Priscilla Juvelis, Inc. (207) 967-0909 pj@juvelisbooks.com

Priscilla Juvelis – Rare BooksCatalogue 49 – Contemporary Book Arts

Mostly New Arrivals

1. Cheloniidae Press. Mark Twain. The Jumping Frog.Woodengravings by Alan James Robinson. [Easthampton, MA]:Cheloniidae Press, 1985. $3,000One of five artist proof copies, bound in full morocco, an original drawingby Alan James Robinson (of the celebrated frog) with one extra suite ofthe woodengravings and portrait etching of Twain, signed on the colo-phon by the artist. The Regular Edition was limited to 250 copies andbound in green paper wrappers; there were 50 copies in the DeluxeEdition bound in quarter leather and 15 copies bound in full morocco with

two extra suites and a copy of the RegularEdition plus five Artist Proof copies boundin full leather with one extra suite and anoriginal drawing. All editions are printedon Saunders paper in Centaur and Arrighitypes at Wild Carrot Letterpress with theassistance of Arthur Larson. The 15woodengravings printed by Harold Patrick

McGrath. Page size: 6 x 8½ inches. Bound by Daniel Kelm: full undyedOasis with onlays of the frog in repose — before the jump on the frontpanel and after the jump on the back panel, with paper doublures andmorocco onlays showing the frog in mid-jump. Housed in linen clamshellbox with pull-out portfolio for extra suites and the book. This Cheloniidaeedition of the JUMPING FROG is from MARK TWAIN’S SKETCHES,NEW AND OLD (1875). It contains three versions of this notorious andcelebrated tale: the original, the version translated into French (inad-equately so, according to Twain) and the version “restored to the Englishafter martyrdom in the French” by Twain. The afterword, “The PrivatePrinting of the ‘Jumping Frog’ Story” by Samuel Clemens, first appearedin the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW (1894). A lovely copy of thisAmerican classic. (10343)

2. Cheloniidae Press. Robinson, Alan James. Cetacea, TheGreat Whales. [Easthampton, MA]: Cheloniidae Press, [1981].

$3,000One of 100 copies, signed by artist Alan James Robinson, binders DavidBourbeau and Gray Parrot and printer, Harold Patrick McGrath, all onArches Cover Buff, from a total issue of 110 (100 copies plus 10 artist’sproof copies). Page size: 22 x 15 inches. Bound: loose as issued withsheets laid in black Niger oasis goat folder sculpted in low relief with thehead of a Right Whale by David Bourbeau at The Thistle Bindery for the

front panel. The rear panel is blackcloth over boards. This beautifulfolder is housed in a quarter leatherMoroccan goat drop back box byGray Parrot, short split at lower jointof box else fine. The seven bleedetchings by Alan Robinson depict themajor species of whales; there are

numerous blind-stamped line-cuts and two woodengravings. The textwhich contains biological information and twelve two-color maps show-ing migration routes and breeding areas is printed by Harold McGrath atthe Hampshire Typothetae. The artist printed the etchings at CheloniidaePress. The project was produced in conjunction with a grant from theEnvironmental Marine Arts Fund whish is part of the Center for Environ-mental Education and the Whale Protection Fund. This is a stunningproduction. (10341)

3. Davidson, Laura. 9 Cities one artist. [Boston, MA]: 2009.$800

Artist’s book, one of nine copies only, all on Frankfurt paper, each signedby the artist, Laura Davidson, and numbered in pencil. Page size: 2 x4-¾ inches; 22pp. 11of which are printed, painted and lettered includingthe titlepage and colophon. Bound by the artist: hand-painted paper over

boards with green linen spine, the paper covers consist of Ms. Davidson’shand-drawn map with the title lettered in black and red. The endpapersand versos are also hand-drawn maps, all on ivory ground with hand-watercoloring, and red and black “trail” markings. The titlepage and the“9 CITIES” featured are cityscapes that are hand-colored drypointetchings highlighted with ink and gold leaf. The cities featured are Ms.Davidson’s own neighborhood in Boston, New York (Chrysler Buildingand Brooklyn Bridge), Washington, DC (Washington Monument andLibrary of Congress), Florence (the Arno River and the Duomo), Rome(Pantheon), Venice (San Marco Square and Bridge of Sighs), Paris(Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower), London (the London Eye andLondon Bridge), and St. Petersburg (details of church on Spilled Blood- St. Isaac’s Cathedral). The colophon reads “every artist should travel.”With results such as this beautiful little book, it is hard to do anything butagree completely. Ms. Davidson’s drypoints are refreshingly modern; thegold gilt adds a note of “illuminated manuscript”. The results are viewsof timeless cities that resonate in today’s world. (10348)

