Search Results: Fine Press from 20 Ants Fine Books, IOBA

City OF New York: Kurt H. Volk. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1951. Hardcover. Front pastedown has a large rectangle of browning, likely from a previously removed bookplate. Some offsetting to front free endpaper. Slipcase has 3 small darkened areas, light wear to corners, nick to bottom edge, and the paper cover is somewhat darker than the book paper covers. ; A small collection of traditional Christmas carols: the lyrics being true to the original versions and not 'modernized.' Privately printed by the great typographer Kurt H. Volk, likely as one of the many seasonal keepsake books he set and printed for friends. No stated limitation. Finely printed on very pale green paper in darker green ink with the title of each carol printed vertically in red at the margin or at the gutter. Bound in quarter, dark green cloth with red, green, and white patterned paper over boards. Title in gilt to spine. Slipcase in paper matching the book covers. Very Good+ for the browning of front… Read More

Cambridge: The Pym-Randall Press. Fine with no dust jacket. 1967. Limited/Numbered Signed Edition. Stiff wraps. This poem is an homage to George Herbert, the influential Welsh-born, English-educated "metaphysical" poet of the 17th century, state orator, and priest of the Church of England. His best-known religious poems are The Temple, The Country Parson, and Jacula Prudentum. Written by Grey Ruthven, Irish-born hereditary peer, poet, European Chair of Sotheby’s, fine art dealer, Member of the House of Lords, and Minister for the Arts in Margaret Thatcher's government. This is copy 88 of a limited edition of 100 numbered copies in a total edition of 126. Signed on the colophon by the author, Grey Ruthven. The Pym-Randall Press was founded by James and Joanne Randall and was best known for publishing emerging poets, issuing small letterpress printed editions. Designed and printed by William Ferguson, frequent printer to the press. String bound in deep purple, mould made,… Read More

Winston-Salem: Palaemon Press Limited. Near Fine with no dust jacket. 1979. Signed, Limited Edition. Hardcover. The front board has some splay, as many, if not most, copies do.; Twelve previously unpublished "translations" of poems by other poets, selected by Dickey and each rewritten by him as an homage and to add his unique perspective to the retelling. Most poems are in a non-linear form: the formatting, word spacing, and line justification are varied and are as essential to the poem as the text. One of an unnumbered limited edition of 475 copies. Elaborately signed by author on the colophon. In polished gray buckram over boards, with title and author framed on a cream-colored paper label to front. No dust jacket, as-issued. In 1977, Stuart Wright founded the Palaemon Press Limited, Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA to publish works by Southern authors. Most books are the first appearance, or first separate, printing, of the works. Clean inside and out, sharp cornered, and… Read More

West Branch (Iowa): Toothpaste Press. Fine. 1983. Limited/Numbered Signed Edition. Softcover. Faint, small scuffing to the matte finished wraps.; This collaboration between author and artist has five short, non-rhyming poems by Ron Padgett, each with a facing page having an utterly quirky illustration by Trevor Winkfield. Yes, woodpeckers and woodpecker society are occasionally involved. This is copy 78 of a limited edition of 600 and signed on the colophon by both Padgett and Winkfield. Provenance: From the library and estate of Kenward Elmslie, prolific poet associated with the New York School of poetry, editor, performer, and founder of Z Magazine and Z press. A square 7" x 7" format. Unpaginated, 24 pp. Handset in Optima by assistant printer David Duer and printed on Curtis Ragston S-N paper by Allan Kornblum and David Duer. Saddle thread bound into black, French-flapped, Canson paper wrappers by "A.B." Title on a paper label on the front. The book has a spare, unembellished design, quite… Read More

Bolinas, California: Angel Hair Books. Very Good-. 1970. Limited Edition. Softcover. Wraps toned and soiled, as so many are with this edition. Some toned offsetting from an adjacent book. A bit of wave to the head edge of the front.; Thirty-five minimalist, idiosyncratic, freely-constructed poems of experimental technique. Most are terse, some are brief prose poetry, all are non-rhyming, and all challenge the reader to parse and interpret them as poems. An example: "Her strict eye / her lovely voice." Another example titled (for Jim Dine): most common simple / address words everything / in one clear call to me." Robert Creeley (1926-2005) published over 60 books of poetry. These poems were completed July 14, 1969, and published while he was an instructor at State University of New York at Buffalo. Provenance: From the library and estate of Kenward Elmslie, prolific poet associated with the New York School of poetry, editor, performer, and founder of Z Magazine and Z press.… Read More

