New Arrivals
Book of Dragons
Van Nuys, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1979. 56 pp. Approximately 5/8 x 15/16". LIMITED EDITION of 300 copies, this being #2. Black leather, gilt titles on spine and cover, previous owner's bookplate on front free endpaper, marbled endpapers, signed and numbered on the colophon, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Barbara J. Raheb, 129)
From Volksmarchen der Serben or Folk Tales of the Serbs. Beautifully illustrated.
Dracula's Guest
Van Nuys, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1979. 40 pp. Approximately 5/8 x 15/16". LIMITED EDITION of 300 copies, this being #21. Black pyroxylin, gilt titles on spine and cover, previous owner's bookplate on front free endpaper, marbled endpapers, signed and numbered on the colophon, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Barbara J. Raheb, 136)
From Project Gutenberg: A few months before the lamented death of my husband—I might say even as the shadow of death was over him—he planned three series of short stories for publication, and the present volume is one of them. To his original list of stories in this book, I have added an hitherto unpublished episode from Dracula. It was originally excised owing to the length of the book, and may prove of interest to the many readers of what is considered my husband’s most remarkable work. The other stories have already been published in English and American periodicals. Had my husband lived longer, he might have seen fit to revise this work, which is mainly from the earlier years of his strenuous life. But, as fate has entrusted to me the issuing of it, I consider it fitting and proper to let it go forth practically as it was left by him.
FLORENCE BRAM STOKER
The Deserted Village
Van Nuys, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1981. 48 pp. Approximately 5/8 x 15/16". LIMITED EDITION of 300 copies, this being #63. Blue pyroxylin with gilt titles on spine and cover, previous owner's bookplate on front free endpaper, marbled endpapers, illustrated, signed and numbered on the colophon, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Barbara J. Raheb, 288)
Oliver Goldsmith (1728 - 1774) was an English writer best known for The Vicar of Wakefield, The Deserted Village and She Stoops to Conquer. He is thought by some to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes. The Deserted Village is a poem, a work of social commentary which condemns rural depopulation and the pursuit of excessive wealth (Wikipedia).
The Creation
Tarzana, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1981. 72 pp. Approximately 5/8 x 15/16". LIMITED EDITION of 300 copies, this being #51. Black pyroxylin with gilt titles on spine and cover, previous owner's bookplate on front free endpaper, marbled endpapers, illustrated, illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones, signed and numbered on the colophon, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Barbara J. Raheb, 281)
The illustrations in the book were made for an edition of "Bible Innocentium" which was to have been produced by the Kelmscott Press and would have contained upwards of two hundred pictures. Many were begun, but none quite finished. The designs contained herein have been modified from a horizontal to a vertical format and the book itself is based on a facsimile of the first edition published in 1902 by Longmans Greene & Co., printed by the Chiswick Press. (from the forward by Barbara Raheb)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Tarzana, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1981. 31 pp. Approximately 5/8 x 15/16". LIMITED EDITION of 300 copies, this being #165. Burgundy pyroxylin with gilt titles on spine and cover, marbled endpapers, illustrated, signed and numbered on the colophon, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Barbara J. Raheb, 329)
Mark Twain's (1835 - 1910) humorous alternate history story, first published in 1889.
Sinking to Heaven
Lake City, CO: Ravenpress, 2001. (Box) Approximately 1 1/2 x 3 x 2". LIMITED EDITION of 25 copies, this being #12. Outer box is dark wood with decorative brass onlays, in fine condition; Color copies from watercolor paintings with Mohawk Superfine text that are laminated to museum boards with burgundy and orange ribbons, two-sided, six paneled Jacob's ladder construction, numbered and signed on the colophon by the publisher, in fine condition.
This is the second book in the miniature pillow book series. Bailey uses evocative language and richly erotic imagery to refer to passions that remain indescribable. 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.
There are Names for Those Acts (Which We Long to Perform)
Lake City, CO: Ravenpress, 2001. (Box) Approximately 1 1/2 x 2 5/8 x 13/16". LIMITED EDITION of 25 copies, this being #11. Outer box is dark wood with brass decorations, in fine condition; Accordion hinged boards with paste and marbled papers, book opens to 2 x 9", color laserprint from original watercolors, numbered and signed on the colophon by the publisher, in fine condition.
This is the first book in the miniature pillow book series. Based on the traditional instructional pillow books given couples on their wedding night, this two-sided accordion contains six secually explicit watercolors paired with six physical and spiritual descriptions of the 'embraces of love' taken from ancient Asian texts. 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.
Belladonna
Aurora, CO: Ravenpress, 2005. Approximately 1 3/8 x 1 3/8". LIMITED EDITION of 25 copies, this being #9. Cosmetics case, with printed foil label, slightly worn with small bits of foil missing, in very good condition; Three accordion miniature books have polymer clay covers with laser print transfer, illustrated, numbered and signed on the colophon on the back of the case by the publisher, in fine condition.
Created as part of a series using cosmetic tools and containers as structure, this piece contributes to an ongoing commentary on the harms of the cosmetic industry. Three accordion books detail various aspects of the Belladonna plant (Deadly Nightshade). This plant, although toxic, has been used medicinally and as an aid to beauty as its ingestion enlarges the pupils of the eye (a look that indicates sexual arousal and is known as 'bedroom eyes'). 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.
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.
Frederick Law Olmsted at Biltmore
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2023. Approximately 3 x 2 3/4", oblong. LIMITED EDITION of 10 copies, this being #9. Design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press. Green photographic paper cover with green leather quarter bound, extra endpapers on special paper, stamp frontispiece, colophon and limitation which is, signed and numbered by the publisher, illustrations, in fine condition. Beautifully structured and well-written biography.
Frederick Law Olmsted (1922 - 1903) was an American landscape architect, as well as a public administrator, social critic, and journalist. He was famous for co-designing many well known parks such as New York's Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, as well as the campuses of Wellesley College, Smith College, Stanford University and the University of Chicago. Olmsted not only designed the landscape architecture of the Biltmore for George Vanderbilt II, but he designed the Biltmore Village to replicate the working estates of Europe. He was an important early conservationist and he encouraged the full use of naturally occurring features of any given space.
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.