4. Hanmer, Karen. Celestial Navigation. Glenview, IL: 2008.$675

Artist’s book, one of 30 copies, all on Somerset Velvet paper with hingesof Dover book cloth, signed by the artist / author on the hinged triangularhinged wrappers. Page size: 6-¾ x 5-¾ x 5 inches folded, 17-1/5 x 30inches open; 16pp. reading as traditional book, 6 of the 16 pages aredouble folds with another 4 pages each contained in the folds. Theconstruct is of ink-jet printed,hinged triangles with text andimages printed against a photo-graph of the Milky Way. Thetext is a poem by Hanmer andconcerns looking to the nightsky to recapture the memory ofa long lost beloved. The imagesare an illustrated catalogue ofinstruments used across the agesto navigate by the stars as wellas a 19th-century astronomical chart. If the book is unfolded flat, itreferences historical star charts or contemporary NASA composite pho-tographs. It can also be folded into myriad sculptural shapes. Perfectlycapturing the mystery and wonder of the night sky, Ms. Hanmer escortsthe reader / viewer on a marvelous journey. (10346)

Priscilla Juvelis, Inc. (207) 967-0909 pj@juvelisbooks.com

5. Krause, Dorothy. Compositions. [Marshfield Hills, MA]:2010. $3,500Unique artist’s book, made from hand-written knitting instruction book,belonging to Mrs. Mary E. Gibson of Gloucester, MA, so inscribed inpencil on the cover by her and dated 1907. Page size: 6-½ x 8-¼ inches;74pp. Bound by Mary McCarthy: original “Compositions” book disbound,original paper covers mounted on black over boards and resewn on three

black cloth exposed tabs, housed incustom-made black cloth overboards box, with digitally printedslightly reduced in size copy oforiginal label on front of box printedin blue and tan, box fastened with10-inch wood crochet hook throughsix tan fabric loops, bottom of boxlifts, tan linen pulls at each corner,to reveal seven vintage implementsused in needle work in original blackleather pouches. An intriguing andhandsome homage to “women’swork” created by an artist who hasused an “altered book” format, re-

sulting in a strong feminist statement as well as a beautiful book object.The opening page is blank, that is, no knitting instructions noted by

Mrs. Gibson. However, the artist has fittingly collaged a W.R.C. purplesilk Delegate badge, Concord 1901 onto this first page. The Women’sRelief Corps was established to aid the Grand Army of the Republic,formed in 1866, to assist all veterans of the Civil War. The W.R.C., amongother things, established homes for women nurses, helping women whovolunteered their services to the U.S. during times of war, as well ascreating articles of clothing, bandages, etc. for the Union soldier’s homes.Also collaged over the knitting instructions are images of Harriet BeecherStowe, Virginia Woolf, vin-tage envelopes, designs, thehead of the Statue of Lib-erty surrounded by printedimages of various vintageadvertising rulers, womensuffragists, nineteenth cen-tury hand-written in pencilledger book page of ac-counts, angels, Boye’s im-age of “Votes for Women”as well as Queen Victoriaand a 1908 newspaper article featuring Carrie Chapman Catt’s argumentsfor woman suffrage. The article, by Margaret B. Downing, closes with aparagraph on the broadening of women’s sphere so that women “couldearn an honest living.” (10345)

Five Unique Books by Nancy Leavitt -with the verse of Emily Dickinson

Ms. Leavitt has organized a number of poems by Emily Dickinson intoseven reccurring themes she found particularly appealing and that wouldlend themselves to book format. The seven books themes are: Spring,Summer, Woods, Garden, Earth, Gentian, and Rose. All, of course, areconcerned with the garden and earth’s yearly renewal and are, for anygardener, irresistible. The texts are lettered in a modernized Carolingianhand in Sumi ink and watercolor that Ms. Leavitt developed afterstudying original Dickinson manuscripts. Ms. Leavitt has embellishedthe pages with original watercolors of various sizes as well as collageelements. Each poem has the “Johnson number,” that is, the numbersassigned by Thomas H. Johnson, Editor in THE POEMS OF EMILYDICKINSON published by The Belknap Press of Harvard UniversityPress (1983) collaged somewhere on the watercolor near the poem.

