Artists' Book Catalogue For Spring 2009

A SPRING 2009 LIST

TWENTY SPLENDID & BEAUTIFUL BOOKS Susan Allix Maureen Cummins Editions Balance Timothy Ely Vincent FitzGerald Flying Fish Press Rose Folsom Karli Frigge Gehenna Press Louise Genest John Gerard High Tide Press Janus Press Paul Johnson M.K. Publishers Lois Morrison sailorBOYpress Ilse Schreiber Noll Carol Schwartzott Sande Wascher-James

PREVIEWING OUR FORTHCOMING CATALOGUE 37

JOSHUA HELLER RARE BOOKS, INC. WASHINGTON DC

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A new book by Susan Allix - more than a bit of nonsense! 1. (Allix, Susan) Nonsense & Nonsense. Artist’s book by Susan Allix.London. 2008. 75p. 11.25” x 9”. Four etchings (one handcolored and one with a second shadow printing), a linocut, block prints and various borders, dots and signs. It is made up of a variety of mould-made papers, including Arches, Somerset and Zerkall, which vary in size and sometimes have cutouts. Typefaces include Grotesque, Granby, Gill and Gallia, with Caslon, Bodoni, Engravers Roman and altered and un-altered wood letters. These are printed letterpress, by hand; with new intaglio plates and linocuts and old printer’s blocks. Binding is of paper of assembled squares over boards; the spine black leather and board edges of black lacquered paper making a wavy-line frame for the paintings which are mounted and applied off-centre to the squares. [Special copies have all edges in leather.] Endpapers of bronze paper with handmade bronze-flecked paper doublures, cream flyleaves and lettered in red. Contained in a cream, portfolio-style folder. One in an edition of 24 copies, signed by Susan Allix. Fine. New. $1450.00 “Five small paintings were made, relating to the text, and then printed digitally using archival inks. The book and binding were then working together without the paintings necessarily being moveable, so this is the main edition binding, with a few copies made with magnets set into the front board over black and white drawings and the paintings mounted on magnetised squares.“ - Allix. “On a nonsensical scale this book is not deeply nonsensical. It looks like a book; it has pages that turn conventionally and its contents are not gibberish. Most of the words have been around for many years, some so long that their authors are now forgotten. But they are set in a variety of arrangements, using more typefaces than are usually expected in one book. There is a new piece of punctuation I invented, some wood-letter I altered and some old printers’ blocks reprinted. “The initial idea for this book was for the reader to be able to do more than turn the pages; to be able to move or change images. Small pictures on the binding would be turned or re-located over others by the use of magnets. As the results of this were not intended to be serious, they would be accompanied by some nonsensical words. [Available in the Special Edition.] “The different sizes, shapes and tones of the various papers used sustain a vitality in the flow of the pages, while the limited colour scheme of terracotta, red and cream unifies the collection of odd, puzzling or humorous verses and extracts. If these may be seen as somewhat inconsequential, a small voice announces every few pages “I’m hungry”, and does not find satisfaction in the poetic reply (in French).” - Allix.

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An early Cummins classic 2. Cummins, Maureen) The Garden: A Visual Meditation on Man and Nature. Illustrated, printed and bound by Maureen Cummins. Inanna Press. [New York.] 1993. 40 pages hinged accordion-style and secured into the back cover or released to be unfolded for exhibition. 11” x 7”. 30 handcolored woodcuts printed on white Arches Cover. Case bound into covers of block-printed paper; outer covers leaves of grass, inner covers are dark thorns. Linen spine with title stamped in gold. Endpapers of handmade paper from Nepal. Linen slipcase with inset, handcolored illustration and title stamped in gold. One in an edition of 30 copies. Fine. $1750.00

