Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
13.6 x 8.2cm, 1pp Artist's card presenting a faux menu of Danton, followed by Hebert then Clooz followed by Meulenkamp and Headley. The first three names in order were guillotined under the orders of the Committee for Public Safety, the last two only in Finlay's revengeful fantasies.VG+.
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21 x 26.5cm, b/w silver gelatine photographic print of an unique sculptural work created under Finlay's instruction by John Andrew. The image is of a boat anchored to the beach - a reference to Ullysses. The texts from Virgil is "Sterns stood along the beach". VG+.
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21 x 26.5cm, b/w silver gelatine photographic print of an unique sculptural work created under Finlay's instruction by John Andrew. The image is of an anchor which has been sunk into foliage - bringing Finlay's oft comparison of fruit with boats to life or at least stone. The texts from Virgil is "Anchors were cast from prows" which is also a pun. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
18 x 13cm, 1pp Artist's card with an appropriated etching from 1793 - "Louis le Traître lis ta Sentence" which translates to "Louis the Traitor, read your sentence" below the image Finlay quotes Ian Barr, the Chairman of the Saltire Society as "He thought Follies an entertaining guide and enjoyed it". Clearly Finlay had added Barr to his enemies list. On the reverse there is a post-it note on which Finlay has written "A Follies War Card". VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
54.5 x 49.5cm, full colour offset lithograph on paper. The reproduced painting by Hincks is of Saint-Juste supposedly replacing Tatlin in his cubist self-portrait The Sailor from 1911. The text: "SAILORS! REVOLUTIONAIRES! LEARN FROM YOUR BOLDNESs" is from the French revolution but could equally be from the Russian overthrow of the Tzar. Whereas in the original painting the cap has the word GUARDIAN on it, the Finlay version says REPUBLIQUE.
The image we have used here is from a publication - the print we hold is framed in wood and glass and hard to image without reflections - but the work is in VG+ condition.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
7.1 x 10.5cm, 8pp and card covers along with printed brown dust jacket. The artist's book has a visual poem:
cottage
loaves
loaf
cottages
and there is a drawing by Howard Eaglestone and a photo-montage by Antonia Reeve.
The texts by reversing the words create first an image of squat country houses (brown and russet red as when painted by Paul Cezzane) and then a loaf with the shape of a solid loaf. The illustrations reflect those two poetic images. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
18.3 x 12cm, 20pp and card covers along with flower pattern dust jacket and printed tipped on label. The full title of the book is "Detached Sentences on Weather In The Manner of William Shenstone".
Shenstone was not only an 18th century poet but also an influential early estate gardener. The texts are a series of aphorisms by Finlay which are presumably in the style of the earlier poet and all consider the importance of the weather - a subject very important to both gardeners and British people. Two examples of these sayings are:
"The Late Night Shipping Forecast is a kind of High Church Weather Service for radio listeners."
Or
"The Greeks before Troy feared hostile weather as much as hostile Trojans."
One of only 200 such books printed at Christmas as presents to friends and colleagues. Two small vignettes by Jo Hincks. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Finlay, 22nd December 1986
An original vintage xerox 30 x 21cm, 1pp with a round robin letter from Finlay to all of the Saint-Just Vigilantes explaining the the Consumer Protection Department has begun an investigation of "Follies: a National Trust Guide" by Headley and Meulenkamp and published by Jonathan Cape. Finlay asks if his supporters can write to the CPD with letters explaining why Little Sparta is not a Folly and why it should not be included in such a guide. Finlay hopes the investigation may lead to the withdrawal of the Follies book. The letter ends with one of Finlay's "detached sentences on the National Trust":
"One cannot preserve the meaning of a building by preserving the building alone."
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
5.5 x 8.6cm, printed outer folder content of sixteen 5.5 x 8.6cm, 1pp cards printed black on deep blue. Each card is attack of the hack art critic Waldemar Januszczak who had upset the poet by giving him a poor review (Finlay also fell out with the priggish and ignorant Brian Sewell for which I love the poet even more). The cards all attack with vigour the Guardian' pet critic - "Being outspoken was his claim to shame" is one example. Finlay wounds. Januszczak later tried to retaliate with his own cards (see elsewhere in this collection for those items) but all they did was to parody Finlay's style of attack and frankly failed to hit the target (one has an image of a man giving a Hitler salute - actually taken from early Anselm Kiefer - which is crass). These cards are in VG+ condition in like folder.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
12.4 x 18.6cm, 4pp Christmas card black on handmade paper with the text:
Somewhere in the wood was shining the
little red lantern of Christmas...
Bonn: Raum 41, 1986
21 x 15cm, 2pp announcement leaflet for a photographic edition by Franz Fischer of an image of Beuys and James Lee Byars shown from above to only see their respective headgear - Beuys's hat and Byars' top hat. Posthumous to Beuys of course but not Byars. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
14 x 7 x 7cm, ceramic glazed vase in the shape of a classical column and a definition of the word WILDFLOWER in red and blue - "A MEAN TERM BETWEEN REVOLUTION AND VIRTUE." A wildflower is untamed and uncontrolled even when beautiful - here Finlay's definition places the idea of such a person as being "between revolution and virtue" which i the actual French uprising was not seen as incompatible. The word "mean" also is allowed two meanings - "an average" and "an unpleasant'. Together this work invites the viewer to consider the role of the individual within collective action and collective morality.
Sadly this vase was damaged by a member of the public when Paul Robertson's collection was exhibited in Summerhall, Edinburgh - there is a clean break all around the top of the cubic base - and the red and blue glazing is not as strong as it should have been. Finlay gave this vase to Herbert Winter the well-known gallerist in Wein from whence Robertson purchased it. Limitation of the edition is not known but probably not too many.
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