West Branch, Iowa: Toothpaste Press. Fine. 1979. Limited Edition. Softcover. Seven, tiny poems, each creating a scenario for a mystery. Example: "You return to / your bedroom / visibly shaken / as you turn down / the covers a cobra / leaps for your throat / paralyzed you collapse // you are no longer suspect". Each is accompanied, on the facing page, by one of Ann Mikolowski's illustrations of board game pieces, objects, and textures. Signed and inscribed to Kenward Elmslie. "For Kenward - / these big enigmas / Ken Mikolowski / Grindstone City" Provenance: From the library and estate of Kenward Elmslie, prolific poet associated with the New York School of poetry, editor, performer, and founder of Z Magazine and Z press. Ken Mikolowski was a founder of "Alternative Press" in Detroit and a friend of Elmslie. Monochrome drawings and cover illustration by Ann Mikolowski. This is the letterpress edition limited to 800 copies. Designed, handset in Blado and… Read More

San Francisco: twowindows Press. Near Fine with no dust jacket. 1968. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. Faint smudges of silkscreen ink to front cover and tail corner of the rear cover. Tiny hole in the cloth at the tail edge of both covers.; Don Gray's six short-lined, jagged poems for his very young child, Rasan. Interspersed with the text are Rasan's drawings of people, all in the manner of a child just learning to depict people. Some figures don't have arms, one has a single arm, some don't have pupils in their eyes, one has eyelashes, one has a beard. Of an edition of 262, this is copy 9 of 12 that are specially bound in cloth and signed on the front endpaper by the the author "9/12 / Don Gray / 24 June 68" Don Gray was a poet, artist, and founder of twowindows press, publisher of numerous authors of poetry. This book was a family effort with poetry and presswork by Don Gray, drawings by Rasan Gray, and Elenore Gray bound the special copies and… Read More

Toronto, ON: House of Anansi Press. Fine with no dust jacket. 2001. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Tiny, closed tear to the publisher's paper band.; Thirty, tiny, quirky essays from this frequent contributor to McSweeny's. The essays span a mermaid in a jar, newly created fairy tales, a frog that gives relationship advice to a plumber, love, bad love, sex, “the littlest dumpling who had never been told his name,” and many that are depressive and matter of fact without making an obvious point or having a moral resolution. Sheila Heti's writing is unique. Five essays are reprinted from McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Issue 4. The author has signed "love Sheila" in pen on the title page with a hand-drawn potted plant, "April 2003.", and the inscription "for a man with flowers and ties[?]. Includes ephemera: two stiff, paper hang tags. Each has a different, halftone, monochrome reproduction of do-it-yourself photo booth picture of… Read More

East Aurora, New York: The Roycroft Printing Shop. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1896. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. A light mark to the front cover, spine tail slightly bumped, bruise or dent to the head edge of the rear cover. Occasional, foxing to the pages, some pages foxed in the gutter at the head. ; In a periodical, Roycroft printed the first US appearance of George Bernard Shaw's essay on the institution of the church, primarily the Catholic Church, and churchgoers' reliance on organized religion. Although Shaw, via a postcard, had given Elbert Hubbard permission to publish this work, Shaw was horrified to find that Hubbard had taken liberties and edited the essay instead of printing it as it stood. Thereafter, Shaw disassociated himself from the Roycroft version, treated it as a piracy, and did not miss an opportunity to vilify Elbert Hubbard. From the essay, Shaw's thoughts on how drink, smoke, drugs, or the lack thereof, produce creative works, including… Read More

Tieton, Washington: Marquand Editions. Fine with no dust jacket. 2009. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Pinhead nick to paper of back cover.; This brief essay is an homage to the spines of books. Spines, at their best, convey what the author, and ultimately the publisher, want the bookstore browser to assume about the book. The width, font, face, number of words, direction of printing, color, and pattern all affect us semi-consciously and determine if we will stop and pull the book from the shelf. The author explains his views as a publisher and provides examples and anecdotes about decisions on spine content. Unpaginated, but 5 pages. This is the initial volume of a 10-volume set of essays by different authors on various aspects of books. One of an edition of 500, most of which were distributed hors commerce. Designed by the author who is the publisher of Marquand Editions. Letterpress printed in Archer Book font on stiff leaves, each with two laminations of paper, trimmed at head and tail,… Read More