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Henry Günther of Editions Balance takes a new look at Allen Ginsberg’s famous New York poem 3. (Editions Balance/Henry Günther) Erwachen (Waking in) New York. [German and English texts.] [Poem] by Allen Ginsberg. Graphics by Christiane Baumgartner. Gotha. Germany. 1996. n.p. 19.75” x 10”. Designed by Henry Günther. Full-page frontispiece, four full-page mixed media black, gray and cream/yellow illustrations, one double page spread in black, gray and cream/yellow, and 2 smaller woodcuts. Handset and printed on Zerkall-Bütten in Garamond and Helvetica by Thomas Glöss, printed in black for the German text and gray fro the English text. Black cloth spine, gray paper boards with title and woodblock in black on front cover. Blue cloth dropback box. No. 30 in an edition of 38 numbered copies, signed by Baumgartner, Glöss and Günther. Fine. $2500.00 A wonderful edition of a famous Allen Ginsberg poem. Highly recommended.

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An early Tim Ely edition 4. (Ely, Timothy C.) Scighte. Joe Napora, writer, Timothy Ely, artist/bookbinder and Ruth Lingen, printer/papermaker. The Poote Press. New York. 1987. 12 leaves. 9” x 8.5”. Set in foundry type, printed on handmade paper. With line engravings. Sewn on tapes and bound with leather strips to handmade paper boards; tooling in gilt on the covers. One of 64 regular copies in a total edition of 85 copies. Fine. $450.00

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An early book by Nance O’Banion for The Flying Fish Press 5. (Flying Fish Press) Domestic Science: Idioms. Written and illustrated by Nance O’Banion. A collaboration between O’Banion and The Flying Fish Press. Berkeley. 1990. 12” x 6”. Two-sided, with pop-up elements on one side and fold-out chapter sections containing most of the written text on the other. Printed letterpress using handset metal type, and linoleum blocks of various colors carved by the artist. Unusual book structure designed by Julie Chen, who also engineered the pop-ups. Opens out for display - 12” x 7’. Dropback box of black and white check cloth. One in an edition of 150 signed and numbered copies, in a total edition of 165.Fine. $750.00 O’Banion treats the book as a three-dimensional sculptural object which can be manipulated to allow the reader/viewer a wide range of experiences. Here, one side examines the idioms, the other portrays the icons connected with house and home. Her work is in numerous public and private collections in the United States, Europe and Asia. An exciting contemporary book of great visual appeal.

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A noted calligrapher pays homage to great figures of the Twentieth Century 6. (Folsom, Rose) My Century in Your Face. Poem by Maria Elena Cruz Varela. Book design, calligraphy and binding by Rose Folsom. Silver Spring. Maryland. 1998. 108p. 10.5” x 8”. Xerography on vellum paper, photography. Cream cloth boards with stitching on spine. In an ochre card folder, with title written in calligraphy on front. No. 8 of 15 signed copies. Fine. Inscribed to a previous owner by the artist. $650.00 This book won First Prize at “Book Explorations ‘99’”, sponsored by The New Art Forum in Kingston, MA. Folsom writes: “ In 1996, I began to reflect on the end of the century. My century. Even though I have only lived half of it, I identify with the 20th century as I do my country of birth. I cannot picture myself outside of it. I am aware of how it has formed me, and how I cannot separate myself from it. The next century will, in a way, belong to somebody else. It will be mine only second-hand. There will be people born in the 21st century who never knew the 20th, my century. This book is a collection of larger-than-life photos of faces of the people who formed my century, ranging from Elvis Presley to Igor Stravinsky; from Mahatma Gandhi to Robert Oppenheimer to Rudolf Nureyev. The photos are accompanied by a poem entitled ‘Love Song for Difficult Times’ by a Cuban poet who was born the same year I was. “This book is a way of saying farewell to my century, as all of us, about to be refugees, are nudged by time over the border from our own century into the unknown of the next.”

