Indian Fable of a Mouse and a Magician
Woodcut Illustrations & Letterpress Printed

[Biting Dog Press]
Ketchum, Jack; Nancy Collins, foreword; George Walker, designer and illustrator.
The Transformed Mouse: A Parable from the Panchatantra.
Toronto: Biting Dog Press, 2003.

Number 44 of 250 numbered copies, signed by the author, writer of the foreword, and designer and illustrator. It is a humorous and rather irreverent retelling by Jack Ketchum of "an ancient, yet always timely tale." The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose. The surviving work is dated to about 200 BC, but the fables are likely much more ancient [Wikipedia]. In this tale, a little mouse unexpectedly falls into the hands of a magician, who transforms the mouse into a young girl who becomes a daughter to him and his wife. It recounts their attempts to find a suitable god for her to marry before they realize that she should be transformed back into a mouse and marry the King of the Mice.

With original wood engravings by George Walker that were impressed directly onto handmade Japanese gampi paper from the original wood blocks. The text is printed with Linotype Granjon type on Zephyr Laid paper. Bound in a dark gray full leather portfolio with a tan leather tie that evokes a mouse's tail. A charming book in fine condition. Measures 6.25 x 9 inches. Unpaginated [about 18 pages plus illustrations]. (#35574)

Price: $325 

A Scrolling Shadow Box of Papercut Animals and Monsters

Coron, Béatrice, book artist.
La Faune Norge.
New York: Béatrice Coron, 2018.

Number 1 of 3 copies. A scroll book of animals with hidden monsters. A poem in French about animals eating other animals is mounted on the inner flaps. The interior includes a small battery powered blue LED light. The scroll is handcut on Tyvek myriopticon. It velcros into the box onto wooden dowels, but can be removed and laid flat. The front panels of the box are held closed with a magnet. Paper title label to top of box. An playful, inventive, and interactive book art object. Box size: 12 x 15 x 3 inches. Length of scroll: about 64 inches.

English translation of the poem:

Wildlife by Norge

And you swarming, what are you eating?
- I eat the hairy one that digests the pulpy one that gnaws at the creeper.
And you crawling, what are you eating?
- I devour the trotter, which slurps the winged one, which bites the floater.
And you floating, what are you eating?
- I swallow the vulva sucking the pot-bellied one chewing the hopping.
And you hopper, what are you eating?
- I catch the chirp that swallows the variegated who slaughters the galloping.
Is it good, dear eaters, is the taste of blood good?
- Sweet, sweet! You'll never know how sweet it is, herbivore!

Fine. (#36864)

Price: $1,500 

An Altered Version of a Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tale

[Deeply Game Publications]
Lauritsen, Christina; Sara Press and Andy Rottner, book artists.
The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweep.
San Francisco: Deeply Game Publications, 2012.

Number 45 of 55 copies. Signed by the author and book artists. Book artist Sara Press collaborated with Andrew Rottner to create this exquisite tribute to printing’s golden age. "The story, by Christina Lauritsen, mis-remembers H.C. Andersen’s classic tale of the same name, transforming it into a story of revelation and madness. The visual progression of the book mirrors the plot, pitting the beauty of the decorative arts against the intense and unpredictable messiness of human experience. This book confronts the inevitability of loss and bows to intellectual freedom and its attendant risks." [artists' statement]. The book is printed in Garamond and Bembo types on Moab Entrada paper. It features two 26 inch wide foldouts with illustrations by Rottner. The striking cover is done from a cut-marbled-paper and brocade. The book measures 7 x 9 inches. It is unpaginated.

Deeply Game Productions creates and distributes the art works of Sara Press and her collaborators. Sara L. Press is a photographer, printmaker and book artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of her projects examine peculiar areas of overlap between nature and culture (for example: dog fighting, feral children, and our co-evolution with snakes). Sara has also wrestled with the relationship between creativity and the scientific method. Recently, Sara has turned to constructions of masculinity and femininity in our culture (such as human bloodsports and altered fairy-tales). Her work can be seen in public collections around the country and are also in many library and private collections. A lovely book in fine condition. (#32906)

Price: $950 

Deluxe Limited Edition of The Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm - Illustrated by Rackham

[Easton Press]
[Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm]; Arthur Rackham, illustrator.
The Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm.
Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2014.

