Uncommon Shape Book on the 5 Little Pigs

5 Little Pigs.
New York, Akron, Chicago: Saalfield Publishing Co, 1910.

A cleverly designed version of the nursery rhyme about the five little pigs that go to market (usually told to children while wiggling their toes). In this shape book, the pages have a circular hole cut where the face of each pig should be, allowing the reader to flip the pages so that either a happy or sad pig face which are printed on the insides of the covers shows through. This shape book features a pig holding a fork and knife to the wrappers. The same title was also issued as a fabric book; however, the paper shape book appears to be the least common format to survive.

Bound in side stapled stiff paper wrappers with red title to front wrap. Rubbing and erased pencil markings to front wrap. Creasing to ear on wraps and all pages. A few small spots of soiling to interior, but clean and bright overall. [8 pages.] Very Good. (#37345)

Price: $225 

A Rare Children's Shape Book from the 1890s - a tale of two orphans
Illustrated with Chromolithographs

The Children in the Wood.
New York: McLoughlin Bros, circa 1890.

Rare. A rather depressing story of morality in verse about two orphaned children who are left in their uncle's care. Rather than raise them, he arranges to have them murdered so that he can collect their inheritance. The children are abandoned in the woods and starve to death. The uncle suffers from God's wrath with very bad luck following his terrible deed - his two sons die, he looses his home and fortune, he decides to confess his crime, and is executed.

A shape book featuring a chromolithograph of very sad children in historic dress to the front cover. Bound in side-stapled stiff paper wrappers with title in gold to front wrapper. Creasing and soiling to head of one child and his hat as well as chipping to edges of wrappers. Minor foxing, rubbing, spots of soiling, smudge marks to interior, but clean overall. Wear to spine with closed tear along foot and chipping. The cover and six interior pages are chromolithographs. The remaining pages are printed in black and red. Overall, a well preserved copy of this extremely uncommon title. Size: 13.5 x 7 inches. [16 pages.] Very Good. (#37347)

Price: $350

Miniature Book Edition of Earth - the planet's warning to humans
Letterpress and Cyanotypes

[Abstract Orange]
Emeritz, Lauren, book artist.
Earth - Miniature.
Washington DC: Abstract Orange, 2023.

Number 12 of 100 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist on the last page of the book as well as signed on the enclosed paper transcript. This latest work by Lauren Emeritz expresses a powerful message from the Earth to the humans who inhabit it. The foreboding message warns humans that their carelessness and disregard for the impact of their actions that have created extreme urgency around climate change, and its profound destruction may ultimately render them extinct. "Your inability to protect your habitat (me) will make you a blip that destroys itself" [from the text].

A miniaturized edition of "Earth" - letterpress printed with cyanotypes on cotton paper with end sheets of handmade paper from the Morgan Conservatory. "Cyanotype is a 170 year old photographic printing process that produces prints in a distinctive blue. The word cyan comes from the Greek, meaning dark blue substance" [description from the Phillips Collection]. Emeritz created the beautiful cyanotype images using natural elements, plastic, and UV light. The text is printed in large bold bright orange type. With the title in orange on the front cover and an orange spine label with black title. The interior text is a little difficult to read on some pages, so a small sheet with the full text accompanies the book. In fine condition. Measures 1 x .5 inches. Unpaginated [20 pages] (#37254)

Price: $95 

Unique Hand-Embroidered Artists' Book
Portraits of Four Men - with nudes
Mexican Book Artist

Acebo-Choy, Iván.
Variations of a Portrait: Repetition, Change, Similarity and Multiplicity.
Mexico: Hoja de Acebo, 2024.

A unique intimate collection of embroidered portraits of four men. These sensual portraits of unnamed men, many with nude poses, suggest varying degrees of vulnerability, sexuality, and intimacy. This is a wordless book aside from the last page, which reads: "Why should strangers not be lovers and yet remain strangers?" The last portrait depicts a man with a camera, seemingly taking a picture of the reader - making the reader feel like a voyeur, caught observing the intimacy of strangers.