San Francisco: Twowindows Press. Very Good+. 1970. Broadside. Some broadsides have very light, shallow creasing from handling. Folder has creasing and bumped corners, quite common to these.; Six poetry broadsides, printed on the recto, by authors Douglas Blazek (Figuring Things Out, 1970). Blazek was the founder of Open Skull Press and was one of the driving forces behind the "mimeo revolution," cheap, grass roots publishing of beat and outsider literature and poetry.), Howard McCord (Mit Brennender Sorge, With Burning Sorrow, reprinted from Chelsea magazine, 1967, Maurice McDonald (For Don, 1970) , Paul Ramsey (The Answerers, 1970), D.r. Wagner (The Guardian in Ermine, 1970), and Peter Wild (For the Wedding Night of Manuel Espinoza, illustration by Don Gray, 1970). Broadsides range from 13" x 10" to 7 7/8" x 5", are printed on various fine papers and in various fonts. Twowindows Press, founded by Don Gray who performed both design and printing, was a mainstay… Read More

San Francisco: Twowindows Press. Fine. 1970. Broadside. Folder has creasing and bumped corners, quite common to these.; Six poetry broadsides, printed on the recto, by authors Douglas Blazek (Figuring Things Out, 1970). Blazek was the founder of Open Skull Press and was one of the driving forces behind the "mimeo revolution," cheap, grass roots publishing of beat and outsider literature and poetry.), Howard McCord (Mit Brennender Sorge, With Burning Sorrow, reprinted from Chelsea magazine, 1967, Maurice McDonald (For Don, 1970) , Paul Ramsey (The Answerers, 1970), D.r. Wagner (The Guardian in Ermine, 1970), and Peter Wild (For the Wedding Night of Manuel Espinoza, illustration by Don Gray, 1970). Broadsides range from 13" x 10" to 7 7/8" x 5", are printed on various fine papers and in various fonts. Twowindows Press, founded by Don Gray who performed both design and printing, was a mainstay of fine press poetry in San Francisco. Housed in the publisher's… Read More

New York: The Spiral Press. Fine. 1962. Brochure. One of the various little booklets printed by The Spiral Press, this copy is a Christmas keepsake with an additional preliminary page, printed thus: "Greetings / Christmas / 1962 / From Robert Frost". This was Frost's short poem about the push and pull of nature, and mystic belief vs. science. "In other words to wager their reliance / On plain religion or religious science." Provenance: From the library and estate of Kenward Elmslie, prolific poet associated with the New York School of poetry, editor, performer, and founder of Z Magazine and Z press. Unpaginated, with 7 pages. The font is unstated, but appears to be the press' unique Emerson and printed on laid, cream colored paper. 5 3/4" x 4 1/2". Bound in laid, cream colored, French flapped wraps printed in brown and gray, saddle stapled with staples bright and holding well. This is a clean copy in Fine condition.; 24mo 5" - 6" tall; 7 pages .

No Place Stated: A. R. Tommasini. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1970. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Bump to head of spine, possibly in the making. Light toning to the very edges of the boards, common to this edition.; A selection of verse fragments from John Greenleaf Whittier's classic Snow-Bound : A Winter Idyl. Printer Tommy Tommasini chose fragments that described scenes that the family in this narrative poem would have witnessed. Whittier's poem, in total, describes a family's conversations inside a snowed-in New England farmhouse. The verse fragments are accompanied by the linoleum engravings of Czech-born artist George Kuthan. His Prague and Paris studies in graphic arts, printmaking, and painting served him in Canada where he taught printmaking at university level, and incorporated etching and both wood- and linoleum-engraving into his graphic arts and books. His works in this book are sympathetic to the verse fragments and are boldly styled. One of an unnumbered,… Read More

Princeton, New Jersey: The Manticora Press. Near Fine. 1969. Limited/Numbered Edition. Softcover. Tiny, closed tears to the head edge of the wraps, adjacent to the spine head. Just a bit of wear to the spine tail.; The bibliography of this tiny ephemeral press that produced 3 books; two previous books and this one. Founded in 1967 by Neal F. Grenley, "The Manticora Press strives to produce finely printed material both in terms of design, and especially in terms of execution. What we detest is Madison Avenue slickness, all kinds of offset printing, and graphic designers afraid of the composing stick." Using a borrowed Albion press, Manticora had the tinyest output and the lifespan of a mayfly. Despite that, this book is an example of fine printing, with the title page printed in black and red, the fanciful device of the press and other devices in red. Copy 18 of a limited edition of 30, with the colophon lettered in ink "18 ./1 September 1969/by the Printer". Hand set in… Read More

