23 Nov

Posted at 22:54h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1971
12.4x 16.4cm, 4pp. Christmas card with the image of a fishing boat along with the Port Letters (FR), the Fishing Nos (218), the net tonnage (54), horse power (200) and its name (Xmas Morn). A visual poem by Finlay - a companion work to the two cards published at Christmas for both of the earlier two years.
Finlay's interest in boat names and numbers is reflected in the beauty of Furnival's line drawing. The boat - here drawn by Michael Harvey - like the previous two earlier drawings by John Furnival, is a poem on water. Interestingly Harvey's drawing style cannot be told apart from the earlier Furnival drawings. VG+.
JOINT WITH:
Original mailing envelope hand addressed to Seamus Cooney of the University of Kalamazoo by Finlay and dated November 29 1971. ...

26 Oct

Posted at 22:40h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1971
10.8 x 13cm, 4pp. Artist's card with a photograph by Dianne Tammes of a Finlay toy boat sailing on the water. Inside is the descriptive text: "Ian Hamilton Finlay's Unicorn. Length o.a. 91/2 in, Tonnage 6oz. Auxiliary clockwork motor". The boat is treated as if it was a full sized boat with its measurements but the auxiliary motor which is clockwork gives the game away.

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11 Oct

Posted at 22:30h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1971
11.2 x 11.4cm, 4pp. Artist's card with a reproduced drawing by Margot Sandeman of the child's game of conkers on strings and a leaf from the horse chestnut tree. Inside the card is the text: "CATCHES. A big catch is a wee consolation. (After Paul Klee)." VG+.

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05 Oct

Posted at 12:55h in Letters + Documents

21 x 17.8, 1pp. Original typed letter on red Wild Hawthorn Press stationery to Christopher Carrell of the Sunderland Ceolfrith Bookshop asking about sending stocks of publications to the bookshop, the possibility of sales to others and mentioning the Ron Costley's Street Handout leaflet (an early Finlay exhibition announcement) and mentioning a dispute over invoices with a filmmaker Michael Radford which Finlay felt had over charged for petrol. The letter is signed Aye, Ian. VG+.

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03 Oct

Posted at 18:51h in Unique Works

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1970 Two separate artist's cards - both 15 x 10.5cm, 2pp. Each with annotations by hand by Finlay. The printed aspect of each card has a drawing by Gardner on the front of a floating water lily. the text below “A WATERLILY POOL/h’arbour” reminds one of the way the leaves in a water lily can enclose a space of water and also a shelter for small insects or even fish – hence an arbour of sorts. One one of the two cards Finlay has drawn a curved line in pencil and verso the text in blue ink: "Idea of Arbour + Harbour [L'arbour] and on the other card some lines and a grid over the image. Thee cards came from the archive of Maxwell Allan who was one of Finlay's collaborators and it is not clear if these additions are part of a discussion about a possible sculpture or just explanatory. The grid lines might suggest the former, the text the latter. In any case a unique pair of these cards. Both VG+. ...

11 Sep

Posted at 22:09h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1971
9.8 x 7cm, 4pp. Artist's card with a reproduced painting by Ian Gardner of a tree in a landscape. Inside the card is the text: "TREE-SHELLS. Instructions: Apply ear to Tree-Shell. Listen for Lakes." The card can be used to create the same auditory illusion as holding a sea-shell to the ear - hence bringing the sound of water (lakes) to the ear. VG+

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11 Aug

Posted at 10:04h in Page Works & Contributions

Nottingham: Trent Bookshop, 1971) 20.4 x 16.5cM,, 48pp. with colour pictorial wrappers. A double number of this poetry/art magazine edited by Stuart Mills and Simon Cutts - this issue was the last published. and has concrete works by a number of artists/poets but mostly Finlay and Cutts the issue reprints a long letter from lawyers acting against Finlay in the Times Literary Supplement 25.9.69 relating to his legal action against Fulcrum Press and has Finlay's reposte to the letter (only published here we believe) including "If you were a poet, and President Nixon decided to publish you, would you support the Vietnam War?" Seven other poems by Finlay are reprinted and other letters and articles discuss him. A rather nice publication which sadly ended with this high point.

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08 Aug

Posted at 21:37h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorne Press, 1971
15 x 18cm, 6pp folded card printed with a line drawing by Jim Nicholson of a boat amongst vegetation. The card called A Memory of Summer has additonal information thus "In Trelew Creek, Diur Mrs Thomas Gray's Building of the Hobah" and below that

A ketch
In vech

A is a two-masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (and thr mast can be seen over the flowers in the drawing) and vetch is a fast growing vertical flower which here is being likened to the masts of the boat. The "memory" is from a book called The Merchant Schooners" from 1978 - and refers to the boat being built in the creek hence the boat like the vetch grows naturally during the summer months.
This is one of 300 copies numbered and signed by Finlay.VG+.

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28 Jul

Posted at 17:09h in Prints + Posters

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 19781
76.4 × 69.2cm, red and black on white silkscreen large print. A drawing of a schooner by Ron Costley shows the reef knots of the typical schooner sails - which remind one of the side decorations of the drum of the martyred boy-revolutionary Joseph Barra. The red also reflects his uniform. This is the first reference we know of to the French revolution in Finlay's work - a theme that became much more central in the 80s. This is one of Finlay's most rare editioned works - only 70 copies were made.
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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11 Jul

Posted at 20:30h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1971
4.9 x 14.9cm, 2pp. Pink on white silkscreen - a book-mark which one might consider "a book-flag" in that a book mark flags a place in a book. Additionally the text on one side of the card reads "windflow" and an arrow but when one turns the card over the word becomes "windflower" by the addition of "er" in the same font.
The card if placed on a stick to create a quasi-flag would be pushed in the direction of the "windflow" but could also be seen as a "windflower' flapping in the wind. An ingenious small card work. Typography by Ron Costley.

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11 Jul

Posted at 19:15h in Artist's Postcards

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1971
15.2 x 10.1cm, 2pp. Four colour (green, brown, blue and black) silkscreen of a drawing by Ian Gardner of a growing pot with a stick labelled "daisies" sticking out of it.
The wooden label becomes the daisy - much like in a Magritte a word replaces the thing it represents. A visual form of semiology where the interpretation of a sign becomes the most important and most dominant analysis of a (somewhat pretty) drawing.This example is signed on the back with :"Love from Ian" in black ink. VG+

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