6. Leavitt, Nancy. Emily Dickinson. Sweet Things Wrapped inWords: Earth. Stillwater, ME: 2010. $3,500Unique Artist’s book, one of a series of seven titles, containing the verseof Emily Dickinson, hand-painted and lettered by Nancy Leavitt, all onKatie MacGregor handmade papers, each signed by the artist, NancyLeavitt. Page size: 10-¼ x 6 inches, 20pp. (12 of which are painted and/or lettered) in each of the seven titles. In addition, there is a small (4-¼

x 7-½ inch) sheet laid in printedwith the story of the title of theseries, SWEET THINGSWRAPPED IN WORDS, signed byMs. Leavitt in pencil and embel-lished with an original watercolorof a flower that is in the same colorsas that on the front panel of thebinding. Bound by Joelle LeavittWebber at the Mermaid Bindery:hand sewn and bound in brown silk,

housed in custom-made matching box, label on front panel hand paintedby Ms. Leavitt with a single flower and stem and collaged as well as handlettered white paper label lettered in black on spine. Each of the books inthe series has the same hand-lettered introduction composed by Ms.Leavitt noting Emily Dickinson’s deep involvement with the naturalworld around her, especially the world of flowers.

There are six of Ms. Dickinson’s verses in this volume (#55, 681,1255, 66, 392, and 707). The watercolors of small seeds and seed packetof the double-page spread, with a tiny printed dictionary definition of theword “plant” collaged on the outside of the seed packet, signal adetermination that is inherent in the verse. (10312)

7. Leavitt, Nancy. Emily Dickinson. Sweet Things Wrapped inWords: Garden. Stillwater, ME: 2010. $3,500Unique Artist’s book, one of a series of seven titles, containing the verseof Emily Dickinson, hand-painted and lettered by Nancy Leavitt, all onKatie MacGregor handmade papers, each signed by the artist, NancyLeavitt. Page size: 10-¼ x 6 inches, 20pp. (12 of which are painted and/or lettered) in each of the seven titles. In addition, there is a small (4-¼x 7-½ inch) sheet laid in printed with the story of the title of the series,SWEET THINGS WRAPPED IN WORDS, signed by Ms. Leavitt inpencil and embellished with an original watercolor of a flower that is inthe same colors as that on the frontpanel of the binding. Bound byJoelle Leavitt Webber at the Mer-maid Bindery: hand sewn and boundin eggplant-colored silk, housed incustom-made matching box, labelon front panel hand painted by Ms.Leavitt with a single flower andstem and collaged as well as handlettered white paper label letteredin black on spine. Each of the booksin the series has the same hand-lettered introduction composed by Ms.Leavitt noting Emily Dickinson’s deep involvement with the naturalworld around her, especially the world of flowers.

There are seven of Ms. Dickinson’s verses in this volume (#916, 72,899, 60, 380, 28 and 50). The cloudy pinks and lavenders of the asters thatform the double page spread with poem #60 (with the lines ending“Argues the Aster still / Reasons the Daffodil / Profound!”) capture theethereal nature of a summer day that is, at the same time, grounded by theglories of the earth. (10326)

8. Leavitt, Nancy. Emily Dickinson. Sweet Things Wrapped inWords: Spring. Stillwater, ME: 2010. $3,500Unique Artist’s book, one of a series of seven titles, containing the verseof Emily Dickinson, hand-painted and lettered by Nancy Leavitt, all onKatie MacGregor handmade papers, each signed by the artist, Nancy