"The four sections of this book are structured around the portraits of four real anonymous men. Each of the four sections starts with an individual portrait, and it is then followed with a series of variations, or mutations, of that initial portrait. It is often said that no two stitches are ever the same; in this book, I wanted the unique nature of embroidery to comment on the ability of portraiture to capture the sitter's unique immovale identity through the exercise of embroidering his portrait multiple times. By building up variations that harken back to an initial portrait, I want the viewer to find similarities, multiplicities, even distillations of a human body that should be the same in all the iterations even though the act of embroidery forces us to recognize the differences in all of them" (artist's statement). A swatch-style book bound with steel screw posts. Each of the 17 portraits is hand-embroidered on canvas and then mounted on black wool pages. Sheets of grey wool separate each section of portraits. Size: 8.75 x 8 inches. [42 pages.]

Iván Acebo-Choy is a Mexico-born artist who makes artists' books. "I create objects to be read; not just to be seen but read with your eyes and hands. Each book is made up of a collection of hand-embroidered drawings that have been then hand-bound. Each of them explores a wide range of topics, from the urban and natural landscape in interaction with the male body to observations about the graphic nature of maps, boredom, and male intimacy. These books carry no other text than that which is embroidered: a figure, a trace, sometimes a small word: No visuality is closed and limited; all interpretations are valid. My interest in embroidering books stems from the ability of embroidery to resemble ink drawings. Embroidery provides whole new dimensions, both conceptual and physical, to the act of conceiving, and interacting with, the finished book. My books aim to change our perception of the act of writing and drawing. They are labor-intensive, and they follow rigorous research on topics that are first translated into drawings on paper before they are transferred and hand-embroidered on to the cloth. As a result, they are mostly unique editions" (Artist Statement). Acebo-Choy's books are in private and public collections including the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, The New York Public Library, and UC Santa Cruz. Fine. (#37319)

Price: $1,750

Homage to Botanical Designs in Coptic Tapestries
Variant Edition in Hand Carved Camel Bone
Egyptian Book Artist

Aly, Islam.
#5 Botanical Explorations. Tapestry Folio Series.
Cairo, Egypt: Islam Aly, 2024.

Number 5 of 30 variant copies - each with slightly different covers and illustrations. Book #5 of the "'Tapestry Folios Series', which celebrates the exquisite craftsmanship of Coptic tapestries, renowned for their vibrant colors and intricate designs. Traditionally, these textiles were adorned with motifs, showcasing mythological creatures, human figures, animals, botanical elements, and geometric patterns. Additionally, Christian symbols such as saints, scenes from the Old and New Testaments, crosses, and oriental symbols were commonly depicted. Each book in this series focuses on a unique selection of motifs, inviting readers to explore the beauty of Coptic tapestry art. 'Botanical Explorations' celebrates the intricate flora depicted in Coptic tapestries, highlighting the beauty of botanical elements within Coptic textile art." (Islam Aly).

Illustrated with laser-cut botanical elements designed to replicate the intricate patterns, appearance, and texture found in traditional Coptic tapestries. Coptic bound in hand-carved white camel bone with intricately carved spaces and cuts that reveal the patterns inside the book. The pages are green, yellow, and cream handmade paper. Green leather clasp wraps around book to hold closed. Unpaginated. Size: 1.5 x 2.5 x 1 inches.

Islam Aly is an Egyptian-born book artist and teacher. 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. (#37308)

Price: $350 

A Personal Journey with Gender Identity & Transition

[Blue Rose Press]
Taxman, Emilee.
Genderless.
Madison, WI: Blue Rose Press, 2023.

Small (about 15 copies) unnumbered edition. A documentation of the artist's personal journey with gender and transition. Bound in blue cloth covered boards over pink cloth covered spine with paper title label to front board. Letterpress printed in Bodoni MT on Mohawk Superfine paper at UW Madison with screenprinted decorative papers. 39 pages.

