Ian Hamilton Finlay - Unoriginal Sins

COPYING MACHINE-GUN. 1993.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1993
14.5 x 11.5cm, 2pp card with a photograph by Pia Simig of a photocopying machine in b/w. Below the image Finlay has added "COPYING_MACHINE-gun" - the sound of an old fashioned copier when set to repeat is somewhat similar to that of a machine gun shooting bullets quickly and repetitively. VG+.

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A MODEL OF ORDER….. 1991.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

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+.

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ORDER IS REPETITION. 1989.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1989)
7.3 x 8.2cm, 4pp artist's card with two texts -

on the left "as in rat-a-tat" and on the right "Order is repetition".

The card is "dedicated" to Yves Hayat who had been a friend to the artist but attacked him after the Catherine Millet accused Finlay of being fascistic because he included a swastika in one of his works. The rat-a-tat clearly references shooting from a machine gun - and (metaphorically) Hayat is being murdered by words. VG+.

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REEDPIPE. 1990. ONE OF 150 SIGNED & NUMBERED COPIES.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Lugo: Exempla, Firenze & Exit, 1990

25.8 x 19cm, 4pp single sheet of folded card in printed envelope. The card opens up to show a photograph by Martyn Greenhalgh of an automatic machine gun which has holes on the barrel to reduce heat. The gun can be seen against sheets of unused musical notation paper - hence the gun with the hole's becomes a violent form of Pan's reed pipes. The image is printed in light green to further emphasise the vegetative aspect of the work.
This is one of 150 signed and numbered copies (on the back of the envelope). VG+.

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BATTLE OF BRITAIN DAY SEPTEMBER 15. 1994.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
6.4 x 7.7cm, 4pp (single folded sheet) with a painting by Gary Hincks of a sky full of white trails on the front. Inside Finlay has a two line poem

Season of mists and milling Messerschmitts,
Close bosom-friend of the repeating gun.

The smoke trails are not solid but dotted lines - much as a trail of bullets can be seen in comic depictions of machine gun fire. VG+.

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LH423 SCARLET THREAD.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Edinburgh: Morning Star Press, n.d.
4 x 0.5cm, machine embroidered name patch issued as part of a book publication by the Press - but here offered alone. The red thread simply notes the number and name of the boat that Finlay noted with interest. The colour of the thread reflecting the name. VG+ condition.

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FOR THE TEMPLES OF THE GREEKS…. 1995.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1995

8.3 x 19.2cm, 1pp, Artist's card with an elevation drawing of a modern warship with the various towers and gun placements being labelled as if they are the four types of classical columns found in Greek architecture. An amusing correspondence but the quotation "For the Temples of the Greeks our homesickness last forever" comes from Odysseus and his longing for the familiar sights of his home. That gives this war machine a poignancy that the forms of sheet metal itself are unlikely to encourage. The beauty of Michael Harvey's line drawing also makes the boat a thing of classical form.
This image was also a much larger print and one of Finlay's most popular late works. VG+.

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WREATHING OF ROCKETS. 1986.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
7 x 7cm, 4pp folding card with a poem by Finlay based on a newspaper report on the repairs made to wells which gave the poet his last line.

wreathing of rockets<BR.
dusting of dreadnoughts
greening of gun-sites
parading of panzers
dressing of wells

The lines all describe war machines being camouflaged - a common theme in Finlay which is a momento mori - death can be found in beauty. VG+.

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THUNDERBOLT STEERS ALL. 1975. MEDALLION.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 19975
3 x4.5cm, copper and brass plated aluminium medallion with chain. With a design by Ron Costley (which originally was created for the exhibition Heroic Emblems) of a tank above which the title text - a reference to Zeus and his lightning bolts) is set. The original quote comes from Heraclitus: "the Thunderbolt that steers the course of all things".
All of the Heroic Emblems showed modern machines (mostly of war) in reference to Classical myths. Originally boxed with leaflet but this example does not have those elements. Edition size not known but very hard to find. VG+ condition.

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A CELEBRATION OF EARTH, AIR, FIRE, WATER. 1975. MEDALLION.

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 19975
3.5cm, dia. copper and brass plated aluminium medallion with chain. With a design by Ron Costley (which originally was created for the exhibition Heroic Emblems) of an aircraft carrier with a plane taking off from the deck. The original drawing relates to the USS Enterprise at the battle of Midway where the Japanese fleet was destroyed by the Americans. Finlay sees the aircraft carrier as typifying the classical elements of air, earth, sky, water and fire.
All of the Heroic Emblems showed modern machines (mostly of war) in reference to Classical myths. No box. Edition size not known but very hard to find. VG+.

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PRINZ EUGEN. 1999?

paul robertson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:27:00 +0000

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1999?)
8 x 20.5cm, 4pp outer folded with a black on deep blue drawing of the famous heavy cruiser. Internally there is a 8 x 20.5cm, 4p printed sheet with a poem:

PRINZ EUGEN*
Her nouns were round, her verbs were straight and swift

The poem sees the battleship as a sentence - the actions of this war machine are immediate and once presumes deadly, it's shape and form more aesthetic.
One of Finlay's poems in a folder although the format could be seen as a card.
VG+.

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paul robertson — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 09:55:41 +0000

Edinburgh: Scottish Arts Council/Fruit Market Gallery, 1976
15.2 x 10.4cm, 48pp plus wrappers. Exhibition catalogue for a survey of Scottish landscape art at the Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh curated by critic Paul Overy in 1976 featuring Ian Hamilton Finlay, Eileen Lawrence, Will Maclean, Glen Onwin, Fred Stiven and Ainslie Yule. Each artist has a section of the catalogue dedicated to their contributions - Finlay has two images, one a photograph of a sculpture (Emden Relief) from the (then) Stonypath Farm and a framed print "Homage of Kandinsky". There is a poem "Stonypath" by Kathleen Raine, a list of 16 exhibited works and a short exhibition history and bibliography. Very hard to find catalogue. VG+.

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