Number 84 of 800 copies. This deluxe limited edition from the Easton Press is a facsimile of The Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm published in London by Constable & Company in 1909. The Constable edition included 50 tales from the brothers, some still well known today like Rapunzel and Hansel & Gretel. Others are not at all well known today. The tales are accompanied by 40 color and 29 black and white illustrations by the incomparable Arthur Rackham. The color illustrations are protected by tissue guards. Bound in white leather imported from Italy. The front cover and spine have gilt titling plus a gilt outline of an illustration. All edges gilt. Text and plates are on Neenah Classic Crest paper, and were printed by lithography done by Falcon Press. Custom binding by Kingsport Book of Tennessee. Not accompanied by the usual certificate of authenticity. Housed in a slipcase in cream cloth with the same gilt titling and illustration as on the book's cover. In fine condition. Measures 9.25 x 11.75 inches. 325 pages. (#37169)

Price: $495 

Deluxe Limited Edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Gaskin

[Easton Press]
Andersen, Hans Christian; Arthur Gaskin, illustrator
Stories and Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen Two Volumes.
Norwalk, CT: Easton Press 2012.

Number 11 of 400 sets of this lovely deluxe limited edition from the Easton Press. It is a re-creation of the limited edition first published in 1893 by George Allen, London. The tales were translated by H. Oskar Sommer, and it included 100 black and white illustrations by Arthur Gaskin. Arthur Joseph Gaskin RBSA (1862 – 1928) was a preeminent English illustrator, painter, teacher and designer of jewellery and enamelwork.. Gaskin and his wife Georgie Gaskin were members of the Birmingham Group of Artist-Craftsmen, which sought to apply the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement across the decorative arts. Like many of the group, Gaskin studied at the Birmingham School of Art under Edward R. Taylor and later taught there [Wikipedia].

The original book as well as this facsimile includes over 100 of Andersen's writings including such famous stories as "The Ugly Duckling," "The Emperor's New Suit," "The Little Match Girl, " and "The Little Mermaid." Gaskin's charming illustrations complement the tales. Bound by Kingsport Book of Tennessee in cream cowhide leather imported from Italy, with beautiful gilt titling and illustration to front covers and gilt titling to spine. All edges gilt. Printed on Mohawk Via Laid paper especially milled for this edition by Mohawk Fine Papers. Housed in a custom slipcase by Dominion Carton of Virginia. Accompanied by a certificate from the press attesting to the limitation, and is in its original packing box. In fine condition. Measures 8 x 10 inches. Volume I: 398 pages; Volume II: 429 pages. (#37062)

Price: $725 

Deluxe Limited Edition of King Arthur - Illustrated by Rackham

[Easton Press]
Pollard, Alfred W., adapter; Arthur Rackham, illustrator.
The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of The Round Table.
Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2011.

Number 181 of 400 copies. This is the deluxe limited edition of The Romance of King Arthur and is a facsimile of the beautiful edition published by MacMillan and Co. in London in 1917. MacMillan's edition was abridged from Malory's Morte D'Arthur by Alfred Pollard. Bound in white leather with gilt titling and ornament on front cover and spine. Printed on archival quality paper especially milled for this edition. All edges gilt. With 16 exquisite color illustrations by Rackham, each protected by a loose tissue guard. There are also 7 black and white illustrations. As with all of Easton Press deluxe editions, this comes with a certificate of authenticity. Housed in a beige cloth slipcase with the same titling and ornament as tje book's front cover. In fine condition. Measures 9 x 11 x 2 inches. 509 pages. (#37168)

Price: $500 

Erotic Retellings of Classic Tales - Peter Pan, Frankenstein, Cinderella, Tom Sawyer, and More
Letterpress Printed & Illustrated

[First Bite Press]
Dolin, Stephanie K., book artist; Miranda Culp and Jef Delman, authors; Laurelin Gilmore, illustrator.
The Canon of Aphrodisia Four Volumes.
Portola Valley, CA: First Bite Press, 2023.

