zoom

A look at the artistic bindings and book arts of Finnish artist Mia Liejonstdedt is up at Book-Aesthete: Contemporary.

zoom

Foirades / Fizzles
Story by Samuel Beckett. Artwork by Jasper Johns. Paris and New York: Éditions de Minuit & Petersburg Press, 1976.

Separate title pages and text in French and English. 26 lift-ground aquatints and 5 etchings with mixed media, 1 soft-ground etching, and 1 aquatint, by Jasper Johns, plus 2 color lithographs used as endleaves; all on handmade wove Auvergne Richard de Bas paper, watermarked with Beckett’s initials and Johns’s signature

zoom

A Weed Among the Flowers
Graham Greene.

Number 100 of 330 copies signed by the author and Sir Stephen Spender, frontispiece, silk-covered green cloth, housed in silk-covered green folding case with clasp, 1990, first editions,8vo and 16mo (5)

zoom

An Under Pressure Art Production ‘20,000 Leagues Under The Sea’

Moving Mechanical Sculpture Cast Silicone, Internal Mechanics, Digital Media & Bronze
19.8 cm x 12.9 cm (book)
On Perspex Display
£3,000 plus vat

B-A Note: Oh wow, folks, you have got to take a look at this exhibit: Never Judge…? at Stolen Space Gallery. Several artists have interpreted and designed over 100 book covers (and I use “cover” loosely here). This image of Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination is pretty awesome as well.

Thanks to We Made This for the article and link to this exhibit.

zoom

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Carroll, Lewis. Illustrated by Salvador Dali.
Maecenas Press, New York, 1989.

Illustrated by Salvador Dali with 12 color plates, each overprinted with original “remarque” by Dali; original color etching as frontispiece, signed in the plate. (Folio) 17x11½, signatures loose in cloth folder (as issued), with straight-grain morocco & linen drop-back box, ivory clasps (one lacking). No. 1006 of 2500 copies printed on Mandeure paper.

Signed in pencil by Dali on the title page. Typography, etching and remarques printed by Ateliers Rigal. The twelve illustrations printed by M. Nourisson.

zoom

Pierre Belvès. Linogravure [Linocutting]. (Manuels du Père Castor). Paris: Flammarion, 1947.

This kit, which contains everything necessary for making linocuts, was one of a series designed to teach children how to mold clay, draw on scratch board, weave, and make plaster casts. Pierre Belvès, who designed the set for linocutting, later became a co-founder of the innovative art education program, Les ateliers du carrousel.

B-A Note: There is a wonderful on-line exhibit of rare, unusual and beautiful Coloring Books and other interactive books for children at the Cotsen Children’s Library. This is just one example.

zoom

Paul Faucher. Jeu de portraits [Portrait Game]. Illustrated by Georges Cherkessof. Paris: Flammarion, 1934.

B-A Note: There is a wonderful on-line exhibit of rare, unusual and beautiful Coloring Books and other interactive books for children at the Cotsen Children’s Library. This is just one example.

zoom

Das Sprechende Bilderbuch
Speaking picture book, with eight chromolithographed plates, each with accompanying poem and animal noise operated by pull-strings, fretwork giltwood sides, cloth binding with embossed cover and illustration of girl and dog reading.

zoom

Le Livre d’Images Parlantes
Speaking picture book, with eight chromo-lithographed plates, each with accompanying poem and animal noise operated by pull-strings, fretwork giltwood sides, cloth binding with cover illustration of family with speaking book, and retailer’s label Magasin des Enfants, Jouet et Jeux, Passage de l’Opera, Paris

zoom

fuckyeahbookarts:

Rachael Ashe. [details here]

Lovely representation of the art of alchemy.

I absolutely love this!

zoom

Lucinda, the Orphan: or The Costumes, a Tale Exemplified in a Series of Dresses
Printed for S. & J. Fuller, London, 1812, includes paper doll, seven costumes, six hats, book and slip case (light surface wear on book and slip case, some toning on figure).

zoom

Walpurgisnacht, the handbook (a prop, not a real book this time)

“In May I created a prop book for a movie currently in production. … The working title for the film is “The House at the End of the Lane.” It’s set in the first half of the 20th century, starting out in 1918. It has elements of horror, occult, and mystery, but basically it’s a tragedy—the story of a man who has lost something so dear to him he will go to any lengths to regain it. He eventually sets in motion a series of events that leads to a catastrophe far worse than his original loss.” ~Ross MacDonald

“Here are a couple of lines from the script: At times, it has the smell of living death—like gangrene in a hospital ward. At other times, its leather binding seems new. I mentioned that the cover … is leather. Well, that may be true—it may not. I believe the cover is human. Skin, Mr. Chambers”

B-A note: What a fun job! (And the movie sounds fascinating as well.) The article at tor.com contains more images of the book and a narrative of how he created it. (“I was all out of human skin, so goatskin had to suffice.”)

zoom

lindish:

Book Fractal: Complete (via B_Zedan)

Yes, it is a book with a room inside it. And in that room is a book case, on which are books

The whole set is incredible. I love that all the little books are made using the proper bindings, with the pages taken from examples of their full-size counterparts.