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An early book from one of today’s greatest marbling talents 7. (Frigge, Karli) Marbled Paper. By Karli Frigge. [Translated by Tanya and Hans Schmoller]. Antiquariaat Frits Knuf. Buren. Netherlands. 1985. Frontispiece, 9 leaves of bilingual text, [1], 33 tipped-in samples. 9.75” x 11”. Designed by Willem de Valk, printed by Van Marken Printers. Bound by Karli Frigge in full harness-leather with laced leather strips, after the old Dutch style; title in blind on front cover. One in an edition of 100 copies signed by Karli Frigge. Fine. Scarce. $1950.00 Frigge states: “My marbled papers must not be garish, or shy away from the pattern set for them. The eye must be able to pass over them lightly, without having to blink.” With technical virtuosity Karli Frigge has created exceptionally beautiful marbled papers of great artistic value.

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A great collaboration - Leonard Baskin, Ben Shahn - and poetry by Wilfred Owen 8. (Gehenna Press) Thirteen Poems. [By] Wilfred Owen. With Drawings by Ben Shahn. Printed at the Gehenna Press. Northampton Massachusetts. 1956. n.p. 13.5" x 10". Printed by Esther and Leonard Baskin and Richard Warren. Drawings printed by Meriden Gravure. The portrait of Owen woodengraved by Leonard Baskin from a drawing by Ben Shahn and printed from the wood block. Press logo in red on a free endpaper at the back. Red leather spine with gilt title; greengray paper boards. No. 189 in an edition of 400 copies. This is a regular copy; signed by Leonard Baskin. Fine. Prospectus laid in. Bookplate of previous owner. $850.00 With a special inscription in pencil fro m Leonard Baskin done in 1966. “Dylan Thomas in his essay on Owen says “Wilfred Owen was born in 1893 and killed in 1918. Twenty-five years of age he was the greatest poet of the first Great War ... selfless, decrying and exalting, infinitely tender, humble, he was the harrowed seer and stater of the Anthem for Doomed Youth and for himself ... he is one of the four most profound influences upon the poets who came after him; the other three being Gerard Manley Hopkins, the later Yeats and T.S. Eliot.” Prospectus.

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A feat of creative and technical brilliance by a winner of the Bronfman Award for Craft - Louise Genest Louise Genest was born in Montréal in 1949. After majoring in Education at university, she put her Master’s degree on hold in order to live in Paris for a year. Once there, she took a bookbinding course in the XVI arrondissement, and discovered her true vocation. Returning to Montréal, she continued to improve her skills by studying with Monique Lallier. After four years of meticulous, solitary work, she moved to New York for two years, where she studied various techniques related to book restoration and conservation. Her experiences there enabled her to open her own workshop and teach. That same year, she founded the Association des Relieurs du Québec, and served as its president for three years. During her mandate, she created the ARQ Journal and worked closely with various organizations in order to bring internationally renowned bookbinders to Montréal. Her work and reputation earned her the title of Master Bookbinder, granted by the German-based International “Meister der Einbandkunst” Association. She has won many prizes, including the ‘Grand Prix des Métiers d’art du Québec’, the Canadian Bookbinders’ and Book Artists’ Guild Design Award, and the prestigious Saidye Bronfman Award. Genest is currently living in France, where she is still continuing with her bookbinding - albeit at a slower pace!

9. (Genest, Louise - Bookbinder) Match in a Bottle. Poems by Tracey Knapp. Illustrated by Kurt Gohde. Kat Ran Press. North Andover, Massachusetts. 1997. 11” x 8”. No. 42 in a signed edition of 50 copies. Unique variant binding by Louise Genest in gray Oasis leather. Laced-in binding with partial exposed spine and sewing. Design of cut-out boards and covering leather. Tooled onlays in relief in marbled papers and tooled onlays in patinated shaded copper leaves. Insertion of brass mesh colored in copper between the boards. Exposed sewing on copper wires with exposed wires to add to design. Loose gray threads at top of spine. Top edge painted. Doublures echoing cover board design, in colored Arches chiffon paper with recessed inlays in marbled paper and tooled onlays in colored and lacquered Japanese paper. Binder’s stamp in relief at base of back doublure. Dropback box of gray cloth and gray marbled paper to a design matching the binding, with copper colored trim to box; title on spine. Fine. $9500.00 See Printinging History, Vol. XXVI, Number 2, p. 54 & 55, for an interesting article by Prof. David Pankow, which illustrates the variant binding.