Number 9 of 100 standard copies of this four volume collection.There were also 25 copies in the deluxe edition. First Bite Press was founded by Stephanie K. Dolin to produce fine press books with original erotic and romantic writing. Dolin writes on her press website: "First Bite Press publishes limited edition books in a genre of fiction that is currently not being produced by fine press printers. Romance novels, including those with “steamy” scenes, are the highest grossing genre in fiction. Beautiful, high-quality, hand made books to showcase the author’s stories are rare. As a result, what we often lack in fine press books is the fun and exciting exploration of the human condition and imagination through intimate experiences. It seems a natural fit for the tactile experience of reading a handmade book. After a successful career in the legal technology field, Dolin turned her attention to learning the skills necessary to publish, design, and produce limited edition books."

Each of the four volumes in this beautiful and intriguing set has a different title and three stories taken from classic fairy tales and literature. In their introduction the authors write: "Unlike much erotic or fan fiction that concludes with happily ever after, in these stories we let classic horror, fantasy, noir, fable, tragedy, sci-fi, fairy tales...maintain their organic integrity." Thus the stories include their versions of The Time Machine, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, Wendy and Peter Pan, Cinderella, Tom Sawyer, and Pygmalion among others. Volume I is titled "The Dark Deed;" Volume II is titled "Manners & Merrymaking;" Volume III is 'The Upper Hand;" Volume IV is "The Mortal Transcends." This standard set includes the four volumes each with a different colored cloth binding with gilt titling to spine. The collection is housed in purple stiff paper slipcase. Printed on Rives Lightweight paper using Perpetua and Joanna Typefaces. In fine condition. Volumes measure 3.5 x 6.25 inches. Volumes I-III each have 77 pages; Volume IV has 91 pages. (#37185)

Price: $800 

A Tale of Giant Snails - with Teeth!

[Foolscap Press]
Highsmith, Patricia (author); Peggy Gotthold and Lawrence G. Van Velzer (designer, printer, and binder).
The Snails.
Foolscap Press, 2016.

Number 16 of 100 copies. The Snails is a short story by Patricia Highsmith (author of The Talented Mr. Ripley) about giant snails with huge teeth that inhabit a remote island. When an out-of-shape professor decides to visit the island in hopes of capturing one of the snails in order to secure fame for himself, his plans go awry. A seemingly peculiar topic for a story, it was perfect for Highsmith who kept snails as pets and was known to take them to parties on leaves of lettuce in her handbag.

The book is housed in a brick red cloth box with a cast-paper sculpture of a snail shell to the top cover. The book is bound in tan cloth with an illustration of a snail pasted down to the front cover. Within the folds of the accordion structure binding are smaller gatherings of pages, which include the text. Illustrations of snails roaming the island and encountering the professor are printed on the larger pages. An interesting structure, as is frequent with books issued by the Foolscap Press. Letterpress printed from polymer plates. In fine condition. Unpaginated. [44 pages] Fine. (#31009)

Price: $500

Fantastical Nighttime Adventure of a Boy and His Horse
Early Livre d'artiste - hand painted in watercolor

[Golden Eagle Press]
Roesch, Kurt.
Sprig and Turfy.
Mount Vernon, NY: The Golden Eagle Press, [1938].

Number VI of 108 copies. Signed and numbered by the artist. Includes fifteen plates. There are thirteen original watercolors by the noted artist, Kurt Roesch. The frontispiece and a second hors-text plate are lithographs. This is an overlooked livre d’artiste, published six years before the press printed Orpheus, a book recognized in The Artist and the Book 1860-1960. This work is the whimsical and mysterious story of a boy, Sprig, and his horse Turfy, and their nighttime adventure and transformation. In the colophon, Roesch writes: “This Archetype Edition of Sprig and Turfy is not only the first but unique in the history of the printed book. It is conveniently limited to one hundred and eight copies, each containing original paintings in watercolor over a key plate in black, printed by S.A. Jacobs, The Golden Eagle Press, Mount Vernon, N.Y.”.