According to the artist: "My art is an exploration of emotion: my own, those of the people I am close to, and those of the communities I belong to. I use my books and prints to illuminate frequently underrepresented subjects. I explore the subtleties of how people think, feel, remember, or identify, drawing on major life changes that influence identity and ideas of the future. In navigating these subjects, I engage in a deeper form of self-expression. I represent my thoughts, my fears, the emotions that keep me up at night."

Emilee Taxman (b. 1997) is an artist and printmaker best known for their interactive letterpress printed books and broadsides. Their work explores major life changes that influence identity and ideas of the future, primarily through the lenses of mental illness and transgender experiences. Taxman has worked at Distinctive Bookbinding, Center for Book Arts, and San Francisco Center for the Book, and received the Hamilton Wayzgoose Academic Merit Scholarship in 2022. Their books are in library special collections across the country, including in Yale University’s Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library and the University of Iowa’s main library. They recently completed their first solo exhibition, “Bound,” exploring combinations of book art and installation. They have recently completed their M.F.A. in Studio Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fine. (#37291)

Price: $250 

20 Cards with Untranslatable Words from 20 Languages - with definitions

Coron, Beatrice, book artist.
World's Worthy Words.
New York: Beatrice Coron, 2024.

Number 5 of 20 copies signed by the book artist. This is a witty and amusing set of 20 cards that purport to define and illustrate untranslatable words from 20 different languages. The languages range from Italian, Hebrew, and Danish, to Japanese and Bantu. As examples, the word "akihi" in Hawaiian is defined as asking for directions then forgetting them; "tartle" in Scottish is defined as introducing people without remembering their names.

The printed cards are in a hand'made slipcase covered in blue cloth with a yellow cloth spine, with an image of the globe with the title and artist name mounted on the front cover. The cards slip into the inner pocket, where a round cut-out reveals the illustration on the first card. In fine condition. Measures 3 x 4.25 inches.  (#37320)

Price: $160

An Artists' Book on an Elephant Herd
Based on a Poem from 1900 by Leconte de Lisle

Lisle, Leconte de; Beatrice Coron, book artist.
Les Elephants - Poème.
New York: Beatrice Coron, 2004.

One of 12 copies. "Les Elephants" is an evocative poem written in 1900 and published in the poetry collection, Poèmes Barbares. Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), known as Leconte de Lisle, was a poet, leader of the Parnassian school of French poetry, who from 1865 to 1895 was acknowledged as the foremost French poet apart from the aging Victor Hugo. Leconte de Lisle’s theories, reacting against Romanticism and stressing the need for impersonality and discipline in poetry, were expressed with deliberate provocativeness and exaggeration. His epic poetry is often overweighted by erudition and ornamentation, but his shorter poems convey a compelling and individual vision, and “Qaïn” (1869; “Cain”) is one of the most impressive short epics of the 19th century[Encyclopaedia Brittanica].

The well known book artist Beatrice Coron has created an inventive structure to convey the lyrics of this poem, which notes and celebrates the passage of a solemn, massive herd of elephants that moves slowly across the red sands. The text of the poem is written across a series of 12 illustrated stenciled boards that convey the images of the elephants as they move across the sand, with the poem printed on silk and the red sand simulated on the back of each board. The boards are accompanied by a paper page with the text of the poem in French. The boards and printed poem are housed on box with covers of simulated leather that resembles an elephant's skin. In fine condition. Measures 2 x 11 inches. With 12 stenciled boards. (#37321)

Price: $740

Rhyming Shape Book on Kittens, Puppies, and More
Chromolithographic Illustrations

Father Tuck.
Rambles and Gambols.
New York, London, and Paris: Raphael Tuck and Sons, Co. Ltd, circa 1899.

Part of Father Tuck's "Happy Hour" Series. No. 1749. An uncommon and lovely shape book featuring rhyming verses about kittens, puppies, lambs, squirrels, and more. Raphael Tuck (1821 - 1900), his wife, and later his sons printed greeting cards and published novelty children's books including a series of movable books in the mid to late 1800s. He was the official publisher for Queen Victoria. The family company continued to operate successfully until the factory was bombed during WWII.