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A stunning interpretation of Lord Byron’s Venetian story. 10. (High Tide Press/John Ross) A Venetian Carnival. Designed and illustrated with collagraphs by John Ross. With excerpts from “Beppo, A Venetian Story” by Lord Bryon. [New York.] 1991. Loose in portfolio form. 20” x 15”. 7 double spread collagraph images (20” x 30”), plus title-page and colophon sheets. Printed from collagraph plates on a Charles Brand etching press by Joss and Ann Marie Farinacci at the High Tide print workshop on Rives BFK; text type in Garamond Italic. Headlines are in various antique wooden fonts set by John and Tim Ross and printed on a Vandercook 219 press. Green cloth dropback box with paper title label on front; lined with brilliantly colored carnival images. No. 2 in an edition of 10 signed and numbered copies. Fine. Scarce. $4000.00 Ross has used 7 stanzas relating to the Carnival from the approximately 55 stanzas written by Lord Bryon in his long poem “Beppo, A Venetian Story”. This poem tells of Beppo, the Venetian who leaves his wife for many years while travelling; she takes up with a Count and the verses recount the results thereof. Ross names every palazzo depicted in each spread, while the character shown on the same spread is a depiction of one of the many character masks used in the Venetian carnival, such as the ‘Minotaur’ and ‘Doctor’ masks. A marvelous portfolio of exciting images.

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An amusement from a great pioneer of the modern pop-up book 11. (Johnson, Paul) Sailing to the Dance of Day. Pop-up book by Paul Johnson. [Manchester. 2005.] 9.5” x 6.75”. Handpainted pop-up book designed and made by Paul Johnson. Laser printed on mouldmade 90lb Hahnemühle Aquarell. Hand assembled and hand bound on mouldmade hand dyed red Waterford paper over board. Maroon spine. Deep red protective card envelope. Second redesigned edition of 20 copies containing original hand coloring by the aartist. Signed. Fine. $185.00 Paul Johnson, the British artist, writer, researcher and book artist travels around the world dividing his time between researching the book arts in education, running the Book Art Project in England and producing his own work. His published work includes: A Book of One's Own, 1993; Pop-up Paper Engineering, 1992; Literacy Through the Book Arts, 1993; and Books Searching for Authors, 1994. [See Paul Johnson's article, The movable, three-dimensional, multi-experimental Book, in The New Bookbinder, Vol. 16, 1996.] His personal work embraces the areas of paper sculpture, paper environments, books and paper furniture. He has exhibited at major one-man and group exhibitions of work in paper in England, Europe and Japan. He was elected to the Crafts Council Index of Selected Makers in 1989 and in the same year was profiled on BBC TV's 'Handmade' series on British Crafts. Johnson's work is in public and private collections internationally. Johnson thinks of his books as 'interior architecture' - because they can be opened up and experienced as three-dimensional forms. He feels that paper is by far the most versatile of all art materials. His use of a brilliant and glowing color palette makes his work a visual treat.

