Artist's Books - Unoriginal Sins

02 Aug HOMAGE TO POUSSIN. 1977.

Posted at 17:33h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1977
13 x 13cm, 16pp plus card covers and printed dustjacket. Ten reproduced paintings of tanks with camouflage some in vegetation by John Borg Manduca are joined with short legends by Finlay.
1. "To do Poussin over again, for the sake of the War God." abuts a tank with its muzzle pointed right at the reader.
another reads:
6. Pure Cannon Law. Which is a pun on the homophone Cannon - a canon law being an ecclesiastical law.
Unusually there are adverts for other Finlay book on the flaps of the dust jacket. VG+.

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20 Jul THE WILD HAWTHORN ART TEST. 1977.

Posted at 17:44h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1977
12.5 x 10.3cm, 16pp plus card covers and printed dust jacket. Artist's book with drawings by Martin Fidler with questions by Finlay as if the reader is sitting a test on modern art.
Question 5 reads:" Write a short essay on the theme: The role of the non-flying glider in Post-19th Century non-representational art".
One significant part of Duchamp's Large Glass was called by the latter the "Glider" for instance. We believe we could pass Finlay's test.
VG+ condition.

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05 Jul HEROIC EMBLEMS. 1977. ONE OF 50 SIGNED & NUMBERED COPIES.

Posted at 21:31h in Artist's Books

Calais, Vermont: Z Press, 1977 23 x 15cm, 54pp plus card covers. First edition of this artist's book designed by Ron Costley and with a commentary by Stephen Bann. The emblems are all drawings of military machines such as tanks or battle ships acting as metaphors associated with Greek mythology:

SEMPRE FESTINA LENTE
HASTEN SLOWLY

is associated with a Sherman tank with a flail which was used to clear minefields - hence moving slowly in order to later move quickly.
This is one of only 50 copies signed and numbered by Finlay in black ink aside from the larger edition of 750 copies. Rare deluxe copy. VG+.

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15 Dec IMITATIONS VARIATIONS REFLECTIONS COPIES. 1976. ONE OF 350 SIGNED & NUMBERED COPIES.

Posted at 14:02h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, : Wild Hawthorn Press, 1976 12 x 11cm,28pp plus card wrappers and printed blue dust jacket. Artist's book displaying two b/w photogrpahs of sculptural works in stone (both war planes) by John Andrews and nine poems by Finlay including:

UNTITLED
after Aram Saroyan

LOTS
lots

Aram Saroyan is an American minimalist poet. The word LOTS plays in opposition to the form. Finlay's poem hints at the complexity found in Saroyan's poems despite their (relative) lack of words or even letters.
This is one of 350 signed and numbered copies. VG+.

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18 Nov THE BOY’S ALPHABET BOOK. 1976.

Posted at 18:05h in Artist's Books

Toronto: Couch House Press, 1976
19.6 x 20.2cm , 60pp plus blue card covers. An A-Z of pictures of Finlay's model boats, airplanes, weapons and kites by Paterson along with an alphabet - B is "Battle fleets are like families" shows a number of warships placed in size order like a bad family portrait. Not all of the texts are poetic - some simply describe the toys.
One of 1,000 copies printed this example is VG+.

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20 Dec TEXTBOOKLET 1. 1975.

Posted at 18:13h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1975)
10 x 5.2cm, 18pp (printed on one side only) accordion fold.
The first of three such "textbooklet"s which have similar formats. Here three texts are all displayed vertically: "Concrete effect?", "Crossword effect?" and "Weather effect?".
Finlay is playing with the three reasons why text might be shown in such an unusual manner - the concrete poem that uses verticality in many ways including inferring direction and falling, the crossword which needs vertical text to allow the words to be, well, crossed, and the weather where rain and snow falls and is a direct reference to the famous (and one of the first ever concrete poems) by Apollinaire "Il pleut" which Finlay knew well as he later parodied it in an artist's card. VG+.

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18 Oct THE AXIS. 1975.

Posted at 18:25h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
11 x 11.2cm, 16pp (self cover). Drawings of tanks and war planes by Alexander Finlay (later Alex Finlay) from when he was young with short text works by Finlay that reflect the imagery.
Nocturne has a drawing of a man parachuting from a plane - Finlay's text shows the words "schräge musik" with two dots being repeated op the page diagonally. Schräge Musik was the German term for an autocannon that the Luftwaffe mounted in fighters but was also the contemporary German colloquialism for shaky, off-tune music ie slanted or oblique music. The slant of the text reflects that origin as a well as the way the bullets tragectory.
A very scarce Finlay book and charming in the way his son was involved in the production. Later Alex Finlay would publish many books - we think this was his first. VG+. ...

18 Sep A MAST OF HANKIES. 1975.

Posted at 18:33h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
14.7 x 10.5cm, printed outer folder in orange with nine 14.5 x 10cm, 1pp postcards inside. Each card has a photograph by Dave Paterson of Finlay's toy boats in water, reeds and other outdoor situations. Below each photograph is a poem by Finlay in a rhyming scheme which tell the tales of the adventures of the boats and their owner as well as copious remarks on their structures including the ubiquitous handkerchief sails. Is this an artist's book or a collection of artist's postcard - debatable but we have kept it with the books because of the linked stories. VG+.

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18 Aug THE WILD HAWTHORN WONDER BOOK OF BOATS. 1975.

Posted at 18:41h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre, Lanark: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
15.2 x 10cm, 30pp plus printed wrappers. Woodcuts by Martin Fidler are mostly visual puns using simple blocks of red and green along with word poems by Finlay. An aircraft carrier has its planes inside the hull in red - Finlay just places the single word PIP under them comparing the carrier to a gourd or shell. Another boat is called a "Sabot" which is based on the shape like an upturned clog. A submarine is "Bubbles".
VG+.

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07 Aug SO YOU WANT TO BE A PANZER LEADER. 1975

Posted at 17:45h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
12.8 x 10.2cm, 16pp. Original card covers and dust jacket with title and drawing. Artist's book comprising a series of question and answers - a supposed "test" to see if the applicant can be a Panzer leader. The answers are not supplied. Drawing of tanks in landscapes by Laurie Clark. This has a small stain top left on the dj - else VG. one of the harder Finlay books to find..

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07 Jun AIRS WATERS GRACES. 1975

Posted at 17:24h in Artist's Books

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
26 x 17cm, 16pp. Original card covers and printed dust jacket. Artist's book comprising 9 b/w drawings by Ron Costley - some are military vehicles or ships with classical allusions by Finlay added (many of which become sculptures and prints). Two show sundials (including Venus of the Hours which is a visual pun on female sexuality) which is another Finlay interest. Finlay often saw parallels between classical stories and modern war machines. Here, for instance, Earth/Air/Fire/Water/Time is a drawing of an aircraft carrier (which Finlay believed was symbolic of the four classical elements) moving across a sylised map which resembles a sun dial - thus bringing in the 5th aspect of reality - Time. One of 350 copies printed - this is an unsigned or numbered copy. Near fine.

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21 Apr SELECTED PONDS. 1975.

Posted at 19:12h in Artist's Books

Reno: Wild Coast Poetry Review, 1975
29 x 29cm, 56pp plus pictorial card covers. Artist's book published on the occasion of an exhibition in North Wales with numerous b/w photographs by Dave Paterson of works and views of Little Sparta with commentaries by Bernard Lassus and Stephen Bann in English and German. VG+.

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