilt oval seal with a figure in the middle and the words "Deo Dante Dedi" [I have given to God] encircling it. The leather is somewhat worn and the spine has faded. Marbled endpapers and paper edges. The front hinge is cracked and weak, and a previous owner used non-archival tape along the hinge to strengthen it. Rear joint and hinge are also tender. Interior pages are quite clean. Save for binding issues in very good condition. Measures 8.5 x 11 inches. viii; 261 pages. Very Good. (#35311)

Price: $110

Homage to Jewish, Dutch Philosopher - Baruch Spinoza

Satin, Claire Jeanine.
Spinoza In His Own Words. (Print)
Dania Beach, FL: Claire Janine Satin, 2018.

1 of 2 copies. An homage to the Jewish Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677). "This portrait is constructed using Spinoza's own words of philosophy and musings, with the exceptions of his eyes" in such a way that the text remains legible to read (Claire Satin). There is a scattering of a few three dimensional silver stars of David attached to the print. Printed on Lexan, a translucent material. Unframed. Size: 14 x 18 inches.

Claire Jeanine Satin, a well known book artist, sculptor and designer of public art installations. Satin's work has been extensively exhibited and collected in the United States and in Europe, including at The Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Getty (CA), MOMA, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. She is known especially for her conceptual works in uenced by the ideas of her friend and mentor the composer/visual artist John Cage, and the conversion of ordinary industrial materials into environmental constructions and book works of layered transparent mass. (#35490)

Price: $2,400 

Living Life in Excess - with oragami figures included

Shattuck, Carolyn.
Excess in Moderation.
Rutland, VT: Carolyn Shattuck, 2016.

Number 3 of 10 copies. This is a stunning work from well-known artist Carolyn Shattuck that uses the carousel structure and includes origami figures resting on brightly patterned Art Nouveau style papers. 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.

She describes this work as "an expression of living life to the fullest while being aware of its risks." She writes: of the book "I love patterning and design so I explored combining two different art forms, Art Nouveau and Japanese Origami. Each origami figure including the turtle, the butterflies, carp, and the peacock signify the mystery, complexity, and variation of life on earth. The interior spine is a collection of quotes describing approaches to living life in excess." Printed with original origami paper and Red River paper. Housed in a black slipcase made with Lama Li paper. In fine condition. 5.5 x 8.75 inches.  (#35486)

Price: $500

Attractive Publishers' Binding Featuring The Rhine

Stieler, Karl; H. Wachenhusen, and F.W. Hacklander; G.C.T. Bartley (translator).
The Rhine: From Its Source to the Sea. 2 Volumes.
Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Co., 1899.

Beautifully bound in blue cloth with gilt titles and floral decoration to boards and spines of both volumes. MInor wear to edges of boards and spine ends. Occasional spots of soiling to margins, but clean and bright overall. Filled with photographic illustrations. An attractive set. 303 pages in Volume I. 318 pages in Volume II. Very Good. (#35336)

Price: $25 

French Types of the 16th Century

[The Press of Robert LoMascolo]
Argetsinger Mark, text, notes, and bibliography; Herbert H. Johnson, foreword; Robert LoMascolo, book designer, printer, and binder. Peregrinations of French Types in the Sixteenth Century: Printing of Robert Bellarmine's Disputationes in Southern Germany. A Bibliographical Analysis of the Second Ingolstadt Edition Printed by David Sartorius, With Leaves Incorporated from Volume II, 'De scaramentis' 1591.
Union Spring, NY: The Press of Robert LoMascolo, 2016.