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Vincent FitzGerald’s magnificent homage to James Joyce 12. (Joyce, James/Vincent Fitzgerald) James Joyce: The Epiphanies. I n t e r p reted by Susan Weil & Marjorie Van Dyke. Vincent FitzGerald & Company. New York. 1987. 12 signatures of text, 4 signatures of illustrations with loose covered introduction pages, colophon. 14” x 12”. Printed at the Wild Carrot Letterpress, with calligraphy by Jerry Kelly, on Moulin du Gue and Japanese papers All laid in a gray-brown cloth dropback box with Joyce’s profile limned in silver on its cover and ‘JJ’ in silver on spine made by David Bourbeau of The Thistle Bindery. No. 45 in an edition of 50 numbered copies, signed by Susan Weil and Marjorie Van Dyke. Fine. $15000.00 “The forty epiphanies here (never before published in a group), were written by Joyce between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. A few of them were incorporated into Dubliners and Ulysses. For Joyce, both as man and writer, they were of major importance. In the Fitzgerald edition, one reads a text of paragraphs ... that cumulatively take us through Joyce’s experiences as a boy ... to and beyond his personal confrontation with the death of his brother and its meaning for him and his family.” - Corinne Robins, Arts Magazine, May, 1989. “The visual images are grouped after the text under the headings of Death, Dreams, Planes and Games. Numbers connect the headings with the relevant epiphanies. From the title page where Joyce’s eyes became his glasses with images from all four sections, the impact and strength of the cutout, lift-off, paste-on an accordion-fold images of Weil and Van Dyke, together with the text, combine to form “a unique reading/seeing experience.” - Corinne Robins. This magnificent production was sold out on publication. We are fortunate to be able to offer this copy.

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One of the few specially bound copies of an important Janus Press book from the early 1960s 13. (Kafka, Franz/Janus Press) Ein Landarzt/A Country Doctor. By Franz Kafka. With an English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir. Illustrated with twelve relief etchings by Claire Van Vliet. Printed at the Philadelphia College of Art. 1962. 32p. 12.25” x 8.75”. Printed in black on Rives Cuve Velin. Cream linen dropback box with title on spine; lined with handpainted paper to match the binding. An edition of 250 copies numbered and signed by the artist. Fine. With a handwritten inscription by Van Vliet to a previous owner on the Colophon page. A separate handwritten note to the previous owner signed by ‘Claire’. Fine. $1500.00 This book was unsatisfactorily bound by a commercial binder, William Marley Co. in Philadelphia in 1962. Claire Van Vliet, Nancy Southworth and Stephanie Westnedge disbound, di-acidified, sized, and repaired 20 copies, of which 10 were for sale. The new binding was sewn through alum tawed pigskin spine with wooden boards that have the snow storm of the story scratched and painted on them. The first notable book from the Janus Press.

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A beautiful poem about love at the end of a lifetime - a superb production 14. (Kinnell, Galway/Ilse Schreiber Noll) Promissory Note. [Poem by] Galway Kinnell. Woodcuts [by] Ilse SchreiberNoll. New York. 2007. n.p. 13.25” x 9.75”. Woodcuts on pastel and pen drawing. Conceived, printed and bound by the artist on Mulberry and Rives Paper. The poem reproduced from the handwritten manuscript, written out by Galway Kinnell for this book; poem also printed letterpress. Four-page color fold-out of the large woodcut. Dark blue wraparound cover with darker blue woodcut across the wrappers; title in white. Laid in a gray cloth covered board folder with round blue and yellow-green illustration and title on front board. Signed by Galway Kinnell on the reproduction of the handwritten poem. Signed by Ilse Schreiber Noll at the back of the book. An edition of 16 copies. Fine. $950.00

