Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1996)
7.7 x 7.7cm, 8pp plus card covers. Artist's book with two drawings by Gary Hincks.
A text "Open the little hatch" is accompanied by a line drawing of a hatch in a toy boat - on a second double page spread the text is "Look in the little hold" and the drawing is of a nets inside the hold that can be seen now the hatch is open. Finlay enjoyed making model boats. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
11 x 10.5cm, 12pp with card covers and printed dust jacket. Three drawings by Hinks show a square of brown overlapped on the a slice of bread (Hovis Loaf), a brick (Hovis Brick) and a sail (Hovis Sail). Hovis is a brand name for cheap commercial brown bread in the UK - the brown square reminding one of a single slice. Bricks share a similar colour and one assumes so do sails.
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Edinburgh: City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, 1996
Two sheets of cinderella stamps - each 14,5 x 13cm, consisting of 12 stamps with designs by Finlay and Gary Hincks issued separately from the book (stamp album) "The Illustrated Stamp Album for Postage Stamps of the World: Imagined Lands; Vol. XIV Scotland." > The book was issued in 500 copies but some of the stamps were available separately. The brown 35p stamp -HARVESTER- shows a wooden old fashioned fish box (where fish are sold at market from) and the blue 1 euro - GLEAMER - shows a more modern plastic version of the same box. The move from the traditional to the new reflects the change in marItime law that took place when the UK entered the European Union.
Finlay did cards and also an unique work based on these boat names and registration numbers. PD is Peterhead and B is Belfast.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
17.4 x 11.3cm, 2pp, artist's card with a drawing by Gary Hincks of a modern plastic fish box (where fish are packed in ice to be sold at market) and the name GLEAMER of the fishing boat that caught the fish. This card reproduces an image made for the cinderella stamps Finlay published for an exhibition and edition at time when UK faced a change in marItime law and the Euro was mooted as the universal European currency (eventually the UK did not join the monetary union despite its advantages for trade).
The companion card HARVESTER was published at the same time (see previous entry).
Finlay did a unique work based on these boat names and registration numbers as well as the stamps. The port letters PD here stands for PETERHEAD. This card shows a stamp that is to be sold for 1 Euro (the earlier one was for 35p) which reflects the modernity of the box. One suspects Finlay prefers the older wooden version of the boxes and perhaps even dislikes the idea of the innovation of the Euro. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
17.4 x 11.3cm, 2pp, artist's card with a drawing by Gary Hincks of a wooden old fashioned fish box (where fish are packed in ice to be sold at market) and the name HARVESTER of the fishing boat that caught the fish. This card reproduces an image made for the cinderella stamps Finlay published for an exhibition and edition at time when UK faced a change in marItime law and the Euro was mooted as the universal European currency (eventually the UK did not join the monetary union despite its advantages for trade). The companion card GLEANER was published at the same time. This stamp was (theoretically) sold for 35p and therefore emphasising its British heritage unlike the companion card which was sold for 1 Euro. Finlay also did a unique work based on these boat names and registration numbers as well as the stamps. The port letters PD here stands for PETERHEAD. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
10.3 x 16cm, 2pp, artist's card with the names and numbers of various boats involved in ring netting in the shape of the Olympic's symbol. This year was the Olympics and as in 1992 Finlay created this card which honours both the games and the fishing fleet builders from Siminins. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
7 x 17.5cm, 4pp, artist's card which opens up to 7 x 35cm, 1pp. A text printed reverse blue on white reads "Andre Le Notre Lassoes Bernard Lassus!" André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France and here Finlay suggests he dwarfs the reputation of his newly found enemy Lassus!. One of the "Picabia Series" and the last of three cards attacking Finlay's former colleague Bernard Lassus. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
9 x 8cm, 4pp, artist's card with a reproduced painting by Janet Boulton of a model boat by Raymond Houareau, Finlay calls this a "Seychelles Stradivarious" alluding to the quality of the work done and the colour of the wood which reminds one of the body of an ancient violin. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
10.7 x 15.4cm, 1pp, artist's card with quotation from Bernard Lassus from Between Landscape Architecture and Land Art which is deliberately chosen to make Lassus seem egotistic - "In the United States...
London: Tate Gallery, 1996
30 x 21cm, 1pp. Announcement leaflet for a concert in honour of Finlay's 70th birthday with a trilogy of new works by Gabriel Jacks. The three parts are Eurydice, Ring of Waves and In Prairial and Thermidor. A snippet of the score is reproduced. VG+ although a slight printing error affecting the text.
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London: Tate Gallery, 1996
5.5 x 8.5cm, 1pp event ticket and 10 x 21cm, 1pp compliments slip sent to Finlay's collaborator Janet Boulton as invitation to a concert in honour of Ian Hamilton Finlay and the premier of the "Wildflower Cycle". VG.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996 11.5 x 14cm, 4pp. Artist's card with a drawing of fishing creels by Kathleen Lindsey on the front an internally a poem by Finlay based on Theocritus's Idyll XX1, lines 6 - 13. The poem describes two old fishermen asleep next to their fishing gear and notes their blanket is "a gansey stiched (it seemed) from net". Gansey is a style of knitting that was used primarily by fishermen with a very large and loose stitch. VG+. ...