Side-stapled binding in stiff paper wrappers with red title and kittens to front wrap. Splits along both ends of spine, but binding remains secure. Crease to top front corners and a few chips to edges of wrappers. Minor soiling to rear wrapper, old price sticker, and partially erased pencil inscription. The interior has a tape repair on first two pages. Short closed tears to edges of a few pages. Minor soiling and finger smudges throughout. One spread is a bit rubbed, but text is still legible. Four interior pages and the front wrapper feature chromolithograph illustrations. Size: 14.5 x 7.5 inches. Unpaginated. [16 pages.] Very Good. (#37341)

Price: $250

The Arabian Nights - Fine Press Edition

[Foolscap Press]
Lane, Edward William, translator; Brian Bowes, illustrator.
The Story of the Fisherman.
Santa Cruz: Foolscap Press, 2015.

Number 80 of 117 copies of which 101 were for sale. Signed by the artist. This story is part of a much larger collection of folklore and literature popularly known as the Arabian Nights or The One Thousand and One Nights. This splendid edition from the Foolscap Press, started by Larry Van Velzer and Peggy Gotthold in 1990, presents both a story of words and a story told in graphic arts form.

The accordion style binding allows the book to be opened to display the story in images and to discover the visual connections between the exuberant linked illustrations done by Santa Cruz illustrator Brian Bowes. There are eighteen illustrations that are hand colored using the pochoir technique. The yellow and blue cover design is based on an illuminated Koran leaf from 1313. Printed in Legend type on Lettre paper and handbound at the Press. Housed in a blue cloth box with a paper title label on the spine. The box’s front flap is held shut by a neodymium magnet. In fine condition. 9 1/8 x 8 5/16 inches. Unpaginated. [80 pages]  (#37349)

Price: $875 

Endangered & Threatened Insects
Letterpress and Hand Colored Mezzotints

[Gazelle and Goat]
Alpers, Rhiannon, book artist and printer; Holly Downing, mezzotints; Jane Hirshfield, poems.
Vanishing.
San Francisco: Gazelle and Goat Press, 2021.

Number 10 of 20 copies signed by the book artist. Rhiannon Alpers is a well-known and highly regarded book artist, papermaker, and letterpress printer. She has exhibited internationally, and her edition and one-of-a-kind artist books are produced under the Gazelle and Goat Press imprint. Rhiannon has taught academic courses at San Francisco Art Institute, California College of the Arts (San Francisco), University of San Francisco, and Columbia College Chicago, Dominican University. She has also taught workshops for adult centers such as San Francisco Center for the Book, Penland School of Crafts, Guild of Bookworks, Book Arts LA, Focus on Book Arts, San Diego Book Arts, Center for Book and Paper in Chicago, and at her own studio in Denver. In 2015 and 2017 she received the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts Jurors' Recognition of Merit for her editioned artist books.

The poetry and imagery in Vanishing revolve around insects currently considered threatened or endangered. They are part of the quote-unquote insect apocalypse. Threats to their survival include habitat loss and fragmentation, invasion of non-native species, pesticide application, and global warming. The insects included are: Monarch Butterfly, Red-Winged Grasshopper, Delta Green Ground Beetle, Rusty Patched Bumblebee, Stag Beetle, Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, Hawaiian Green Sphinx Moth, American Burying Beetle, Smith’s Blue Butterfly, Southern Damselfly, and Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle.

A collaborative project in which Holly Downing made and hand-colored the mezzotint engravings, and Rhiannon designed, letterpress printed, and bound the edition. An accordion structure housed in a grey cloth covered box with dark grey title to front board, museum glass panel, and magnetic closure. The book is printed on Rives BFK, Arjowiggins Kea Kolour Vellum Sombre Grey, and a handmade cotton rag paper created by the Rhiannon Alpers. This book won the third place award at  Pulp: Book & Paper Arts at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts exhibition in Spring of 2024. Unpaginated [with 26 pages]. Book Size: 7.25 x 7.25 inches (closed); 140 inches open.  Fine. (#37326)

Price: $2,000 

Fine Press Edition of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minotaur"
Style and Illustrations 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

Inspired by 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and 'The Haunting of Hill House'

Josephson, Becca (Shirley Jackson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman).
Because / In Spite.
Oakland, CA: Becca Josephson, 2021.