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The collision of Russian and Italian Futurist movements 15. (M.K. Publishers) The Drama of Marinetti or the Story of how the Leader of World Futurism flopped in Russia. A feature-documentary-compi latory-comedy from the Life of Italian and Russian Futurism in eleven scenes. Album by Mikhail Karasik. [St. Petersburg. Russia.] 2008. 22.75” x 15”. 13 leaves in an illustrated card cover with black cloth spine and two brass screws. Twelve compositions with the combination of lithograph and author’s offset on BFK Rives Cream paper; text author’s offset. Text inside the book is printed in Russian; the separate English version is printed on blue paper and laid in a printed cardboard box. One in an edition of 15 numbered and signed copies.Fine. $4900.00 Karasik writes: “’The Triumph of Futurism’ was the title of a show planned by the director of the new mechanistic and urban movement in modern art. In Russia, however, the production unexpectedly underwent a change of genre, taking the director himself by surprise. The Russian performers - Futurist poets and artists - had been allocated technical walk-on parts. The Italians had a poor opinion of Futurists ‘of the Slavonic race’. Following his trip to Russia, where ‘the apostle of the electric religion’ counted on acquiring pupils and associates, Marinetti found himself up against sabotage and misunderstanding. In a show of aggression and freethinking, the Russian Futurists not only refused to recognize Marinetti as their leader, but, it transpired, themselves counted on taking new territory and conquering new minds. As a result, the expected triumph turned into a drama of a different kind. “The Drama of Marinetti has been composed from newspaper and literary sources of the beginning of the 1910s. Fragments of texts, memoirs, and manifestos have been turned into lines spoken by the characters. The chain of events, meetings, lectures, and receptions has been recreated. The monologues and one-liners reveal both the relationship between the Italian and Russian Futurists and the conflicts which were tearing apart the Russian Avant-garde movement. Marinetti expected a more Futuristic reception, and all the tokens of success showered upon him - the bouquets of flowers, crowded auditoria, and the attention from students and high-society salons - conflicted with both the spirit and ideas of Futurism. Marinetti had the feeling that the leaders of Russian Futurism were spending the first few weeks hiding from him, avoiding contact, and shunning the meetings that had been organized. It was only towards the end of his trip that the situation improved, but the result was the realization that Russian and Italian Futurism had little in common. Italian Futurism promoted urbanism, the cult of technology and machines, the destruction of tradition and old culture, and militarism. Russian Futurism, on the other hand, focused on folk culture and the Russian icon and was oriented more to the East than the West, while its belligerence was directed against old forms of art, but not against politics, and it was not naturally inclined to aggression (Futurist works of a patriotic character appeared at the beginning of World War I). Artistic life in Russia was itself more dynamic and radical than in Italy. Italian Futurism existed until the end of the 1930s, while the Russian version, modified and politicized and stripped of its artistic essence, survived only until the beginning of the 1920s. After the October Revolution Futurism’s political direction also changed. The Russian branch became Communist (Komfutu was a Communist Futurist organization led by Mayakovsky), while Italian Futurism turned to Fascism. “The illustrative material in the album consists of collages of well- and less well-known photographs of the Futurists. There are visual allusions to the texts, documentary materials, and famous pictures. The pages of the album have been designed to look like the old postcards which Marinetti and his Russian correspondents used in their correspondence with one another. The result is a graphic version in which the author tries to evaluate Marinetti’s legendary visit to Russia.”

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A great example of Morrison’s artistry in fabric 16. (Morrison, Lois) Japanese Rabbits. A fabric book by Lois Morrison. [Leonia, New Jersey.] 1992. 8.75” x 5.75”. 11 fabric leaves. Collaged Japanese and vintage fabrics, woodcut rubbings, embroidery. Text sewn in black. Open spine bound with black thread in four places; attached round red disks, small yellow beads and ‘tails’ of black thread. Housed in a protective fold-out boxing, covered in handmade, antique Japanese paper and lined in deep purple paper. Closures of multi-colored cord which wind round red flower-like button with turquoise button enters. Laid in a protective handmade cream cloth bag. In an edition of 2 copies, this is the only one for sale. Signed by the artist. Fine. $2750.00 Fine examples of Morrison’s fabric books have become unobtainable. Japanese Rabbits is a particularly fine example of her work in this medium.

