Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
10.8 x 7cm, 4pp, A drawing of two parts of a model boat hull by Gary Hincks has internally:
BUILDING THE HULL
First plank
this half
then plank
that half
then wonder why
2 matching halves
won't fit
The word plank here has a double meaning - in lowland Scots it means "to place" - hence the poem can be read as either a description of bad design or bad construction. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1996)
13 x 9.5cm, 4pp artist's card with a reproduced watercolour drawing of a blue sailship by Gary Hincks and a long "quotation" supposedly from Heinrich von Osterdingen which Finlay dubs "An Alternative Opening" where a young man thinks about a tale of a blue sailboat and how much he would love to see such a thing. In a 1802 book about Heinrich von Osterdingen by Novalis the young man dreams about a blue flower (rather than a boat). The blue flower became a regular reference in symbolism for romance - here Finlay alters the symbolism to that of the sea and long voyagesVG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
7.8 x 7.8cm, 4pp, A drawing of a boat's rudder by Gary Hincks on the front of the card has a poem by Finlay inside:
NEW BOAT
BR>
Pintles cast bronze -
Rudder mahogany -
Varnish like ice on
A clear water pool.
A pintle is the attachment for a rudder. Finlay has other works that liken the varnish found on a rudder to ice. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
14 x 7.6cm, 4pp, A two part poem is illustrated by Gary Hincks with three feathers:
Drowned
fish?
feather
drowned
fish?
Finlay's fondness for minimal changes in word order is here - giving different images - a "drowned fish" (something which is not possible unless you change the definition of "drown") may be a feather that has been mistakenly identified, a feather drowned in turn might be seen to be a fish. VG+.
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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
15.3 x 12.4cm, 42pp black on white artist's card with a drawing by Gary HIncks of a model making process where the holes in the side of the model representing porthole are made by pushing a pencil through the wood. The card is dedicated as a "Homage to SImon Cutts" - a writer and poet who presumably makes his mark on the world by the use of a pencil also. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
8.4 x 12.6cm, 4pp black on white folding card with the drawing by Gary Hincks of a second world war bomber with a woman as "nose art". The poem internally reads:
1943
Lovely ladies lolling in lingerie
on the noses of B17's. (sic)
The alliterative first line brings to mind real seductresses and the second clearly places the reality of the second world war habit of having female images painted on the front of the bomber planes.
VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
Three nested sheets, each 15 x 11cm (closed size), with texts on the folds and an illustration by Gary Hincks of a Zulu Skiff in the centre sheet. The work can be slowly opened to read in order:
UNTITLED UNFOLDER
bow curves bow cleaves
sail powers sail steadies
rudder steers stern stitches
TT 117 zulu skiff
Part of the :"Echoes series" this work is a variation on another poet's work - here Ian Stephen. The card is noted as being Christmas 1995 but also Easter 1996. VG+.
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