Bound in tan buckram with a gilt device on the front board, cloth ties, in a tri-fold chemise in a slipcase, both also covered in tan buckram. Book in near fine condition. Slipcase and chemise are very good with light wear. Unpaginated. Near Fine. (#25187)

Price: $600

3 Tales: Beauty and the Beast, Saint George & the Dragon, and Dick Whittington & His Cat
Limited Editions Club
Jean Hersholt's Copy - with his bookplate

Hersholt, Jean, General Editor;
Dick Whittington translated from the French by P.H. Muir and illustrated by Edy Legrand;
Saint George is retold by William H.G. Kingston and illustrated by Edward Shenton;
Beauty and the Beast is translated from the French by P.H. Muir and illustrated by Edy Legrand. Evergreen Series Tales; Or Tales for the Ageless. Dick Whittington and His Cat; Saint George & the Dragon; Beauty and the Beast 3 Volumes.
New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1949.

This handsome and rather uncommon set of fairy tales was published as a limited edition of 2500 copies. However, these three volumes are identified by a blind stamp on the colophon stating that they are "One of 15 copies for presentation out of series." Each of the volumes has the initials JH as the copy number, and the bookplate of Jean Hersholt is present in each volume. Dick Whittington is also signed by Hersholt and its illustrator Robert Lawson. Hersholt, perhaps best known for his role as Shirley Temple’s grandfather in Heidi (1937), appeared in over one hundred films, directed several films, won a Golden Globe Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. He was also an eminent collector of books by Hans Christian Andersen and translated many of Andersen’s fairy tales into English.

Each volume is hardbound in cloth with a decorative ornament and title on the cover and title to spine. Beauty is bound in blue, Dick Whittington in orange, and Saint George in pale blue-gray. The volumes are in near fine condition save for a very light musty smell and a small stain to the margin along last page of text in Beauty. They have the original glassine jackets with minor chipping and wrinkling. The books are housed in a red paper covered slipcase. The slipcase is a bit rubbed, and has a faded half-inch streak along the front edge. Jackets and slipcase are in very good condition. Books measure 8 x 12 inches. Beauty: 45 pages; Dick Whittington: 37 pages; Saint George: 76 pages. Near Fine. (#36883)

Price: $275

A Finely Printed Edition of Hawthorne's Retelling of "Theseus and the Minotaur"
Letterpress Printed & Finely Bound - design inspired by medieval manuscripts

[Intima Press]
Belloff, Mindy, book artist.
A Golden Thread.
New York: Intima Press, 2018.

Number 16 of 32 copies signed by the book artist. There were also 8 additional copies in deluxe design bindings. Mindy Belloff of Intima Press creates fine press book editions in the heart of New York City. As the only private press in Manhattan, the Press is committed to traditions of high art and the by-hand craft of letterpress printing, fine artist's books, unique bindings, poetic broadside editions, and elegant designs and typography. With the greatest care and attention to detail, the letterpress work is meticulously printed one at a time to create beautiful impressions. Mindy's custom designs are a union of art historical traditions with modern technology and sensibilities. Mindy specializes in fine book editions and custom letterpress. She has been creating art for over 35 years and printing letterpress since 1996. Her books are in over 60 permanent collections including the Library of Congress, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. A book artist with a background as a mixed-media installation artist, painter and photographer, Mindy has exhibited at multiple venues nationally and internationally.

This stunning production by Mindy is taken from "The Minotaur," a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne from his Tanglewood Tales. Additional text includes quotes by Carl Jung and text from Lorem Ipsum. Her book received a Fine Press Book Association Collector’s Prize during New York’s Rare Book Week, and was considered among the Best in Show at the March 2020 Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair, It was described in the Parenthesis journal as “a genuine masterpiece of art and design, an exuberant mix of color, texture, style, and format,” and concluded, “The book is a stunning achievement by one of our most gifted artists, mature and at the peak of her powers.”

