Book Arts Collection

Island Girl

Banks, Alisa. Island Girl. Dallas, Tex.: A B Press, 2008.
N7433.4 .B36 I85 2008 FLAT, Rare

"Island Girl re-tells a story of longing, rejection, acceptance and pride that my mother, who grew up on the False River in Louisiana, often told us. It is in the form of one of the floursack dresses the children wore."--Alicia Banks

The Desert: Further Studies in Natural Appearances

Bervin, Jen. The Desert: Further Studies in Natural Appearances. New York City: Granary Books, 2008.
N7433.4 .B47 D47 2008 OVER, Rare

Blackout poetry created with a zig zag stitch of pale blue colored thread over the text of John C. Van Dyke. Bleached abaca paper by Twinrocker Handmade Papers.

Beauty in Use

McPherson, Sandra. Beauty in Use. Newark, Vt.: Janus Press, c1997.
PS3563 .A326 B43 1997, Rare

Poems inspired by Sandra McPherson's collection of African-American quilts, illustrated by Claire Van Vliet with pages of interlocking papers to form two-sided quilt squares. This is one of several quilt related pieces from Janus Press held by Hill Memorial Library.

Crazy Quilt

Cummins, Maureen. Crazy Quilt. Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1998.
N7433.4 .C86 C73 1998, Rare

This book by Maureen Cummins assembles the experience of women who have been institutionalized for insanity in the last century. Square pages of richly colored patterns and text unfold into one large quilt-like square referencing, Victorian crazy-quilts.

Aunt Sallie's Lament (altered)

Kaufman, Margaret. Aunt Sallie's Lament (altered). Newark, Vermont: Janus Press, c2004.
PS3561 .A8612 A96 2004 OVER, Rare

Aunt Sallie, a Southern quilter, reflects bittersweetly on her life and and past loves. Poetry shares Aunt Sallie's story on richly colored, variously shaped and layered pages reminiscent of a quilt pattern. The library has the original Aunt Sallie's Lament as well as a trade edition, each one is a little different!

The Dickinson Composites

Bervin, Jen. The Dickinson Composites. New York: Granary Books, 2010.
N7433.4 .B47 D53 2010 FLAT, Rare

The Dickinson Composites is an artist book that focuses on a series of large-scale quilts Jen Bervin made by embroidering the poet Emily Duckinson's unusual punctuation markings from her fascicles.

Bervin writes, "The Dickinson Composites are mends of omissions, samplers of 'a system of Aesthetics - / Far superior to mine'. Choosing to circumvent what seemed like an intractable editorial situation, I tried to make something as forceful, abstract, and generously beautiful as Dickinson's work is to me."

Thread Loves Paper

Marks, Emily. Thread Loves Paper. [Sonoma, Calif. ]: Emily Marks, c2012.
N7433.3 .M384 2012, Rare

This item, while not an artist's book, is a sort of catalog of artists' books that combine thread and paper; includes artists' statements and color photographs, and a short history of thread and books.

Red Thread, Two Women

Sager, Paula & Lizbeth Hamlin. Red Thread, Two Women. [San Francisco, Calif.]: Pacific Editions, 2006.
PS3619 .A385 R4 2006, Rare

"The design of the book has been inspired by the poem and evokes the experience imbedded in the writing. The string/thread acts like a drawn line and can be moved around by the reader to change the “drawing” and the experience.

The reverse of the book uses images of beets, accentuating characteristics of the poem – their string-like roots and the fullness and ripeness of their shape. The back pages also carry and emphasize individual words from the poem: voice, awaken, heart, distance, silence, tears, flame, breath, birth." --Artist's website

Oscar Wilde's The Nightingale and the Rose

Johnson, Linda K. Oscar Wilde's The Nightingale and the Rose. 2005.
PR5818 .N53 2005 FLAT, Rare

Embroidered silk fabric is the material used for the covers of this book, which is housed in a silk envelope. The text is illustrated with pochoir.