Priscilla Juvelis, Inc. (207) 967-0909 pj@juvelisbooks.com

Leavitt. Page size: 10-¼ x 6 inches,20pp. (12 of which are painted and/or lettered) in each of the seventitles. In addition, there is a small(4-¼ x 7-½ inch) sheet laid in printedwith the story of the title of theseries, SWEET THINGSWRAPPED IN WORDS, signed byMs. Leavitt in pencil and embel-lished with an original watercolorof a flower that is in the same colors

as that on the front panel of the binding. Bound by Joelle Leavitt Webberat the Mermaid Bindery: hand sewn and bound in lime green silk, housedin custom-made matching box, label on front panel hand painted by Ms.Leavitt with a single flower and stem and collaged as well as hand letteredwhite paper label lettered in black on spine. Each of the books in the serieshas the same hand-lettered introduction composed by Ms. Leavitt notingEmily Dickinson’s deep involvement with the natural world around her,especially the world of flowers. There are seven of Ms. Dickinson’sverses in this volume (#63, 90, 134, 361, 22, 81, and 905). The watercol-ors of small violets sprouting along the bottom of a double-page spreadwith a tiny printed dictionary definition collaged below (where their rootswould be) stand as announcement of Spring as do the emerging daffodilfollowed by the full-page image of that yellow beauty. Fragile andtentative, these heralds nonetheless are real inhabitants of our naturalworld, provoking such positive response as the verses of Emily Dickinson.(10321)

9. Leavitt, Nancy. Emily Dickinson. Sweet Things Wrapped inWords: Summer. Stillwater, ME: 2010. $3,500Unique Artist’s book, one of a series of seven titles, containing the verseof Emily Dickinson, hand-painted and lettered by Nancy Leavitt, all onKatie MacGregor handmade papers, each signed by the artist, NancyLeavitt. Page size: 10-¼ x 6 inches, 20pp. (12 of which are painted and/or lettered) in each of the seven titles. In addition, there is a small (4-¼x 7-½ inch) sheet laid in printed with the story of the title of the series,SWEET THINGS WRAPPED IN WORDS, signed by Ms. Leavitt inpencil and embellished with an original watercolor of a flower that is inthe same colors as that on the front panel of the binding. Bound by JoelleLeavitt Webber at the Mermaid Bindery: hand sewn and bound inraspberry-colored silk, housed in custom-made matching box, label onfront panel hand painted by Ms. Leavitt with a single flower and stem andcollaged as well as hand lettered white paper label lettered in black onspine. Each of the books in the series has the same hand-letteredintroduction composed by Ms. Leavitt noting Emily Dickinson’s deepinvolvement with the natural world around her, especially the world offlowers. There are six of Ms. Dickinson’s verses in this volume (#180,137, 95, 339, 1058, 849). The bril-liant double-page spread of verse#65 (“My nosegays are for Cap-tives - ”) features Ms. Dickinson’sbeloved daisies and pink flowers(roses?) tied with a pink bow. Theprinted definition of daisy, takenfrom an old dictionary, is collagedas a stem of one of the daisy heads,while the definition of “nose-gay”is collaged among the other stems.Closing with verse #869, “The good will of a flower” and the image ofsmall pink leaves the reader in no doubt of the author and artist’s love ofthe natural world, which the reader is seduced into sharing. (10325)

10. Leavitt, Nancy. Emily Dickinson. Sweet Things Wrapped inWords: Woods. Stillwater, ME: 2010. $3,500Unique Artist’s book, one of a series of seven titles, containing the verseof Emily Dickinson, hand-painted and lettered by Nancy Leavitt, all on

Katie MacGregor handmade papers, each signed by the artist, NancyLeavitt. Page size: 10-¼ x 6 inches, 20pp. (12 of which are painted and/or lettered) in each of the seven titles. In addition, there is a small (4-¼x 7-½ inch) sheet laid in printed with the story of the title of the series,SWEET THINGS WRAPPED IN WORDS, signed by Ms. Leavitt inpencil and embellished with an original watercolor of a flower that is inthe same colors as that on the front panel of the binding. Bound by JoelleLeavitt Webber at the Mermaid Bindery: hand sewn and bound in darkgreen silk, housed in custom-made matching box, label on front panelhand painted by Ms. Leavitt with asingle flower and stem and collagedas well as hand lettered white paperlabel lettered in black on spine.Each of the books in the series hasthe same hand-lettered introductioncomposed by Ms. Leavitt notingEmily Dickinson’s deep involve-ment with the natural world aroundher, especially the world of flowers.There are six of Ms. Dickinson’sverses in this volume (#74, 2, 6,404, 82, 41). The watercolor double-page spread of four trees reflects theverse (#6) with pink woods and brown woods. By the suggested outlinesof the trees, the reader / viewer has the sense of slow motion with the treesbudding and changing colors before us. Dickinson’s verse is well served.(10324)

