18 Dec

Posted at 10:56h in Artist's Books

n.p. : Parret Press, 1981
9 x 10.5cm, 28pp plus card covers. One of Finlay's most rare books this is a book of "definitions" where a common word is given (usually a classical) new definition. For example,:

HARE, n. a creature second in swiftness to the tortoise.

One of only 75 copies each of which is signed by Finlay published at Christmas 1981 - this example has sadly had some water damage in the past which can be seen on the outside and inside of the cover and along the inner spine although the texts and inner pages are unaffected.

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18 Sep

Posted at 11:36h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1980)
6 x9.2cm, 8pp plus card wrappers and printed dust jacket. The four printed pages has one word each:
5. Baroque
6. Barque
7. Bark
8. Baroque
and there is a reference to W. Lee Rensselaer's Names on Trees on the inner cover. That book is a literary and artistic analysis of the story of Angelica and Medoro in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. One aspect of Angelica's love for Medoro is that she carved the lovers' names on trees. Hence once can read the book as a visual poem of boats (Barque/Bark) and woods (Bark/Baroque) with the reference to baroque also referring to the art style of the 17th century. VG+

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03 Sep

Posted at 11:47h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1980) 13.6 x 8cm, 4pp plus blue wrappers. Artist's book where Finlay has only two different paper types bound together in the wrappers - one is blue and the other is white. There is a reference to Henty Vaughan's "The Timber. Silex Scintillans" on the back fold.
Vaughan was a metaphysical poet of the 17th century and Silex Scintillans published in 1650 was a major religious text which was published in two volumes with a significant gap in time between them (possibly due to illness) . The Two Billows of the title refers to the two volumes and the change in colour of the two pages reflects the differences in the two books. A visual poem with a literary and religious meaning although the boat vignette on the cover may suggest the more literal meaning of two billows - two pushes of air helping the vessel steer a true course. VG+.

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06 Jul

Posted at 16:17h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta; Wild Hawthorn Press, 1980. 14.3 x 8.5cm, c.32pp plus original wrappers. Artist's book with a number of descriptive poems by Finlay which end with a pointing finger as if the artist expects the scene to be drawn by the reader on a blank facing page.

"A statue of Eve reaching up to pick an apple, placed under an apple tree."

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18 Nov

Posted at 11:07h in Artist's Books

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 the text: "Typography which used to flow like rivers" - but all but the last two words are sent vertically rather than horizontally. A comment on experimental typography which infers disapproval although how a visual/concrete poets could take that view is hard to accept. The vertical section might be compared to waterfalls after all. VG+.

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18 Oct

Posted at 11:18h in Artist's Books

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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01 Sep

Posted at 14:04h in Artist's Books

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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24 Aug

Posted at 14:25h in Artist's Books

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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10 Aug

Posted at 14:38h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1979)
19.8x 16.6cm, 16pp plus card covers and printed dustjacket. Finlay's artist book examines six variations of the nazi SS logo - taking the original FF found in literature and noting how the letters were commonly substituted for SS in 17th century texts and, through typography developing the type into the double lightning strike of the notorious fascist organisation. Hence Finlay suggests there is some poetic equivalence between the evil of the Nazis and the "wildness" of nature - which Finlay makes clear in a note at the end of the book. (And anyone wishing to slur Finlay as being pro-fascist should read his description here of the SS as "notorious". Typography by George L.Thomson. VG+. Scarce.

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19 Apr

Posted at 16:59h in Artist's Books

London: Coracle Press, 1979
21 x 19cm. 40pp plus card covers with tipped on self-portrait. First edition of William's photographs of poets and artists with reminiscences. There are 30 tipped in colour reproductions including William Carlos Williams, Myrna Loy, Herbert Read, Allen Ginsberg, David Hockney, Dorothy Brett as well as Ian Hamilton Finlay. One of 1800 numbered copies. VG+.

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18 Jul

Posted at 14:52h in Artist's Books

Firenze: Zona, n.d. (1978)
21 x 15cm, 4pp (self cover) no binding. The four sheets with calligraphy by Ron Costley read:
white & bark, black & light, bark & light, white & dark and black& white
The combinations of the words (with the basic structure taken from the last coupling "black and white") along with the title "Woods" create visual images of different woodland scenes (each, of course, will be personal to the reader but in the main bark and light may bring the outside of a Birch tree to mind for instance). Finlay uses this trick of word transposition often in works - the changes causes by minimal alterations to words and their syntax interests him greatly. He feels that small changes in letters or word-combination causes large changes to their meaning or their perceived meaning.
This was published by Maurizio Nannucci of Zona Archives, himself a concrete poet. VG+.

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18 Jun

Posted at 16:41h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1978
7.0 x 9.5cm, 28pp plus printed card covers. Drawings of early planes based on vintage models by C. Tissiman are joined with their model names ascribed to famous artists, poets and composers such as Warhol, Betjeman and Maxwell.
"Waco Yoc" is suggestde as being by Kust Schwitters presumably because of the latter's interest in sound poetry while "Fokker D" is given to Andy Warhol - possibly because of its mass production in German factories. But it is hard to know all of the associations of the names for Finlay - was Bücker Bestmann assigned to John Betjeman just because of the similarity in names (Betjeman comes from St Benjamin apparently)? However the book title "Trailblazers" suggests that Finlay is saying these artists are foremost and revolutionary - which given his enemy Hugh McDiarmid is included is a little surprising (although I guess Finlay had to accept McDiarmid's role in re-popularising Scottish poetry even if they were no longer friends although McDiarmid had been Finlay's best man at his first marriage). VG+ condition.

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