Anansi Company, from Ronald King & Roy Fisher’s Circle Press

$3,600.00

A seminal breakthrough in the annals of late 20th century Artists’ Book publishing

(Circle Press) Anansi Company. A collection of thirteen hand-made wire and card rod-puppets animated in color and verse by Ronald King & Roy Fisher. The Circle Press. [London.] 1992. 15 unbound sections 15.75″ x 12″. Designed, silk-screened, hand-stenciled and letterpress printed by Ron King onto 500 gsm Arches rag-made paper, held in a card wraparound and inserted into a heavily blocked solander box, 17.75″ x 13.5″ x 4.5″, which is covered in three different colors of cloth. Thirteen of the sections are french-folded and pocketed inside to hold the puppets and carry the poems, which are set in Monotype Walbaum. Puppets made from hand-bent brass wire and card, measure 12″ overall and are easily extracted from the box. An edition of 120 numbered copies, signed by Ron King and Roy Fisher. Fine.

This is the seventh collaboration between King and Fisher and undoubtedly the most elaborate and ambitious one to date. The content is mainly derived from material gathered together by Walter Jekyll for his book Jamaican Song and Story, published in 1907 for the English Folklore Society. This version is basically a contemporary rendering of aspects of those familiar tales central to Caribbean culture, concerning Anansi, the spider-man, and his company of animal friends.

The outside of the sections are covered with quotes in Caribbean patois and lines of music set down by Jekyll in his book and accompanied by a colorful carnival procession of figures and designs invented by the artist. The book involved over 500 hand-workings and is one of the most remarkable and innovative artist’s books of the period.