11. Moore, Suzanne. Something Beyond. Text by CorinneJohnson’s I Want a Garden. Vashon Island, WA: 2010. $3,000Unique artist’s book, one in a series of six, each different, all on Archesand Katie MacGregor hand-made papers, as well as translucent (sized)Japanese papers, signed by the artist and dated. Page size: 7-1/8 x 10-¾inches with fold-out pages extended to 25-½ inches; 30pp. Bound by theartist: hand-made paper forsingle section manuscript,cloth over boards enclosurewith painted paste-downsand label. Ms. Moore hasselected part of CorinneJohnson’s text from IWANT A GARDEN thatdescribes the symbolismand effect of the gardengate: “...a true Alice in Won-derland unfolding. One passes through it (the gate) into another world...”The translucent papers contain the contemporary Roman lettering and areenclosed by a four panel fold-out of richly painted pages. (10329)

Signed by Paul Auster

12. Perishable Press. Auster, Paul. Reflections on a CardboardBox. Illustrations by Henrik Drescher. [Mt. Horeb, WI: ThePerishable Press, Ltd., 2004]. $725One of 100 copies, 50 of which are for sale, all on hand-made Twinrockerand St. Armand papers, designed and printed by Walter Hamady andsigned by the author, Paul Auster. The text is in Gill Sans Bold fromMichael Bixler’s Monotype machine and hand-set by Hamady to “man-age minutiae.” The images were printed from polymer plates from BoxcarPress. Page size: 10 x 7 inches; 28pp. Bound: Sugikawa paper over boardsand brown silk printed in black on spine, hand sewn, with round labelprinted letterpress on front cover reading, “Auster-Drescher ContainerCorp Hay Hollow, Wisconsin / Box Certificate... etc. darker brownendpapers. The text is Paul Auster’s essay on poverty in the United States,focusing on those in New York. He writes, “A man does not live in acardboard box because he wants to...You live in a cardboard box because

Priscilla Juvelis, Inc. (207) 967-0909 pj@juvelisbooks.com

you can’t afford to live anywhereelse.” Drescher’s images are in blue,red, black and brown on the “card-board” colored paper and are inter-spersed with the text and one anothermaking disturbing but fascinatingreading / viewing. Selected as one of“Fifty Books of the Year” 2004 AIGA(American Institute of Graphic Art,New York City). PP #129. (9553)

13. Perishable Press. Hamady, Walter & Friends. TravellingGabberjabb No. 7. Mt. Horeb, WI: The Perishable Press, 1991-1996. $3,250One of 125 copies on various papers (hand, mould and machine-made)numbered at least 19 times and signed at least 10, employing an “unthink-able number” of typefaces, ink colors, and press runs. With “FrontMatter” : “1. Just about all books start out from an idea. 2. Everything inthe world is waiting to become a book. 3. Before ideas can be read theyneed to become words...”. Page size: 10-¼ x 7-¼ inches (164cm x184cm), 154 pages. Bound by the printer/publisher: old paper maps overboards (no two alike), variegated cloth spine, new. Pages are printed,collaged, rubber stamped, drilled, notched, pigment patterned, (ticket)

punched, grommeted, scribed, ear tat-tooed, drawn, camouflaged or timeclocked. The critic, Mary Lydon tellsus that this No. 7 GABBERJABBalso involves, “...iconoclasm/craft,art/daily life and sophisticationgrounded in physiology andearthiness...a reflective vehicle in itsability to break and intersect narra-tive lines, play with syntax, integrate

found materials, convey enigma, paradox and information all at once.”Walter Hamady, noted artist, printer and publisher, has been making

books since 1964; the current list totals over 128. The Gabberjabbs areparticularly fine examples of Hamady’s work. The reader is obliged toread and re-read letters jammed together, set on different angles, inter-spersed with images (or are they?) as Hamady plays with texts, bookmak-ing and the book form itself. Compared to Kurt Schwitters, Duchamp andJoseph Cornell, Hamady has been a major influence on at least onegeneration of book artists. PP #122. (9083)

