Products
Out of Ovid's Metamorphoses: Icarus
Shaker Heights, OH: Wind & Harlot Press, 1983. (20) pp. Approximately 2 7/8 x 2 1/8". LIMITED EDITION of 27 copies, this being #1. Tan paper boards, printed paper label on spine, French-fold, illustrated with line-drawing printed in red. A very fine copy, handsomely printed. (Bradbury, Wind & Harlot Press, 4)
The Metamorphoses is a Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, comprised of over 250 myths. This is the story of Icarus, whose winged downfall was caused by pride.
Ovid in Latin & English
Santa Cruz, CA: The Good Book Press, 1983. [14] pp. Approximately 1 3/8 x 1 7/8". LIMITED EDITION of 150 copies, this being #142. Quarter bound in black Morocco leather and blue handmade paper over boards, gilt stamped title on cover letterpress, white paper handmade by Peter, two linoeum cut illustrations by Donna, black and red printing, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Peter & Donna Thomas, 10; P&D Thomas Bibliography A26)
Peter and Donna Thomas, well-known book artists, authors, and paper-makers, have been operating their private press since 1976. "The text is an excerpt...'add little to little and there will be a great heap.' We were invited to the first gathering of miniature-book publishers, held the summer of 1984 in Tipp City, Ohio. A fellow printer, Gene Holtan of Green Gables Press, suggested the text after we told him about the event and our plans to make a 'keepsake' book for it." From the bibliography of Peter and Donnas Thomas.
Paisley American Folk
Wigtown, Scotland: The Gleniffer Press, 2000. 65 pp. Approx. 1 1/2 x 2". LIMITED EDITION of 260 copies, this being #39. Lovat green linson boards, perfect bound, copper gilt title and illustration on cover and copper gilt author on spine, special endpapers, original packaging, hand numbered on the colophon, in fine condition.
This book tells some stories of immigrants moving from Paisley, Scotland for a better life in America. Dr. Sylvia Clark is a noted local historian, writer and scholar who resides and Paisley.
Pax in Any Language Spells U.N.
Newport Beach, CA: Perky Co., 1984. Approximately 2 1/2 x 3 ". 27 pp. LIMITED EDITION of 200 copies, this being #101. Blue cloth over boards with gilt title and author on cover, letterpress by Castle Press, tipped-in flag reproduction, color illustrations, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Perky Co. 1)
From the colophon, "This book printed in the year of the 1984 California Olympics". It is the only book listed as being issued by this press, according to Bradbury. It is a sweet little patriotic book with a history of the United Nations and what it stands for.
Perfumed Garden
Lake City, CO: Ravenpress, 2002. [24] pp. (Box) Approximately 1 1/2 x 3 x 2". LIMITED EDITION of 20 copies, this being #17. Outer box is highly decorative carved stone with brass hinge, printed bottom liner, in fine condition; Marbled paper over boards with printed title label on front cover, printed as leaves and pasted to form pages, and pasted to endpapers to mount in marbled boards without spine, copies of watercolor illustrations, numbered and signed on the colophon by the publisher, in fine condition.
From page 1: "The Perfumed Garden by Sheikh Zefzawi is likely the most famous of the Arab love manuals. This miniature book is based on Nafzawi's descriptions of the eleven basic lovemaking postures". Alicia Bailey began publishing under the Ravenpress imprint in 1996. Ravenpress publications are held in private, public and special collections worldwide. Bailey thinks of the artists' book works she creates as interactive sculptures realized in the form of the book. She works in a wide variety of materials, including those not often associated with the book form, thus necessitating structural redesign and innovations.
Psalm 128
Santa Cruz, CA: The Good Book Press, 1985. (14) pp. Later edition. Approximately 1 3/4 x 2 7/16". LIMITED EDITION of 26 copies, this being # I. Brown leather over boards, gilt title on spine, inside white paper handmade by Peter, typography hand-set Barnhard Modern, illustrated with Peter's ornaments, numbered on the colophon, in fine condition. (P&D Thomas Bibliography A25)
This was the second book made for Donna's birthday. A second edition of 26 was printed for Mary Helen Dawson later that year. It was the same book in all respects except for changes to the colophon.
Re-rooting
Lake City, CO: Ravenpress, 1997. [18] pp. Approximately 1 3/8 x 1 3/8". LIMITED EDITION of 26 copies, this being #26. Paper covered box with wood, shell and bone sculpture on lid in fine condition; miniature book has paper covered board with bone, seed, ribbon closure, 5 illustrations, laserprint on paste paper and chiri tissue, signed and numbered on the colophon by the publisher, in fine conditon.
The text is excerpted from Donna Jackson's poem Re-rooting, © 1991. Bailey says that this book references her own awareness of union with earth and questions the notion of ever leaving the natural world. Alicia Bailey began publishing under the Ravenpress imprint in 1996. Ravenpress publications are held in private, public and special collections worldwide. Bailey thinks of the artists' book works she creates as interactive sculptures realized in the form of the book. She works in a wide variety of materials, including those not often associated with the book form, thus necessitating structural re-design and innovations.
Reminiscence of a Missal
[Czechoslovakia]: Jan Vrtilek, [1990]. Approximately 3/4 x 1". Green cloth over boards for the clamshell case, blind-stamped design on front cover, black velvet interior with indentation for the miniature book, tipped in typed note describing this as a Christmas /New Year gift for 1990-1991; Red leather over boards with gilt decorations and borders to both covers and spine, all edges gilt, miniature blindstamp on the lower edge of the inner rear cover: J.V., in fine condition.
Scarce miniature edition, made from cut up leaves from old books, most likely an 18th century Roman Missal, complete with some ornaments.
![RNDM TXT [design binding]](http://thebooklair.com/cdn/shop/files/001732_4dd9b28b-1f03-4825-aee1-1c879a120126_grande.jpg?v=1740451309)
RNDM TXT [design binding]
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2016. Approximately 2 x 3". First edition, LIMITED EDITION of 20 copies, this being #12. Design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press, metallic cloth covered cell phone style case. Black alligator-patterned goat skin over boards, floral endpapers, signed and numbered by the author on the colophon, fine condition.
Here is a creative binding and miniature book that is designed to have the appearance of an old-fashioned looking address book. The contents are comprised of a series of text message reminders of an individual over several weeks; the reader as voyeur peeks at a slice of a life. Quite humorous. Very limited edition at 20 copies. Patrice Miller's work has found its way to private and university collections, in the states and abroad. Human foibles, nature’s panoply, and artistic cleverness cannot help but inform future work. She continues to bind, and rebind, in Dallas, Texas.
Shaker Herbs: An Essay by Cynthia Elyce Rubin with 19th-century Shaker Herb Labels
(Northampton, MA): Catawba Press, 1984. Approximately 2 1/4 x 2 3/4 ". 40 pp. LIMITED EDITION of 155 copies, this being #36. Printed green paper boards with title and decorative border on cover, labels tipped in as frontispiece and throughout the text, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Catawba Press 1)
The only miniature book printed by Barbara Blumenthal of Catawba Press, the essay has been reprinted with the permission of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. The essay starts with a short history of the Shaker religion and their industries, which included agriculture, medicine, seeds, and foodstuffs. The latter part of the essay details the medicinal properties of the herbs that the Shakers used in their medicinal recipes. A beautiful little books, interspersed throughout with lovely Shaker herb labels for added interest.