Artists' Books and Rare Books for Sale » Poetry

Stuart Brockman — The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke

wstahl — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:34:59 +0000

(Stuart Brockman) The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke. By Rainer Maria Rilke. Kranich Publishers. 2009. Unique binding by: Stuart Brockman in 2009. 11.24” x 7.75” x .75”. Book covered in full transparent vellum over watercolour painting; gold and black tooling; gold lettering. Paste paper endleaves; all edges gilt; split board attachment with supported French groove. Housed in a velvet lined, red and black quarter leather box. Fine.

The watercolour design is an image of a battle scene as described within the text.
Winner of the Harmatan Leather Prize in the Designer Bookbinders competition 2009.

(Tern Press) Ivor Gurney: Gloucester: 20 Poems of Gloucester

wstahl — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:04:37 +0000

(Tern Press) Ivor Gurney: Gloucester: 20 Poems of Gloucester. Selected with an Introduction by R.K.R. Thornton. Lithographs by Nicholas Parry. [Market Drayton. Shropshire. 2010.] 37p. 12” x 8.5”. Frontispiece and 12 full or half page lithographs in rust. Text set in Poliphilus and Blado by Kelsey Thornton. Printed on Magnani paper. Beige handmade paper spine, light tan boards with overall pattern on type comprising the title. No. 24 in an edition of 30 copies, signed by Nicholas and Mary Parry. Fine.

“The poems have all been re-edited from their sources. Slight editorial changes and some punctuation have been introduced: Gurney’s dots have been standardized to a regular three; apostrophes have been supplied where necessary; titles of songs, plays and other works have been italicized; Gurney’s amendments have been incorporated.” – Colophon.

Tern Press — Thomas Traherne: Meditation III, 83. (c.1654)

wstahl — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:46:10 +0000

(Tern Press) Thomas Traherne: Meditation III.83. (c.1654.) Illustrated by Nicholas Parry. [Market Drayton. March 2008.] n.p. 11.5” x 15’. Set in Garamond. Printed on Somerset paper with seven full-page lithographs from the stone taken from churches on the Welsh border. Bound in maroon cloth with red leather spine; paper title label on top right of front cover. No. 17 of 17 copies, signed by Nicholas Parry and Mary Parry. Fine.

Thomas Traherne (1637-74) was ordained in 1660. He wrote various religious works as well as poetry. His poetry expresses a rapturous joy in creation while the boundless potential of man’s mind and spirit is his recurrent theme.

National Museum of Women in the Arts — Completing the Circle — Artist’s book by Philomena Robinson

wstahl — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:03:22 +0000

(National Museum of Women in the Arts) Completing the Circle. Artist’s book by Philomena Robinson. The Library Fellows of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington. D.C. [1996.] 7.5” x 12”. Printed and assembled at the Center for Book & Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago by Philomena Robinson and Von Mock, on Lanaquarelle 90lb hotpress. Quotes were typeset in Helvetica, the prose in Times Roman and the poetry in Bodoni bold. Handmade paper of cotton and abaca was created by Marilyn Sward, Pincroft Studio. Photographs, handpainted water color symbols, embossed copper and paper-cut designs by Philomena Robinson. Brown sewn binding to the handmade paper titled wrappers. In a green cloth covered envelope-type container. No. 10 in an edition of 125 copies signed by the artist. Fine.

Text by the artist, and poetry by W.B. Yeats, Rainer Maria Rilke, Lewis Carroll, Jerome Foster, and others. A newcomer [at that time] to artist’s books, Philomena Robinson, created this fine freestanding circular book-sculpture. “The text, embellished with watercolor symbols, photographs, papercut and copper embossed designs, is based on an intimate narrative constructed around incidents and memories from her own life.” – NMWA website.

Ann Kresge — Air Born

wstahl — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:04:08 +0000

(Ann Kresge) Air Born. An Artist’s book by Ann Kresge. Ten Thousand Things – a Poem by Melinda Kennedy. 1994. Co-published by Mossybrook Press, High Falls, New York and Women’s Studio Workshop, New York. A translucent sheet patterned with a gray and white pattern has text of poetry for ‘Earth’, ‘Wind’, ‘Fire’, ‘Water’, and ‘Air’ printed diagonally across the loose sheet. Prints combine etching, relief printing and chine collé and are printed on handmade Japanese Kozo paper in Helvetica on a letterpress by the artist. The kite structures are based on traditional Japanese kites. The ‘book’ consists of 5 handmade sheets of paper, each with their poem relating to the five elements, their own design, and all backed with 3 lengths of bamboo sewn to the back. Laid in is the title page on translucent patterned gray paper. In a gray and white pattern cloth dropback box; title on front cover and columns of words relating to ‘Earth’, ‘Wind’, ‘Fire’, ‘Water’, and ‘Air’ printed inside the top cover. No. 27 in an edition of 100 copies numbered and signed by the artist. Fine.

A sheet of full instructions is laid in at the bottom of the box with details of how to convert and use this work as a kite.

Janus Press — Gone. Poems by Ellen McCulloch-Lovell

wstahl — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:10:39 +0000

(Janus Press) Gone. [Poems by] Ellen McCulloch-Lovell. Newark. Vermont. 2010. n.p. 11” x 7.25”. Text set on the computer. Polymer plates made at Boxcar Press and printed by Andrew Miller-Brown at the Janus Press on Richard de Bas Apta handmade at Hayle Mill in Kent, England. Two-color lithograph drawn on the stone by Claire Van Vliet and printed on Rives BFK in Oslo, Norway. Binding long-stitched into a Rowlux vinyl moiré cover by Audrey Holden. Slipcase covered in Barcham Green Royal Watercolour Society paper. No. 78 in an edition of 100 copies signed by the poet and Claire Van Vliet. Fine.

