29 Jan

Posted at 10:15h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1968
17 x 12.5cm, 2pp. The card is one of a series that joins boat names together to tell a quasi-story or visual poem. Here Be in Time leads onto Fruitful Vine. The rhyme is by luck but together it creates an optimistic epigram and metaphor. Fine example. Murray has this as Card 4.9. Murray mis-identifies (not unusual) the date here - on the back it is clearly 1968 but the Catalogue Raisonne has it as 1967. ...

22 Jan

Posted at 21:13h in Invitation Cards

London: Axiom Gallery n.d (1968)
22.5 x 13cm, printed brown paper folder content of three large 22 x 12.7cm, 2pp announcement cards each with an image of a work in b/w on the front and on the back gallery details. The three artists are Keith Milow, Ian Hamilton Finlay and John Walker.
This was Finlay's first ever solo show and his announcement card has an image of a sculptural work "The Clouds Anchor " with recto a short biography.
A rare item indeed.

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16 Jan

Posted at 10:09h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1968
17 x 12.5cm, 2pp. The card is the first of a few that join boat names together to tell a quasi-story or visual poem. Here Anchor of Hope/ Daisy/ Good Design indicates a daisy in the ground that is well rooted - hence a "good design" and is in some way a metaphysical comment on evolution's creation. The card's title has an Asterix which leads to the note "in a tidal bowl, Peterhead" - a clarification that these are boats. Fine example.
Murray has this as Card 4.8. Murray mis-identifies (not unusual) the date here - on the back it is clearly 1968 but his Catalogue Raisonne has it as 1967. ...

15 Oct

Posted at 16:35h in Poor Old Tired Horse + Broadsides

Stoneypath; Wild Hawthorne Press, 1967
26 x 21cm, 8pp. The final number of Finlay’s poetry publication. Design and calligraphy by Jim Nicholson. Contributions from Ronald Johnson, Edwin Morgan, George Mackay Brown, Eli Siegel, Jerome Rothenberg, Alkman (translated by Guy Davenport), Hugh Creighton Hill, Stuart Mills, Pedro Xista, Alan Riddell, Martin Seymour-Smith, Kenelm Cox, Giles Gordon, Douglas Young, Edward Lucie-Smith, Stephen Bann, Dick Sheeler, Astrid Gillis, Oswald de Andrade, Ernst Jandl, Gael Turnbull, Aram Saroyan, Jonathan Williams and Ian Hamilton Finlay. VG+.
Finlay whilst not inventing the One Word Poem format certainly helped popularise it - he uses the format in a number of his artist's books. The last poems in this publication are by Finlay and include some of his best known works reformatted in to such a form.

A SEE-SAW
_________
SEA

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04 Oct

Posted at 11:42h in Letters + Documents

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1967 12.8 x 10.5cm, 32pp. Card covers with printed dust jacket. An artist's book the title of which refers to a wild bird - interestingly not found in Scotland - which had a loud piercing song which is often claimed to be like two stones being hit off each other. The book consists of a number of concrete and experimental poems using different forms different forms.

This copy is unique in that it was send by Finlay to Maxwell Allan (a sculptor and collaborator) and has been annotated with crosses and ticks on most pages (perhaps indicating approval for further works based on them) and on one page an ink text in Finlay's cursive hand: "this is a nice font isn't it?" referring to the typography of the words in "THE BOAT"S/inseparable ripples". An unusual find in an already somewhat scarce book. VG although the cover is slightly grubby through being handled. ...

15 Jul

Posted at 16:33h in Poor Old Tired Horse + Broadsides

Stoneypath; Wild Hawthorne Press, 1967
30 x 21cm, 12pp. The twenty-fourth number of Finlay’s poetry publication. Designed by Alistair Cant with photographs by Graham Keen. This is a photographic record of visual poetry works exhibited at different sites during the Brighton Festival and a de facto catalogue for the event. Works by Claus Bremer, Eugen Gomringer, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Hansjörg Mayer, John Furnival, Edwin Morgan, Stephen Bann and Kenelm Cox. VG+.

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10 Jul

Posted at 19:12h in Page Works & Contributions

London: Vista Books, 1967 18 x 11.5cm, 48pp. Original card covers. Second edition. Anthology of poetry in which Finlay has two early poems (not concrete) here The Art Student and End of a Holiday . VG with mild wear to spine. The first edition was printed in 1963 and hence was an early Finlay contribution. VG....

07 Jul

Posted at 19:57h in Artist's Books

Bath: Opening Press, 1967
47. 5 x 47.5 x 1.5cm, silkscreened portfolio case content of 13 individual silkscreens in various colours on thin card. The silkscreens are all concrete poems which were based on correspondence between Ian Hamilton Finlay and Eve Furnival - John Furnival's young daughter. Finlay had sent simple concrete poems to the young girl - and when he was invited to work with Furnival in the latter's class at Bath Academy these poems were created with the students (one student per print) and this portfolio produced.
There is great humour in this work - like elsewhere in Finlay's oeuvre - ambiguous headlines from real and made up newspapers give the basis for many of the works. Lobster boats here look nippy, Waterlilies lead double lives and are warned that they must reflect. hedgehogs announce annual turnovers as if they were banks or just rolled in defence.
This is one of the most rare Finlay publications. One 50 numbered copies were made. This example is internally in VG+ condition although the cover has a horrible paper scuff (although the cover is based on a childish drawing by Eve Furnival.

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18 Jun

Posted at 22:00h in Artist's Books

London: Fulcrum Press, 1967
23 x 10cm, internally there are 2 full sheets and three sets of 6pp cards all bound one set above the other in plastic spiral binding. This artist's book has taken its design from children's books where different combinations of the inner pages can be chosen. The words in combination display a scene from a boat on canal alongside landmarks - which is a clever recreation of earlier canal stripe books where the changes in scene are over pages rather than by the reader's actions. One of 1,000 copies although 50 copies were signed and numbered.
This example is in VG+ condition.

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16 Jun

Posted at 21:30h in Miscellany

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1967
34.5 x 17.4cm, 1pp offset lithographic price list for the Press. Mentions a long list of new publications as the Press became more prolific. By now the Press (and the Finlays had moved again and now to Dunsyre and Stoneypath Farm). Formerly folded twice else VG+.

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16 Jun

Posted at 09:53h in Artist's Postcards

Brighton: Brighton Festival, 1967
13 x 19cm, printed manilla envelope content of six artist designed cards. Finlay has Star Steer and there are other works by Augusto de Campos, Eugene Gomringer, Jose Lino Gruynewald, Dom Sylvester Housedard, Gerhard Ruehm. There is also an English translation of "From Line to Constellation" by Eugen Gomringer - a manifesto of sorts from 1954.

It is worth noting that Finlay is here amongst those regarded as the giants of the visual poetry movement - a movement that became most prominent in South America but by 1963 Finlay was also producing such works and here is recognised his prominence in the British scene.
All VG in envelope that has a few marks on the back and is stamped "School of graphics Chelsea School of Art".
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21 May

Posted at 21:01h in Prints + Posters

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1967
42.5 x 56cm, blue/green and brown silkscreen on white paper. A key to the work is bottom left with the blue/green horizontal lines being sea and the brown diagonal lines being land. Together a lattice or net is formed. Other works including unique etched glass works take up this theme of interrelationships and it is tempting to see correspondences with some of the sundial works. The Tate claims 400 of these were printed but one can never rely on those numbers as Finlay appears to have been inconsistent (it is more usually claimed he printed 350 of most items). Murray 5.11.

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