Number 3 of 15 copies. "Grown out of an exploration into narratives and experiences of haunted spaces, mainly 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson and 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 'because/in spite' approaches adaptation in the context of fear. The safety of the house shaped cover opens to reveal the chaotic and uncertain path of lines on the internal book. The lines gain order as the accordion stretches. The characters move within the endless cycle of pages, from deterioration to control, from because to in spite" (artist's statement).

Bound in turquoise cloth covered boards with paper title label to front board. The boards wrap around the textblock and fasten magnetically. The interior is a long accordion printed on both sides with a maze of lines (or cracks) on a textured background reminiscent of chipping paint in an old house. As the reader unfurls the accordion and follows the maze of text, they venture further into this haunted space along with the characters. Letterpress, monoprint, and digitally printed on Mohawk Superfine paper in Optima type. Housed in a lime green cloth slipcase with torn blue paper shapes affixed to the covers. Book and case are purposefully distressed with rubbing and small scuffs to cloth. Printed at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Box size: about 9.5 x 8 inches. Fine. (#37311)

Price: $750

A Story of the 3 Little Pigs

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. ery Good. (#37338)

Price: $95.00  

Musically Inspired Set of 4 Artists' Books
Original Scores for Each Book

Williams, Thomas Parker, book artist and composer.
Prime Number Meters.
Philadelphia: Thomas Parker Williams, 2023.

A unique four-section artist's book by noted book artist and composer Thomas Parker Williams, signed and dated by him on each of the separate panels comprising the work. Williams began creating artists' books in 1998 while also painting. As of 2009 he has limited his art practice exclusively to artists' books. He often creates videos and composes music to accompany his books. Books by Williams or the Luminice Press imprint under which he and his wife Mary Agnes Williams issue books, may be found in 88 public collections around the country including the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. and the National Gallery of Art.

This work is part of Williams's WORDLESS series- Painted and Drawn Narratives that are unique books with many different structures that contain a wordless narrative executed in multiple media. Transcriptions is a subset of the Wordless – Painted and Drawn Narratives series. Prime Number Meters are part of the Transcriptions series. All artwork, music composition, recording and performance (all instruments) by Thomas Parker Williams. The musical compositions are available through his website.

This fascinating and complex work is based on experimental original music compositions using four prime numbers, 3, 5, 7 and 11, as the upper number of the time signature of an eight-beat measure. These time signatures, 3/8, 5/8, 7/8 and 11/8, result in music with a very different feeling than the 4/4 rhythm commonly used. All rhythms in Prime Number Meters are programmed to run at a tempo of 200 beats per minute. The visual works of three panels for each section are literal transcriptions of the music. The color panels on the front of each set convey the mood created by the music, and are accurate in horizontal distance to the tempo. The reverse side of the panels illustrate the programmed rhythm sections in music notation. The covers, resembling LP covers, illustrate an enlarged section of the color panels. Each of the time signatures is shown in a separate section of drawings and panels, each housed in a black paper folder. with the title of that section's time signature on a paper label on the front flap of its folder. The work comprises 4 sets of drawings and covers consisting of a cover 12 x 12 x.25 inches and three hinged panels each 11.75 inches diameter. Each set of panels open to 35 inches. The paper used for this production is Strathmore 400 series acrylic sheets. Williams used dry pigments in alkyd medium, acrylic inks, enamel and pigment markers to create the color panels and the rhythm sections in music notation. The bindings are a disappearing hinge structure. The artist's working papers are available with the purchase of this work. In fine condition.  (#37233)

Price: $6,000 for all 4 or $1,750 for a section