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A stunning new book from the studio of John Gerard 17. (Rilke, Rainer Maria/John Gerard) Herbst. (Autumn.) [Text in German.] [Poem by] Rainer Maria Rilke. [Reinbach. 2008.] Leporello format. 22” x 10.5”. Design by Ati von Gallwitz with paper paintings and cut-outs. Calligraphy by Rol Lock. 6 handmade papers by John Gerard. Bound in pale lemon cloth over board, with a copper leaf recessed into the front cover. Laid in a matching pale lemon cloth dropback box with black title on front and spine. No. 11 in an edition of 20 copies, signed by Ati von Gallwitz. New. English translation laid in. $1950.00 A visually beautiful book with superb poetry. As each sheet of paper is made individually each copy will have slight variations.

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A powerful new book from Jeff Morin 18. (sailorBOYpress) 14 Stations. Artist's book by Jeff Morin. Stevens Point, Wisconsin. 2008. 62p. Book - 9.5" x 9". Box - 12.5" x 10" x 3.5". Printed in Gill Sans on Indian Village paper. The 14 double-page color illustrations are from reduction linoleum blocks that are printed with a heavy hand to produce a more painterly image. Made by Brian Borchardt, the spike-like shapes in the brown cover stock emulate the crown of thorns. The book encased in a black leather box, lined with black cloth with a matching separate lid. Laid in the bottom of the box is a metal crown of thorns which is painted red/brown in parts, with a Rosary wound round it. An edition of 45 copies. Fine. $1500.00 Morin writes: "Why this book and why in this incarnation? My work will on occasion remain about the AIDS pandemic because I believe that it is a dangerously robust force that is consuming parts of our population here and abroad. Some worry that there is activist fatigue so less attention is being focused on this subject. I also believe that artists have a dialogue with the past and must bring something new to the conversation. The 14 Stations of the Cross are among my earliest memories of going to church because they were set at the outer aisles and my family always sat in the same outer pew across from a station and across from a particular stained glass window. The 14 stations are so well known so the question becomes: What can one bring to the historic dialogue that has not been presented or said before? This is my attempt to add to the conversation and make the historic relevant. "Whenever I can, I draw from the figure and have done so for the past 30 years. It has been a constant as I work through several media: design, paint, print, paper etc... It is also a way to problem-solve in a quick way. I engaged two models to work through this project and had them pose together with simple instruction about the particular station that I was working on. Because this is a story about a contemporary couple, they would be the constant characters throughout the story regardless of the original reference. I would give the biblical reference to the models and then my take on the reference as regards the "new" story. When models have not been comfortable posing together, I have had to create the interaction so it was a great opportunity to find two models that were friends and comfortable working through this content. I transferred the reference material (some photo, some drawn) to linoleum blocks, did the reduction cuts and edition-printed the color. Reduction printing is interesting/challenging because the final result is not known until the last color is printed. And at that point, the linoleum block has been completely destroyed. This final book is actually the second version. In the first, I transferred the text to the blocks as well with the intention of hand-cutting the typography. The limitation with this idea was that the text was to be shorter and larger (a practicality of cutting the letterforms). The reason for the abandoned format was to emulate block books which predated letterpress work in Europe. "I wanted to create a story that was both new and familiar so took some references directly from the New Testament and then began to deconstruct the story - looking for a way to deal with confession, accusation, and reconciliation. These are fairly basic interactions that most people can relate to. I was also intrigued by the changing nature of the name, Jesus. In the Latino culture it is common today. In the non-Latino community it seems to be a sacrilege to name someone after Christ. The relationship between the sacred and profane has always been compelling to me."

