Book Arts Collection
About This Gallery
Abecedarians are poetry forms where usually, each word, line, or stanza of a poem begins with the first letter of the alphabet and continues until the last letter is reached. Examples of abecedarians and alphabet books are collected in this gallery.
Alphabet Books
Tumbling Blocks for Pris and Bruce
Van Vliet, Claire. Tumbling Blocks for Pris and Bruce. Newark, Vt.: Janus Press, 1996.
Z1033 .T68 V36 1996 MICRO, Rare
A miniature book created from the scraps of Praise Basted In. The pages are woven and they unfold in an unusual way to reveal each letter of the alphabet on colorful paper.
An Alliterative Abecedarium of Anthropomorphic Animals
Kuch, Michael. An Alliterative Abecedarium of Anthropomorphic Animals. Asparagus Valley: Double Elephant Press, 2010.
N7433.4 .K82 A4 2010
Magnetic accordion structure printed with intaglio plates. Hardcover enclosure also uses magnets.
Alphabeta Concertina Miniscule
King, Ron. Alphabeta Concertina Miniscule. Bosham, West Sussex, U.K.: Circle Press, 2007.
N7433.4 .K55 A55 2007, Rare
Single strip is folded accordion-style to form 54 page surfaces, on every two of which is formed, by cutting of the paper, a lower-case letter of the alphabet (a-m on one side of the strip, n-z on the other).
Scenes from the Alphabet
Fisher, Roy. Scenes from the Alphabet. Guildford [Surrey]: Circle Press, c1984.
PR6056 .I8 S34 1984 OVER, Rare
Ron King designed pop-up alphabets in several of his pieces. This example appears in the center of a folio and accompanies a poem by Roy Fisher.
A Fowl Alphabet
Robinson, Alan James. A Fowl Alphabet: Twenty-Six Wood Engravings by Alan James Robinson; Lettering by Suzanne Moore. Easthampton, Mass.: Cheloniidae Press, 1986.
QL674 .R628 1986, McIlhenny Natural History Collection
26 Wood engravings of birds paired with text from Our Living World: A Natural History by Rev. J. G. Wood, Vol. II Birds, 1885.
ABC of Bugs and Plants in a Northern Garden
Sgantas, Judy. ABC of Bugs and Plants in a Northern Garden. Vermont: Janus Press, 2012.
N7433.4 .S425 A3 2012, Rare
Collaboration between Judy Sgantas and Claire Van Vliet. This nonadhesive binding is a double alphabet book, with classical Roman letter forms entwined with plant life and insects. For each letter of the alphabet, a black and white image faces a second colored image, revealed by opening an opposing folded leaf. The content is about garden pests -- what attracts or repels them -- and a plant's defenses.
An Insect Alphabet
Wickham, Melanie. An Insect Alphabet. Newton Abbot: Avenue Press, 2001.
PE1155 .I57 2001, Rare
Linoleum-cut illustrations by Melanie Wickham and "itchy insect inscriptions" by David Bailey with imaginary collective noun wordplay.