Composed of 100 original drawings, each page is meticulously designed and letterpress printed in multiple press runs with an elegant color palette. With inspiration from historic illuminated manuscripts, the pages in the first and third sections are adorned with hand drawn initial caps, ornate borders, and lively calligrams. A selection of the illustrations are hand painted with watercolor and gouache. Elegantly typeset in Adobe Garamond with additional type faces, the text comes alive, as it gradually becomes larger and more animated with each page, as Theseus bravely winds his way through the dreaded labyrinth to confront the bull-headed monster and the dynamic typographic designs of the middle section of the book become more frenzied. The pages are printed on lush cotton rag papers from the St. Armand Papeterie, with deckled fore edges. There are gilt edges on head and tail in 23-karat gold, with the cover design and label in gold foil on blue calf skin leather, gilded by Peter Geraty, MA. Bound by Celine Lombardi, NY. Housed in a gold cloth clamshell box with gold foil stamped leather label, In fine condition. Measures 11 x 14.75 inches. 92 pages [28 blank]  (#37318)

Price: $6,500 

Little Red Riding Hood Inspired Artists' Book

Krause, Dorothy Simpson.
Little Red: A Cautionary Tale for Girls of All Ages.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Dorothy Krause, 2007.

Number 15 of 26 copies. Numbered and signed by the book artist. This book was inspired by a Little Red Riding Hood doll that the artist had as a child. "When Little Red is turned upside down, the wolf, in grandmother's clothing, is revealed under her skirts. A long lost music box, embedded in her back, played 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.'" Includes text from the poem "Silver and Gold" by Ellen Steiber (1994). The featured wood engraving is by Gustav Dore (1869).

Fine in red cloth boards with black title and illustration printed on front cover. The book is accordion bound and printed in black and red. Unpaginated (6 pages). Fine. (#37245)

Price: $450 

Modern Myth of Constellations and Spiders
Letterpress & Pochoir with Movable / Fold-out Spider

[Luminice Press]
Williams, Thomas Parker and Mary Agnes Williams, book artists.
Spider and the Stars.
Philadelphia: Luminice Press, 2023.

One of 14 copies signed by the book artists. This charming and informative book, Spider and the Stars, is a Luminice Press artist book by Thomas Parker Williams and Mary Agnes Williams. It combines an original illustrated story for young readers with factual information about spiders and the curious way they travel long distances. Called ballooning, this form of spider travel appears to be flying, but in fact spiders take advantage of the Earth's electric field to become airborne. This particular spider became so airborne that she soared past the earth and planets to weave her webs among the stars!

In 2013 Thomas and Mary started the Luminice Press, incorporating letterpress printing into artists' books and broadsides. The artists' books draw on a range of conceptual sources in creating their books, including mathematics, music, literature, theology, philosophy, astronomy, natural sciences, and Eastern thought. Books by Williams or the Luminice Press may be found in over 75 public collections around the country.

For this delightful collaboration, both artists developed the concept and design and did the printing. Thomas did the illustrations, the moveable pop-up and the binding. Mary Agnes wrote the original story and handset the text. The round black cover has a smaller cut out circle. It is laser cut wood with oil-based pochoir printed paper. The outer circle depicts the starry skies, while the spider and her web are visible in the smaller circle. When the cover is opened the spider and her web are fully visible. On the first page is a large brown, cream, and orange spider with moveable head and legs that pop open. There are 16 pages that tells the spider's story with colorful images of her and her adventurous travel to outer space. They are done in oil-based pochoir over linocut flood coats, with hand painted accents. The text is hand set in Janson and Janson Italic on Arches book paper and letterpress printed. Housed in an acrylic case with a brown title inset. In fine condition. The book measures 7.5 x 8 inches closed. The pop-up spider opens to 19 x 24 inches. (#36555)

Price: $2,500

Selkie Folklore
Letterpress Printed with Wood Engravings

[Old Stile Press]
Brown, George Mackay; Michael Onken (illustrator).
The Girl From the Sea: A Play for Voices.
Monmouthshire, England: The Old Stile Press, 2008.

Number 70 of 195 copies in Main Edition. Illustrated by Michael Onken and signed by him. This book came when the McDowells, proprietors of the press, discovered this text among the papers of George Mackay Brown. He wrote it in 1984 and it had a single public reading but was never published. The play draws on the tales of the Selkie folk. The American artist, Michael Onken, has found Orkney to be his "spiritual" home, and also was drawn to the Selkie legends. This book is a result of the play's discovery.