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A 10th century Japanese tale beautifully illustrated by a contemporary book artist 19. (Schwartzott, Carol) The Old Bamboo Hewer: A Japanese Romance of the Tenth Century. Artist’s book by Carol Schwartzott. [Freeville. New York. 2000.] n.p. 13” x 7.75” x 1.625”. Made with a combination of Japanese papers, some are chirogami or of printed design, others have been decorated by the artist; these include paste, stencil, water marbling, handmade Japanese papers, linen and mitsumade combinations. Letterpress printed from plates, with some of the Kendo decorative initials gold leafed or gilded. Illustrations started as linoleum cuts in black and white, and were hand-colored and collaged to represent small hanging scrolls, using watercolor, gouche, acrylic paint, gold and silver lead. Accordion fold book in tan-blue Japanese cloth with endpapers of paste/stencil and block printed motifs. Decorative paper label on front board. Laid in a board box with sliding door, covered and lined in a combination of decorative papers. Inset at the bottom of the box is a piece of bamboo, serving as a divider for the two replications of the actual texts in Japanese and English. These are soft bound with variations of paper on their covers. No. 6 in an edition of 10 signed copies. Fine. $1250.00 Schwartzott states that she is a strong believer in the philosophy that a book should not only be beautiful, but should contain some sort of information. Those who know and collect her books can confirm that this is the case with all her work. This book is a delight. Schwartzott decided to include the facsimiles of both the English and Japanese versions as she felt the footnotes are very interesting and helpful, and for those that can read Japanese, the subtle nuances of that language are available.

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After a long absense - a welcome new work from Sande Wascher-James 20. (Sande Wascher-James) Remember the Ladies. Artist’s fabric book by Sande Wascher-James. [Washington.] 27 floral fabric leaves. 10.25” x 4.25”. Each leaf is of a different multi-colored floral fabric and is edged with toning stitching, creating a rainbow-like effect when the book is viewed closed. Each leaf has appliqué of fabric text, facsimile fabric stamps, and/or lace and sequins. Hand printed, digitally printed and embroidered by Sande Wascher-James. Laid in a floral fabric box with a dropdown side and a separate lid with an onlaid fabric illustration and quote. One in an edition of 10 signed copies. Fine. New. $1200.00 Each stamp is of, or a homage to, a woman. The text reads: “Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands ... If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”

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JOSHUA HELLER Rare Books, Inc. P O Box 39114 Washington D C 20016-9114 U S A Telephone: 202/966-9411 Fax: 202/363-5658 E-Mail: [email protected] www.joshuahellerrarebooks.com

AFTERWORD In the Introductory Statement to our Winter 2001/2002 Catalogue, we wrote that after the traumatic events of September 11tth we had decided “to proceed with the best catalogue we could write at that time and with the best collection of books we could assemble under the difficult conditions in which the USA and its people found themselves”. Our sentiments are the same with a different set of circumstances, no less painful, that we, and for that matter the world at large, are now facing. Nevertheless, we submit for your consideration – with this list – a sampling of what we intend publishing in the Spring: our 37th catalogue – which will contain over 150 fine and beautifully illustrated books by a roster of talented practitioners of the Art of the Book. It will be amplified with over 200 color photographs. Please email us for a free copy – in the meantime we hope you will find one or more of the 20 books in this list of interest. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Phyllis & Joshua Heller.

Conditions of sale: All items listed in this catalogue are offered subject to prior sale. Each item has been carefully described as to condition. Any purchase may be returned within ten days after its receipt; if unsatisfactory for any reason - safe return shipment is client's responsibility. Payment terms for new clients are "remittance with order" or from our pro forma invoice. A finance charge of 1.5% per month will be added to all bills not paid within thirty days of the date of invoice. Libraries and institutions will be accommodated by special billing on request. Prices are net, in U.S. dollars. Postage and handling are extra on all orders. Overseas orders will be shipped airmail unless otherwise arranged. D.C. residents will be charged 5.75% Sales Tax. Possession of title remains with Joshua Heller Rare Books, Inc. until books are paid for in full. We purchase single volumes, collections, or libraries in our field of interest. We are pleased to welcome visitors by appointment and are centrally located near convenient bus and Metro stops. We accept Visa and Mastercard © Joshua Heller Rare Books, Inc. 2009. Our special thanks to Neil Greentree.

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