14. Sheehy, Shawn Wilder. Beyond the 6th Extinction: A FifthMillennium Bestiary. [Chicago]: Paperboy Press, 2007. $3,500Artist’s book, one of 15 copies only, all on handmade cotton / abacapaper, book board, and Arches watercolor board and linen thread, eachnumbered and signed in pencil by the artist, Shawn Sheehy, on thecolophon. Page size: 6-7/8 x 10 inches; 22pp; one of which is colophon andone front pastedown. Bound by the artist: this copy tan paper over boards,tan re-purposed leather spine (variations in leather from copy to copy)with green paper strip marking join (varia-tions in paper from copy to copy); pageshinged with tabs, endpages glued to boardsto accommodate extremely thick pages withthe popups. There are 8 remarkable pop-ups of mythical creatures in their mythicalhabitat; the names of the creatures arelettered in cut-out along the last quarter ofeach recto. The creatures in this fantasybestiary (although based on actual organ-isms that are known survivors) are: Rex Roach, Clam Fungus, Dreadhead,Peteybug, Brownfield Pigeon, Bloomworm, Snapdragon, and Rotrap.

The artist tells us that in Richard Leakey’s book, THE SIXTHEXTINCTION, the five major catastrophes in Earth’s history are delin-

eated. Leakey theorizes that the sixth ma-jor extinction has begun, and it is humanauthored. Mr. Sheehy has used this as thestarting point of BEYOND THE 6TH EX-TINCTION, postulating a look at existingcreatures in the year 4297 - which arephenomenally large and reproduced herein smaller size - using the ubiquitous poly-mer-based digital storage unit (CD) oneach page to establish size. The text is setdigitally in Joanna and printed from polymer plates. The papers used toconstruct these creatures are in tans, grays, whites, and subdued blues andgreens. They are spiky, scaly, and creepy. They are certainly ingeniousrepresentations of the sort of creature that might actually survive thechaos created by humankind. This is a book of fabulous creatures -ingeniously constructed - to give the reader / viewer cause to worry aboutthe future of planet Earth and its inhabitants. (10337)

15. Wait, Laura. Flexible. Steamboat Springs, CO: 2010. $4,500Unique artist’s book, one of a series of six, each different but inspired bychess and the war strategy of Sun Tzu., all on BFK Rives paper, signedby the artist / author / binder, Laura Wait. The other titles in this series are

Relentless, Adaptable, Elusive, Mysteri-ous, and Insistent. Page size: 5-¾ x 15inches; 46pp. Bound by the artist: handsewn on linen cords with linen thread,wood boards laced onto cords, boardsstamped with collograph plate used in thebooks, then painted with acrylic to refer toa page in the books, and varnished withclear acrylic; onlaid copper pieces basedon chess pieces used in the book withpatinated surface, lacquered and attachedwith brass tacks, housed in custom-madefelt-lined clamshell box with title and art-ist on spine label. The painted pages are

mixed media and including handwriting as well as painting, collographs,and hand stamps based on the chess sets of Man Ray and Marcel Duchampand Ms. Wait’s own eight pawns. (10320)

Priscilla Juvelis will be exhibiting at the following book fair:

*RBMS / ABAA Bookseller’s ShowcaseDoubletree Hotel

237 South Broad StreetPhiladelphia, PA

June 22, 2010 9:30am - 7:30pm

Terms of Sale: All items are subject to prior sale. Payment shouldaccompany order unless credit has been established. Mastercard and Visaaccepted. ME residents please add 5% sales tax. Institutions may receivedeferred billing. Posting is additional: $10.00 for the first item and $5.00for each additional item. All items are guaranteed as described and maybe returned for any reason, with notice, within seven days of receipt,providing they are in the same condition as when shipped. Please call inadvance of a return.

Priscilla Juvelis, Inc.11 Goose Fair

Kennebunkport, Maine 04046(207) 967-0909 PH

(207) 967-4466 FAXe-mail: pj@juvelisbooks.com web: www.juvelisbooks.com