Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1992 14.7 x 10.4cm, 14pp concertina artist's card with five different finials (the small sculpture on top of a pillar), the first four of which are traditional (Ball, Vanburgh Ball, Acorn, Pineapple) and the final one is denoted as a Pineapple Grenade Finial (based on the throwing weapon). Drawings by Andrew Townsend. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1991
9.9 x 8.2cm, 4pp. A painting which may well be a potato print beloved of young childen shows a blue and red pattern which could be seen as a paper crown worn at a Xmas dinner. Internal to the card Finlay notes:
Shepherds - Bath Towels
Angels - Sheets
and below "(Instructions for a school play)".
The painting therefore can be read as also displaying the bath towels (with patterns) for use to make costumes for a school nativity play. Angels all in white obviously need sheets that do not have patterns. Perhaps Finlay is displaying his identification more with the shepherds (a job after all that he did as a young man).
This example has a hand written note on the back cover "Happy Christmas from Ian" in thick red felt tipped pen and is joint with the origina plain white envelope that also has writing by Finlay; "Edward". Both VG+
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1991) 11.6 x 14.6cm, 2pp. Artist's card which notes the names and dates of the two child martyrs of the French Revolution. The border around the names shows two drawings by Laurie Clark of a war drum and a child's toy horse on wheels - to remind the viewer how young the boys were when they died. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d.. (1991) 3.1 x 14.7cm, 4pp artist's card (asymmetric fold) designed by Caroline Webb for Finlay with the French word ARBRE capped off a the front by an ornate letter M to create MARBRE which means mottled or marbled. The card refers to the silver birch (bouleau is French for Birch) and the way the bark can be of various colours. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1991) 18.8 x 8.6cm, 2pp. Artist's card with a drawing of a guillotine on a platform above the text "A model of order even if set in a space filled with doubt". The killing machine is a perfect operator no matter where it is found. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1991 9 x 10.5cm, 6pp concertina fold. Artist;s card with two paintings reproduced by Ian Gardner based on works by John Robert Cozens. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1991
9.8 x 7.8 cm, 8pp (printed recto only). A folding card with three short poetic texts by Finlay.
First meeting (Chaplinesque)
The hole in her sock
was his lovers' moon.
One of 250 examples printed. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1991
20.0 x 7.3cm, 8pp (single accordion folded sheet). A scythe is evolved over three panels into firstly a lightning strike as a blade to a single S from the nazi SS logo in the third panel. Drawing by Gary Hincks. The forth panel has a long text written by a 17th century Monk Abraham a Sancta Clara who compares death as a reaper, a gardener, a player and thunderbolt which not only strikes down the poor but also the powerful. The alteration in the design of the blade not only reminds one of the origin of the SS symbol and the German fascist interest in Nordic origins but also the aggression and death that they brought to the world. VG+.
This is a variant on a very similar card (with the same name and text) which Finlay issued in a smaller size in 1990. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1991)
14.6 x 10.4cm, 4pp artist’s card with a drawing of a guillotine and the text:
aA Reflection on the French Revolution
No rose without a thorn
The guillotine is seen as required to support the revolution - Finlay often noted that the outcome of the "purity" of the Revolution's commitment to virtue was the terror. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1991 5.4 x 9.5cm, 4pp. A scythe is evolved into a Nazi SS symbol in place of the blade. Drawing by Gary Hincks. Inside is a long text written by a 17th century Monk Abraham a Sancta Clara who compares death as a reaper, a gardener, a player and thunderbolt which not only strikes down the poor but also the powerful. The alteration in the design of the blade not only reminds one of the origin of the SS symbol and the German fascist interest in Nordic origins but also the aggression and death that they brought to the world. This is one of two cards with similar text which Finlay released - the other card has different drawings and is bigger. VG+....
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1991) 5.4 x 8cm, 4pp. Artist's card with a gate on the front and inside left of sheep in a pasture by Gwyneth Leech. Inside the card next to the crease are the words "gate fold" - to make a joke of the format of the work. VG+....
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1990.
9 x 6cm, 4pp. Artist designed XMas card with the text on the front:
potatocut robin
linocut garden fork
wood-engraved tree
The first two lines indicate the use of etching techniques in artist's works, the last line being both a refence to the bark of certain trees and also the lovers' carving of names on trees. VG+. Scarce....