Bound in cream cloth front cover with illustration in brown. Backing and rear board are blue linen. Housed in fine grey slipcase with paper illustration of Mackay Brown affixed to front. Designed and printed by Nicolas McDowell in Albertina type on grey Velin Arches paper. The artist's wood engravings, woodcuts,and linocut images were printed in black and white from the original blocks. Binding by The Fine Book Bindery using paper printed at The Old Stile Press. In fine condition. Unpaginated [56 pages]. (#29412)

Price: $295 

Dark Modern Interpretation of Classic Nursery Rhymes - with Pop-Ups & Animations
Comes with Pop-Up Book, LCD Screen with Pre-loaded Animations, & Charger

Petit, Marianne R.
21st Century Nursery Rhymes.
New York: Marianne R. Petit, 2020.

Number 5 of 5 copies. A dark modern day reinterpretation of seven classic nursery rhymes. Georgie Porgie who "kissed the girls and made them cry" is portrayed in this version as a middle-aged sex offender. Jack "be nimble" is shown jumping over a wall to escape ICE. John who "went to bed with his britches on" is a drug addict. Humpty dumpty, the old woman that lived in a shoe, and others are also shown with sinister implications. All seven rhymes are illustrated with pop-ups. The book is an accordion and can be displayed open to show each rhyme simultaneously. It comes with a LCD screen featuring animations and music based on Marianne's illustrations. Comes with USB charging cable. Size: 8 x 10 inches closed. 80 x 10 inches open. [8 pages.]

Marianne is "an artist and educator whose work explores fairy tales, anatomical obsessions, and collective storytelling practices through mechanical books that combine animation and papercraft. My interests are in combining technology, traditional book arts, and sequential storytelling to create new forms of narrative for the 21st century. [Her] artwork has appeared internationally in festivals and exhibitions, been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, Make, and Wired, and broadcast on IFC and PBS. My movable books can be found in numerous museum and library collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the British Library, Boston Library, as well as numerous University and private collections. [She is] an Associate Arts Professor at New York University’s ITP and IMA (Interactive Media Arts) Program located in the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. I am a co-founder of the Interactive Media Arts Program at NYU Shanghai and I also serve as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Network Academic Planning for the University." (artist's statement). Fine. (#36709)

Price: $1,000 

Two Edgar Allan Poe's Poems - "Fairy Land" and "Valley of Unrest"
Printed in Argentina - letterpress with engraving

Poe, Edgar Allan.
E.A. Poe: Dos Poemas / Two Poems.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Francisco, A. Colombo, 1952.

Number 33 of 87 copies on Fabriano paper. Includes Poe's 'Valley of Unrest' and 'Fairy Land' in both English and Spanish on facing pages. Unbound engraved frontispiece by Raúl Veroni, with his signature in pencil. Inscribed in Spanish by the artist to the publisher on the colophon.

Bound in the original paper wrappers with with black title top front panel. Light aging to page edges but clean and bright overall. First line initials printed in olive green and orange. In the original glassine. A lovely printing of these lesser known poems in near fine condition. Measures 7.25 x 11.75 inches. Seventeen pages plus colophon. (#36796)

Price: $350

English Folklore of Dragonflies
Artists' Book - Limited to 8 Copies

Robbins, Sarah (illustrated, printed and bound).
Devil's Darning Needles.
Baltimore: Sarah Robbins, 2012.

Unnumbered edition of 8 copies. According to English folklore, red dragonflies (sometimes referred to as "devil's darning needles") sew shut the mouths and sometimes the ears and eyes of people who misbehave. This carousel book celebrates the myth with comically disturbing illustrations of people who have thread twined around their eyes and lips. Clear plastic printed with red dragonflies overlays the illustrations. The book is bound in light grey paper covered boards with red title to front cover and artist's name to rear cover. It is silkscreen printed in turquoise and red inks. A red twine closure wraps around the book when not in use and can also be tied to hold it open in carousel format.

"Sarah Robbins is an illustrator, printmaker, and book artist living in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work focuses on feminist themes, visual journalism, and a love for folklore and the natural world. She co-runs PaperBase, a community letterpress shop and studio space, often combining her talents with other artists to create collaborative work which bridges the commercial illustration and fine art printmaking worlds" (book artist). Her illustrations have been featured in several periodicals including the New York Times and Baltimore Magazine. [6 pages.] Fine. (#29331)

Price: $125 

Native American Tale on Shooting Stars
Deluxe Edition with Hand Embroidery in Glass Fronted Box

Schwartzott, Carol book artist; Belting, Natalia.
Coyote and the Shooting Stars - mini deluxe.
Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2022.

