10.5 x 21cm, 2pp commercial postcard of a Caspar David Friedrich painting and on the back a handwritten text in Byars’ starry hand which reads “Also sorry not in town love Byars”. This was sent by the artist to The Butlers (Eugenia and her husband who were early supporters of Byars.) Mailed....
Saint Pierre des Corps: J. & J., Centre Saint Pierre des Corps, 1979
19 x 13cm, 24pp plus original wrappers. Artist's book unusually created from a nine minute b/w film of the same name by Jacques Parart based on the artist's life as a young man. The book has original texts by Boltanski which are printed in poetic structures on the left of each double page and, on the opposite page, deliberately childlike drawings by Jennifer Gough-Cooper and Jacques Caumont. The stories are reminiscences of early childhood life with some rather important events (such as over-hearing that his grandfather had died while pretending to be asleep in bed).
VG+ condition. A scarce publication released at the same time as an exhibition "Boltanski, ouevres de 1974 - 1975". This was the last (for a period of years) of the artist's books based on recreations of his early life - after this exhibition a period of creating large photographic works from posed items dominated the artist's output.
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Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1979)
10 x 5.2cm, 18pp (printed on one side only) accordion fold. The artist's book has a text printed vertically: "VTOLP" and then a few pages later "V/S" and the next page the TOLP is printed as an upward ascending text.
This is a concrete poem relating to the abbreviation of Vertical Take Off and Landing plane which first revealed to the public in the mid 1960s. The first page shows the passage of the plane upwards, the second is a representation of a normal plane taking off at an angle. We cannot work out what the "S" in the second typographic section stand for however. A shame but we continue to research this. VG+.
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London: Editions Poetry, 1979
24.5 x 18.8cm, 112pp plus original colour printed wrappers. the first number of this poetry and literature review which is notable for a full colour pull out of a reproduced lithograph by Graham Sutherland and work by Ted Hughes, Alan Brownjohn, Bernard Gutteridge, Iris Murdoch, Bob Dylan, Craig Raine, and many others. For our interest however the back cover is a reproduction of Finlay's rare print Le Circus! A VG+ copy.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1979)
7.8 x 24cm, 4pp (asymmetric fold). The typography by Ron Costley sets the three words together to form an unitary text. Elsewhere Finlay has used these exact trio of words together to describe the shallow fast moving water of a stream - but now the white on blue lettering gives a different meaning - the bark or outer layer here is the foam on the top of waves with the (deep) blue water beneath it. A visual poem.
Finlay also produced a much larger silkscreen print of this werk.
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Kpbenhavn: Galleri Per Stan, 1979
12 x 12cm, 1pp typographic announcement card for an untitled show which is signed in pencil on the front. VG+ but there is some small amount of discolouled adhesive residue on the unprinted back.
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Berlin: Kaiserring der Stadt Goslar, 1979
16 x 16cm, 4pp embossed white card with an internal text inviting the participant to the ceremony of the city of Goslar giving Joseph Beuys the "Kaiserring der Stadt Goslar" (one of Germany's most prestigious art prizes) with a speech in honour of Beuys by Dr. Wieland Schmied. VG+.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1979)
15 x 21cm, 16pp plus printed end papers (with a reproduced drawing of an aircraft carrier) and white card covers with dust jacket. The seven reproduced paintings by John Borg Manduca are accompanied by quotations and poems by Finlay.
The title poem has anagrams of the word "dazzle" accompanied by a "dazzle" painted boat - however the word dazzle is not part of the poem because the "camouflage" has worked (see separate listing for the unique glass work of the same poem).
Sadly the staples here have rusted and slightly discoloured parts of the inner sheets near the fold else VG+.
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n.p.: n.p., n.d.
5.5 x 9cm, 1pp black text on pink rectangle. Paper ephemera with the text "DR DR DR DR DR BYARS" in the centre of the sheet. One of the artist's minimalist and rather small ephemeral works. VG+. Scarce.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1979)
15 x 21cm, 12pp plus printed wrappers. Illustrated by Margot Sandeman, the names of 19 fishing boats (eg Odysseus, Traveller, Illustrious and others found in the Olsen's Fisherman's Nautical Almanack) are combined by Finlay to give a visual poem of the trials and journeys of Odysseus printed black over Sandeman's light brown line drawings of nature, animals, vegetation and fish. The tale ends: "188, 190. Viking Warrior Supreme." VG+.
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Portsmouth: Portsmouth City Museum and Art Gallery, 1979
16.3 x 25cm, 14pp plus card covers. Exhibition catalogue for a show of new acquisitions for the museum - notable for the cover which displays a scarce Ian Hamilton Finlay print recently purchased for the institution. The notes also show that they purchase an unique glass etched work FOUR SAILS (ROSY FOR BLACK) from 1976. VG.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1979)
5.5 x 13.5cm, 1pp blue on white card. The words Snow and Bark are both given definitions with on the left hand side the order being Snow then Bark. That combination of the words and definitions together conjure up an image of a white boat (possibly in snowy weather). On the right when reversed (so that the words read Bark then Snow) then the image is of a different ship - a wooden boat.
Both snow and bark can be names of types of boats.
A typical Finlay word picture - a poem created by combinations of double meanings. VG+.
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