This book is a return to poetry for the Janus Press, after several years: many of the poems are seasonal.

Incline Press — The Book Decorations of Thomas Lowinsky

wstahl — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:04 +0000

(Incline Press) The Book Decorations of Thomas Lowinsky. [By] Colin Myers. With a Memoir by Katherine Thirkell. And an Annotated Checklist by Oliver Clark. Oldham. 2001. 122p.13″ x 9″. 90 illustrations in total; including all his surviving unpublished illustrations, an autograph poem and an ink sketch, 2 woodcuts, all his patterned paper designs and publishers’ devices. 2 Double Crown Club menus are reproduced, one of which is hand colored as is the original. 35 illustrations in the text and tipped in full page facsimiles of a further 26, including another hand colored plate, matched with the original. Cloth spine and boards covered with a new printing of one of his Curwen designs. Text on acid-free Magnani paper, with facsimile pages and plates on a range of hand and mould made papers to approximate the originals. Slipcase. One in an edition of 250 copies. Fine.

Lowinsky was born in India; schooled at Eton; spent a year at Oxford; two at the Slade; followed by active service in France and Germany with the Scots Guards, where he also assisted … as a war artist: he was one of the circle of friends and supporters of Charles Ricketts, and a founding member of the Double Crown Club. A man of independent means, Lowinsky was also a man of independent mind. He was intimately involved with the production of most of the books he illustrated for he worked with his friends, as authors or publishers: Sacheverell and Edith Sitwell, Frederick Etchells of Haslewood Books, Oliver Simon at Curwen, Francis Meynell at Nonesuch, and through Albert Rutherston for the Shakespeare Head Press. Among the full page facsimiles are ten illustrated title pages, nine of them integrated with the full checklist prepared by Oliver Clark. There is also a previously unpublished studio portrait of Lowinsky, and a family group drawn by their friend, Albert Rutherston. Katherine Thirkell is the daughter of Lowinsky, and has introduced the book with recollections of life with him. A fine book on a long neglected figure in the British private press world of the first half of the Twentieth Century.

John Gerard — An die Musik — Poem by Rainer Maria Rilke

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:46:28 +0000

(John Gerard) An die Musik. [Text in German.] Poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. Three original paper paintings by Gerhard van der Grinten on handmade papers by John Gerard. John Gerard. Rheinbach. 2005. Copernicus Graphische Werkstatt. 16p. 10” x 8.5”. Text handset in black Garamond, printed in the Copernicus Graphische Werkstatt Alfter. Open-out double page illustration as well as page and double page illustration. Handsewn. Wrappers and turn-ins form one continuous illustration. Gray cloth dropback box with title on front and spine. No. 20 of 25 unique variant copies, signed by Gerard and van der Grinten. Fine.

John Gerard — Das Herz der Rose — Poetry by Rose Ausländer

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:43:13 +0000

(John Gerard) Das Herz der Rose. [By] Rose Ausländer. Pulp paper paintings and calligraphy by Heide Bauerle. Rheinbach. 2004. 15 leaves. 17.5″ x 15.5″. 6 pulp paper paintings, including the title page. All text in calligraphy. Red cloth boards with onlaid decorated title. Relief title on spine. Pale dusky pink handmade endpapers. Red cloth dropback box with relief title on front and spine. One of 15 unique variants, signed by Bauerle and Gerard. Fine.

Rose Ausländer (1901-1988) was a German writer and poet. Born in Bukowina, she left her native country with her husband when she was 20, and moved to the United States of America. Returning to Europe, she was arrested in 1941 in Russia, and in 1946 she again moved to the USA. Returning to Germany in 1965 she lived in Dusseldorf, where she was a poet, author and translator.

Heide Bauerle has created wonderful free images of roses in her paintings to accompany the 16 beautiful love poems of Rose Ausländer. An elegant and beautiful book. Translation available..

John Gerard — Colors of the Spirit — William Shakepeare

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:39:29 +0000

(John Gerard) Colors of the Spirit. William Shakespeare 16 Selected Sonnets. Paper Images by Mary Beth Schmidt Fogarty. John Gerard. Rheinbach. [2000.] 20 leaves. 8.5” x 11.5”. Handmade papers by John Gerard, all especially made for this edition in his studio, with Schmidt Fogarty creating 6 original double page pulp paper images. Handset in 20 pt. Baskerville by Offizin Haag-Drugulin/Leipzig. Printed by Klaus Raasch/ Hamburg. Bound with an original paper painting over boards; deep red linen spine. Deep red cloth dropback box with relief title on spine and front. A unique variant in an edition of 40 copies, plus 3 artist’s proofs, each signed by Fogarty and Gerard. Fine.

Universal landscapes of vast horizons offer a varying prospect for subtle and poetical dreams of color as well as for dramatic scenarios. Love and beauty have been brilliantly interpreted in Shakespeare’s spirit with these sonnets spanning the vital range between youth and age. Gerard states: “This is Fogarty’s fourth book made in my workshop; she has been coming to Germany since 1988, when she made her first book with Dickinson poems. Fogarty lives with the texts for months and prepares extensively before beginning her illustrations, which she paints with wet pulp on a freshly made sheet of handmade paper. In this technique, there is no chance for correction – the lines and washes of pulp must work immediately or a new sheet is made.”