Number 7 of 24 deluxe miniature copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Carol Schwartzott has been creating artists' books for over twenty-five years. Her work appears in many museums, libraries, and private collections including the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Natalia Belting (1915-1997) taught history for 43 years at the University of Illinois until her retirement in 1985. Dr. Belting really had four careers: she was a history professor, a writer, a lay minister, and an environmentalist. She published 24 children's books about history and mythology.

This deluxe edition is issued in a special wooden box with a glass panel on its front cover. A hand beaded illustration is underneath the glass panel. A ribbon with a metal coyote charm is affixed to the interior of the box to assist in lifting the book. Housed inside of the box is a miniature digitally printed reproduction of a unique hand painted and hand-sewn folio sized artist book by Schwartzott. The text written by Belting relates the native American themed creation myth of the origin of shooting stars. In this tale they are the falling bodies of coyotes that unsuccessfully desired to dance in the sky with stars. The miniature book is bound in black handmade paper with paper title label to spine and illustration with hand painted embellishments, collage and stitchery to front board. In fine condition. Unpaginated. [30 pages.] Book size: 3 x 2.75 inches; Box size: 4.75 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches. (#37266)

Price: $225

A Creation Tale
Artists' Book - limited to 6 copies

Schwartzott, Carol, book artist; Natalie Belting, text.
The World is on a Fish's Back: A Creation Tale from Tales of Beginnings.
Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2022.

Number 4 of 6 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. A charming little book from noted book artist Carol Schwartzott that ponders the beginning of the earth but concludes that one might say that the in the beginning the earth was on a fish's back...in the beginning it was thus. Letterpress printed with digitally printed images of alluring fish decorating the cover and many of the pages. Printed on Japanese and decorative papers and with a binding design originated by Hedi Kyle. Housed in a dark blue box covered with decorative paper and a fish image. In fine condition. Book measures 4.25 inches square. Box is about 4.75 inches square. Unpaginated.  (#37268)

Price: $150 

A Suburban Fable Featuring a Crow and a Raccoon
Limited to 30 Copies - Letterpress Printed

[The Big Crank Press]
Anderson, David Carl, author and book artist.
The Crow and the Raccoon: A Suburban Fable.
Indian Head Park, IL: The Big Crank Press, 2018.

One of 30 copies. David Anderson is a noted Chicago graphic designer with many honors and appointments over the several years of his career. He is now retired and has turned to his enthusiasm for producing fine letterpress printing by establishing The Big Crank Press. He writes about this work: "For 35 years I lived and worked in Oak Park, Illinois....While living there, things would happen - things that spoke to me in more than one way and persisted in my mind. This is the first of The Suburban Fables, an interpretation of my observations of those events and ideas." This book relates an incident where a crow is disturbed by the daylight ramblings of a raccoon, normally a nocturnal animal and what ensued. The story is told using striking and bold illustrations that fill their pages.

Printed on Jannot 125 GSM and grey Rives B.F.K papers using Gill Sans MT Alt One type. Printed on a Vandercook 3 proof Press that Anderson found in an alley twenty-five years ago. Bound in brown cloth with silver title and author to spine and front cover. In fine condition. Measures 9.5 x 12.5 inches. Unpaginated [22 pages]  (#33849)

Price: $700 

The Little Prince
Letterpress Printed in Estonia

[TYPA]
de Saint-Exupéry, Antoine; Richard Howard (translator); Mana Kaasik (book design and layout).
The Little Prince.
Tartu, Estonia: TYPA, 2019.

Number 29 of 150 handbound copies. An additional 150 copies were letterpress printed and machine bound. This is a letterpress edition of the classic children’s story. It was printed at TYPA, a print and paper art centre in Estonia, specializing in letterpress publications. In 2020 TYPA won the Europa Nostra, Ilucidare Special Prize for heritage-led innovation. It is a unique museum and studio as every item of their machinery is still in use, and they continue to create fabulous hand-printed publications using traditional techniques.

