Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1985)
30 x 21cm, 160pp plus card covers. Exhibition catalogue for an Australian travelling exhibition of British art. Finlay has 4pp of text and works as well as one of his sundials as frontispiece. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1985
25 x 29cm, black on green folder lithograph in folder content of two lithographs after drawings by Michael Harvey of the proposed stone gateway and a textual explanation thus: 'Implicit in the column is the natural tree, which was likewise inhabited by its nymph or dryad. Here, in place of the column, there is the pilaster, and the dryads are present in the 'distanced' form of the text derived from J.K.Lavater's 'Physiognomical Fragments' (1802). The design is based on that for a garden gateway by the Elizabethan architect Indigo Jones."
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Paris: Gallimard, 1925/1985
23.5 x 18.5cm, 84pp. Original wrappers. The first edition of this collection of texts by the poet issued in an edition of 850 copies by Byars’ favourite publisher. An uncut copy but pages are browned. One the first page Byars has appropriated the book by adding the text “I GIVE YOU GENIUS AGAIN!” in red ink in his starry hand. VG. Unique thus.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1985
21 x 21cm (unfolded), 2pp red on white card. The text "EVERY GOAL NEGATES" comes from the German atheist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach in his book 'Thoughts on Death and Immortality' - in full it is 'Every goal negates; where there is no destruction, no negation and sacrifice of independent existence, there is no purpose." - emphasising the role of destruction and loss in the world.
Here Finlay has made this into a paper dart which is a weapon of sorts carrying Feuerbach's message to the person hit by the paper. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d.
7.4 x 10cm, 10pp accordion fold with a text:
The perfect sentence/primly holding its proper content/like a plain little jug. With a drawing of such a jug byKathleen Lindsley.
Finlay creates a metaphor for good writing - simplicity and function. VG+ ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1985
15 x 10.5cm, 4pp (made of a single folded sheet printed one-side only). A hand-written letter on printed Ulysses Was Here stationery (one of the few times we have seen the printed letterhead used in such a folded manner) from Sue Finlay to John Stathatos letting the latter know that the Wildflower Vases are available for £100 each. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1985
23 x 23cm (unfolded size), 2pp sheet of printed paper designed to be folded into a paper airplane shape and thrown.
The text inside: "BEAT THE REDS WITH THE WHITE WEDGE: CORRESPOND!" adapts the Russian revolutionary slogan from the famous painting by Lazar Markovich Lissitzky, suggesting writing letters may be a radical response to the attacks on Little Sparta by the Strathclyde Region. It should be noted that the dart is supposedly published by the "Committee of Public Safety" which was the centralised mechanism by which Robespierre and Saint-Just controlled the Terror of the French revolution. This is a mailed example to Ronnie Duncan with stamp and frank. Murray lists this as a card - which is debatable we have decided to categorise it as a letter/document because of it's intent as a campaigning item. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1984
14 x 9.7cm, 48pp (printed recto only) and printed white wrappers.
Artist's book with 16 quotations from Hagel paired with other classical and modern quotations from Hereclitus, Wittgenstein, Zeno, Coleridge, Pythagorus and Finlay himself. The conjoining of the tests brings new meaning to the Hegelian bon mots. This was a Christmas publication from the Press which was often sent out as gifts to friends and colleagues - this copy has a handwritten dedication "Stuart from Ian as always". VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1984
8.8 x 10.2cm , 4pp black and red on white card.
The card lists twelve new names of the months of the year (much like the way the French Revolutionary calendar renamed the year. The names "Month of the Hurricane", "Month of the Snowman" mostly reflect the weather but there are also references to the events of 1793 but one line is printed in festive red "Month of the Pocket Battleship" which one may assume is the month around Christmas (this being a Christmas card). December is hence now the 4th month and a pocket battleship being a toy may be seen as a children's gift.,BR>
This example of the card has a relatively long (for a small card) message from Finlay to Stuart (Mills?) "doesn't this card remind you a wee line of Old Times, even if it is not printed in 60's sepia? I thinkI made it especially for you. How are you? That rotten firm never answered my letter about their rotten clockwork boat. Love to all, your chum, Ian. 12.12.84". An insightful short missive. VG+.
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Martock: Parrett Press, 1984 21 x 14.5cm, 16pp plus card covers. String bound. A proposal by Finlay for the artistic improvement of an olive grove at the Villa Celle in Italy. The work, also known as "The Celle Proposal," was created in collaboration with Nicholas Sloan who created the 4 woodcuts and the map of the land and was published by the latter's small press. The proposal includes a brass plough with a text: "The day is old by noon", a bronze tree plaque on an olive tree with "Il flaute d'argento/La scorza rozza" and "La Scorza d'argento/Il flauto rozzo", a wmall circular temple with an inscription "L'ombra medita sulla" and a sculpture in broze of a basket of lemons with "Silence after chatter' and "The astringent is sweet". There is also a small "concise" dictionary at the back of the book with various definition works. This is a very rare book with only 20 copies being printed. There are slight closed tears on the oversize wrappers but over all this is VG+. A delight. ...
57 x 10 x 44cm, etched glass on custom made wooden stand. The concrete poem is made up of a number of anagrams of the word "DAZZLE" although the word itself is not found on the etched glass plate. This is an unique sculptural version of a poem first published in 1979 as an artist's book by Finlay. The Dazzle ships were battleships in the second world war where zigzag patterns were painted on the side to help camouflage the outlines of the vessel. By showing all of the mixed up letters but not the original word Finlay is creating a visual poem abstracting the real life boats. We do not know the date of this work - we suspect it is from the 1980s. In VG+ condition,...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1984
21 x 21cm (unfolded size) , two-sided folding paper which turns into a paper dart - with a marbled pattern on one side.
The inner message is "THE MARBLE ARROW ALWAYS HITS ITS MARK!". Finlay has made this into a paper dart which is a weapon of sorts in the Little Spartan Wars. VG+.
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