Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
18.9 x 29.8cm, red and black on cream offset lithograph. The text "YOU CANNOT STEP INTO THE SAME RIVER/REVOLUTION TWICE" allows two readings of the statement - first the famous Hereclitian statement comparing the flow of a river that isnever is the same with any point in history . And then FInlay's bold assertion here that that is also true of all revolutions. . VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1994)
10.5 x 4.1cm, 2pp. Artist's card in the form of a bookmark where on one side a list of trees which are supposedly "clinker built" where in boats the edges of hull planks overlap each other are found on one side and on the other the list of trees are supposedly "carvel built" where in boats the edges of hull planks are laid edge to edge often with an underlying structure. Finlay finding visual correspondences between the construction methods of the dead tree parts (planks) and the look of the living trees. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
10.8 x 10.4cm, 16pp plus patterned boards. The proposal here takes the form of a photograph of the site with a pull back tipped on flap that shows the landscape without the lake side temple and when pulled aside one can see the proposed building. Saint-Just was termed the "Angel of Death" by his opponents during the Terror because he was often the delegate who announced the name of those to be arrested (and often killed) at the National Assembly. Apollo is the Greek god of amongst other things justice. Both might be regarded as being capable of severe judgement. Photomontage by Peter Rogan.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1994)
13.5 x 7.2 cm, 12pp plus card covers. Artist's book which has four one-line poems (one per page) thus:
the simplicity of sackcloth
the self-effacement of sackcloth
the aspiration of sackcloth
and
the REVOLUTION of sackcloth.
The lowly fabric (traditionally made out of goats hair) is cast by Finlay in its place but by the fourth line is allowed to turn against its oppressors. A reference to the French and other revolutions. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1994) 12.2 x 8.5cm, 4pp artist's card with a drawing by Gary Hincks on the front. Internally there is a poem by Finlay: <BR><BR> HOSTA FLOWER<BR><BR> An old summer dress<BR> shared by sisters<BR> its purple faded<br> to lavender, fitting<BR> no-one, a thousand<BR> times in the wash<BR><BR> The Hosta Flower is the Plantain lily which invaded America in the 1800s from Asia. Finlay sees the colour as reminiscent of the faded colours of poor families. VG+....
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1994)
8.4 x 6.2cm, 4pp artist's card with a concrete poem internally:
The words:
linen coif in the shape of a cloud l'Ecole re Pont-Aven Hommage a Emile Bernard are placed in the shape of a cloth bonnet with the side ties.
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Emile Bernard was a post-impressionist painter who often took Pont-Aven as his source for landscape and town paintings. A linen coif was a bonnet (originally for both sexes but latterly only women wore them)., ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d.. (1994) 5.5 x 14.8cm, 4pp artist's car with a text 'Schooner, sail your snows to the Pole." in the middle pages. A monostich is a one-line poem. Here the schooner's sails are being compared with snow because of their colour - and the pun of the word "Pole" indicates a double meaning of the sails being hoisted to the masts. VG+....
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
10 x 7.4cm, 8pp plus wrappers and printed dustjacket. Artist's book with a poem by Finlay and a quote from Virgil's Aeneid about sailing which regards ships as "nymphs of ocean".:
"ships
nymphs
nymphs
ships
.
bark
barque
barque
bark
VG+.
JOINT (LAID IN):
10 x 4.5cm, 2pp explanatory card ('bookmark") by Thomas A. Clark which points to the transformation of boat into wood and wood into boat as well as the classical tropes of change in gods and humans. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
8.4 x 12.5cm, 1pp card printed red and black on grey with the latin inscription that translates to the "the final argument of kings" which traditionally meant a resort to arms, however Finlay wryly notes that :We have noting to add to our previous correspondence" is a modern equivalent and notes it as "the final argument of our rulers." VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
9 x 9cm, 4pp card with a painting of an archery target on the front and inside a definition:
Arrow, n. a heart seeking missile.
and a quotation about cupid from"Myths" by Bulfinch. Finlay updates the original Greek myth to a modern times where the "heat-seeking" missile is replaced by the "heart-seeking" arrow. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
12.7 x 16.3cm, 4pp with 1pp transparent leaf internally:
on the left and right of the internal pages are colour photographs of two metal sculptures - both wheel barrows one carrying fallen oak leaves and the other flowering pots. The photographs were taken by Antonia Reeve. The text on the leaf reads:
Be good and with me walk/The old devalued park/Where autumn has set in. - a line from a poem by the American poet Karl Shapiro.
The work shows the two seasons of Autumn and Spring - with the contents of the barrow reflecting the gardener's tasks at each time. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
13 x 6.5cm, 4pp card with a poem on the front:
Wild
post.
rose
van
The post and van words are in italics. Recombining the words in different orders gives different images and meanings while the original wild rose and post van are both objects that are red in nature (the card is printed in red on white). VG+.
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