Hand bound by Pauline Rummel in natural linen with black title and illustration silk screened to front cover. In full color illustrated dust jacket with yellow title to spine panel and blue title to front. The illustrations were re-drawn for letterpress and the layout was redesigned by Mana Kaasik. Body text composed with Literaturnaya Bold on a Linotype machine. Title page and dust jacket set by hand with Admiral typeface. Composed and printed on Holmen Book Cream paper by pressman Jörgen Loot. 95 pages including a two page epilogue by Lemmit Kaplinski, former director of TYPA. Size: About 8 x 6 inches. Fine / Fine. (#35294)

Price: $500

WWII Era Shapebook
Three Little Pigs - from wolf's viewpoint

Voight, Margot.
Very Wicked Wolf.
Kenosha, WI: Samuel Lowe Company, 1941.

An uncommon shape book. The tale of the three little pigs, but from the perspective of the wolf. After failing to blow down the brick house of the third pig, he goes down the chimney and lands in a boiling pot of water. He vows to never again be mean to pigs and begins reading a book titled "How To Be A Good Wolf." Margot Voight wrote several children's books, typically versions of popular tales, and is perhaps best remembered for her tale about kittens: "Fluffy, Puffy, and Muffy."

Full color stiff paper wrappers with four full color interior illustrations. Side-stapled and hole punched with two holes as issued. Wear along the holes and spine crease. Light crease marks to covers, but unusually clean and bright. Unpaginated. [12 pages.] Size: 1.5 x 5.5 inches. Very Good. (#37338)

Price: $95 

Chromolithographic Shape Book - Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

Weatherly, F.E.; Edith Berkeley.
The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.
New York, London: Geo. C. Whitney, Hildensheimer & Faulkner, circa 1900.

A die cut shape book in the shape of a shoe bound with cord and tassle, which tells the familiar nursery rhyme of the the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Chipping and wear to edges of both covers with a few creases to rear cover. The cord has pulled out of several pages and at some point the book was resewn with thread; however, the pages were rebound out of order. The title page is near the end of the book and one additional page is out of order, but no missing pages. Pen marking to one page, smudge marks, and soiling to other pages. Short closed tear to one page. Includes 6 chromolithographs and 6 sepia illustrations. A well loved copy of this classic children's tale. [14 pages.] Very Good. (#36719)

Price: $250 

Rapunzel - Illustrated by Zelinsky
First Edition, Inscribed

Zelinsky, Paul O.
Rapunzel.
New York: Dutton Children's Books, 1997.

Stated first edition on copyright page. However, the number line does not start with "1" and the Caldecott medal sticker is affixed to the dust jacket, so this is likely a later printing as the Caldecott medal is awarded at the beginning of the year following the publication of the book. This copy is warmly inscribed by Zelinsky to a reader "who loves romance and fairy tales - with pleasure" followed by his signature. In this book the esteemed and much awarded illustrator Zelinsky selected a setting drawn from the formal beauty of Italian Renaissance art to create his magnificent illustrations.

Bound in glossy illustrated paper boards with a pictorial dust jacket depicting Rapunzel in her tower. The book and dust jacket are in near fine condition. Measures 9.5 x 12.5 inches. Unpaginated [ 32 pages and 3 page afterword by Zelinsky.  (#36882)

Price: $75 

Scholarly Companion to Western Fairy Tales

Zipes, Jack, editor.
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales: The Western Fairy Tale Tradition from Medieval to Modern.
Oxford University Press, 2000.

From the book jacket: [This Companion] "provides an authoritative reference source for this complex, captivating genre, exploring the tales themselves...the writers who wrote and reworked them and the artists who illustrated them." Of particular note are the lengthy articles on the relationship between fairy tales and film, art, opera, ballet and music. This fascinating encyclopedia included an extensive bibliography and 70 illustrations. There are also detailed histories of fairy tales in various European countries and in North America. There was a team of 67 contributors who wrote the informative and interesting entries.

Bound in black cloth with gilt titling to spine. In a pictorial dust jacket with yellow spine with brown titling. In about fine condition. Measures 6.25 x 9.50 inches. 601 pages.  (#36806)

Price: $35