Number 141 of 200 copies. This splendid book is the culmination of Robert LoMascolo's long time wish to publish a series of "Leaf Books" dedicated to the work of famous printers and type designers. Robert established his press in 2005 while studying the book arts at Wells College in Aurora, New York. He graduated cum laude winning prizes for art, book arts and book collecting. In 2011 Robert completed his MFA in the book arts at The University of Alabama. While at Alabama he was also recognized for his outstanding collection of works by the influential book designer, Bruce Rogers. Currently, Robert is now working full time printing, designing, and binding for a varied array of clients. "This book is somewhat of a rarity in our modern age, as it is a true leaf book that contains two original leaves (4 pages) printed in 1591 by David Sartorius in Ingolstadt. The scholarly text, written by noted type historian and book designer Mark Argetsinger, explores how the types of French masters such as Claude Garamond came to be used in Sartorius’ printing house in southern Germany. The peregrinations of early French types is a subject that deserves more study, and this book will be of interest to all those concerned with the history of the book, history of typography, descriptive bibliography, and printing of the Counter-Reformation. Retired Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Professor Herbert H. Johnson has written the foreword as well as provided the leaves from an incomplete volume in his impressive collection of rare books " [from the Press website].

Beautifully letterpress printed from plates on Crane's Lettra paper in red, black, and gold inks. Illustrated throughout with 12 type specimens as well as over 30 woodcuts taken from Sartorius's work. Quarter bound by hand with vellum spine, gilt titling, and red and cream letterpress-printed, paper-covered boards. In fine condition. Measures 8.75 x 13.75 inches. 52 pages. (#35460)

Price: $375

George Bernard Shaw's Speech on Einstein Anti-semitism

[Two Ponds Press]
Shaw, George Bernard; Albert Einstein; Joseph Goldyne, introduction and illustrations.
A Speech Introducing Albert Einstein.
Rockport, ME: Two Ponds Press, 2015.

2600 / 1560. Number 35 of 75 copies, signed and numbered by Joseph Goldyne. Joseph Goldyne was born in 1942 in Chicago, IL. He came to prominence as an artist on the West Coast. He has been credited as one of the artists responsible for the rebirth of monotype and monoprint as valuable approaches to art. He is also known for his artist's books, often done in collaboration with printer Peter Rutledge Koch. From the Prospectus: "Joseph Goldyne brought this project to our attention, and the Press was convinced that this little-known oratory by George Bernard Shaw deserved wider recognition, one that Goldyne thought a most unexpectedly wondrous and humorous introduction to Albert Einstein, perhaps the most transformative and towering figure of the twentieth century. Goldyne's own introduction, " An Introduction to an Introduction," speaks to his discovery of Shaw's speech, its presentation, Shaw's record of condemning anti-Semitism, and his public support for Einstein. The full text of Shaw's speech is reprinted, together with Einstein's response, delivered in German and printed here in English translation. Goldyne illustrates the volume with five drypoint etchings created especially for this publication. They pay tribute to the featured speakers as well as to the sense of the event."

Beautifully bound in cream paper covered boards with gilt dotted rulings and ornament on front cover of circle with initials "S|E" in its center. Gray leather spine and trim along front edges, with gilt titling on spine. Printed in Monotype Bembo and Gill Sans types on paper handmade at the Velké Losiny mill in the Czech Republic. Letterpress printing by Arthur Larson at Horton Tank Graphics with additional hand composition by Rose Ku'ulealoha Wisotzky. Design and typography planned by Michael Russem Housed in a slipcase covered in dark red cloth with "S|E" symbol on spine. Accompanied by prospectus. A lovely book in fine condition. Measures 6.5 x 10 inches. 39 pages.  (#35452)

Price: $2,600

A Valentine Fan by Robert Wu

Wu, Robert.
Victorian Fan Book (Valentine).
Toronto: Studio Robert Wu, 2021.

Part of a small unnumbered edition. A Victorian-style handmade Valentine fan with the handwritten text: "If the postman only knew, what the weight of love for you, carried by this little card on its journey cold and hard, he would demand ten thousand more stamps to take it to your door!" The fan is die-cut from stiff white paper and edged in gilt with full color Victorian cutouts on the front panel and on each page. The front of the fan also features a stamp and a postmark. A red tassle adorns the clip on the back edge of the fan. The last page of the fan is covered in maroon marbled paper, which was made by the artist. The last page is signed and dated by the artist. Housed in a white paper covered gift box with handtitled brown paper label to top. [8 pages.] Size of fan: about 7 x 4 inches. Fine. (#35464)

Price: $100