Glendale, CA: Privately Printed. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1984. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Sixty-four collected examples of free verse written by this poet between 1970 and 1983, forty-six having appeared in periodicals. Being a creator informed her educational career and she was focused on fostering creativity in children. Frances Hall's (Adams') verse has depth and maturity. From the poem Yes and No: "It's the way you ask the question/that shapes the answers - that says/whether you even want an answer//Listen to your asking/and ask what kind of silences/invite to an open landscape." Posthumously published, the Afterword briefly explains the author's poetry and life. Each poem begins with a decorative capital. Paginated 100,[1],[3 blanks]. One of a limited edition of 250 copies designed and printed on a hand press by Atara Clark at Prosperity Press. Printed in dark brown ink on cream-colored, laid, watermarked, Curtis Tweedweave paper with fore edge untrimmed.… Read More

Salisbury, Connecticut: Ink, Inc.. Near Fine with no dust jacket. 1992. Limited Edition; Privately Printed. 3-ring binder. Corners lightly bumped.; Tulipomania was the speculative, economic bubble that evolved in 17th century Dutch Republic, now Netherlands. The price of tulip bulbs rose to unimaginable extremes as people assigned value to the bulbs far in excess of their intrinsic value. Bulbs were sold and traded as investments and buyers could purchase futures contracts on speculated future values. The average person could buy, hold, and resell a single bulb, and the wealthy could have vast holdings. In February 1637, this speculative bubble collapsed as people stopped buying tulip bulb futures contracts and the rest of the market plummeted, erasing the fortunes of both the meek and the mighty. Like some highly-speculative investments today, people ignored the fundamentals, invested in an idea, and lost their money when the market collectively realized that the idea was not backed by… Read More

San Francisco: Cranium Press. Fine. 1976. Limited Edition. Softcover. Keith Abbott's wide-ranging poem that bounces through successive observations about himself and life. Boldly inscribed by Abbott to Kenward Elmslie, on the front endpaper in elaborate calligraphic script using a chisel-point pen. "The Ken- / ward / Elmslie / Copy / (a calligraphic flourish) / Keith" Provenance: From the library and estate of Kenward Elmslie, prolific poet associated with the New York School of poetry, editor, performer, and founder of Z Magazine and Z press. One of an edition limited to 300 copies. Unpaginated, 18 pages. 5' x 5 3/4". Handset in Italian Old Style type and printed on cream colored fine paper. Bound in sewn, dark green, mould made wraps, with a Michael Meyers illustration of a picture of two faucets and grasses, framed in an arch. This illustration is replicated on the title page, the faucets being an allusion to the second paragraph of the poem. This little volume is clean, sharp, and in Fine… Read More

Madison, NJ: Brayers Club. Near Fine. (1947). Limited Edition. Softcover. Tiny nicks to the head edge of the front wrap.; This tiny book contains a facsimile of the holograph manuscript of Wood Flower, a 2-verse poem by Richard Le Gallienne. The narrator finds a flower growing in the woods and wishes to pluck it. Comparing the flower to "The old wild-wood's fairy daughter," the narrator falls under a spell that prevents a hand from taking the flower, so delicate that it might be broken by a touch. Born Richard Thomas Gallienne, the author affected the surname Le Gallienne in early adulthood. A prolific author, his life was tumultuous, encompassing affairs with Oscar Wilde, actor/playwright Wilson Barrett and numerous women, and three wives who dealt with his debt-ridden, alcoholic, womanizing, unstable life. "The frontispiece is printed direct from the silk of a milk-weed seed without any plate or mechanical means of reproduction, on a Washington hand press by Arthur… Read More

Norwich, New York: Private Printing. Very Good. 1939. Limited/Numbered Signed Edition. Hardcover. Some splay to the front cover and a slight roll to the spine. The title label was applied at a slight angle. The glassine wrapper has a couple of nicks. The box is darkened with wear to the extremities.; In 1897, young Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the New-York Sun newspaper. "I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?" The letter was handed to Francis Church, a cynical and sardonic Sun writer, who rose to the challenge and in 423 words crafted a kind response that struck into the souls of readers, then and now. Church cast Santa Claus as someone who didn't need to be seen to be proven, but as a supernatural manifestation of love, generosity, beauty, and faith it what is good. "Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding." This copy was privately… Read More