Artists' Books, Fine and Private Press Books, and Miniature Books at RBSC

Call Number: PS3561.A8612 A96 2004
Limited ed. of 120 copies signed by Claire Van Vliet, Mary Richardson, Audrey Holden and E.D. Levitt.
Book bound in a diamond-shape with the left point blunted for the spine. Each page is a different combination of colors and geometric shapes resembling quilt blocks. Additional Japanese and handmade papers added to this edition. Issued in a drop-spine box (31 cm.) covered with quilting fabric.
Image source: Center for Book Arts: Collections. "[Aunt Sallie's Lament page]," n.d. https://collections.centerforbookarts.org/media/cba/images/2/3/1039_ca_object_representations_media_2334_large.jpg.

Call Number: PS8576.E54 C36 1970
"The Can is a book of poetry three inches wide by thirty-two inches long [...] The Can’s contents are on long coloured sheets. The sheets are fastened together at the top to facilitate display on any vertical surface in the fashion of Japanese prints. The internal format is from the ancient Sutras, the typography is based on modern printing techniques, and the extended use of the tin can is adapted from today’s packaging trends." (Description from the press release.)
Image source: Sacred Places. "The Canned Think Is Yours to Open," n.d. https://sacredplaces.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Canned-Think.jpg.

Call Number: TS1124 .C63 2007
"A tour de force of design, display and construction., this book contains over 300 paper samples, all imaginatively combined and arranged. In broad categories, the papers include (to name a few) money, pre-20th century wallpaper, consumable packages, marbled, handmade, and labels, all varying in sizes from small scraps to full sheets. The book includes a one-page preface by Claudia explaining her passion for paper of all sorts, and providing some context for the selections included. Each copy is laced into a heavy paper wrap (some white, some dark gray) featuring multi-color paper strips woven through the front board, and issued in a cloth-covered clamshell box. [...] The edition was 30 numbered and 5 lettered A.P. copies, all signed." (Description from the publisher's website.)
Image Source: Heavenly Monkey. "[Chasing Paper A]," 2007. http://www.heavenlymonkey.com/img/projects/ChasingA.jpg.

Call Number: PS8576.A9677 C6 2007
Skin color defines you. It’s your trademark. It makes you distinctly unique as no one else in the world has the exact same skin coloring as you. This portfolio of poems and letterpress drawings depict a few of the more interesting people of different colors that Charles Mayrs has encountered in his travels. The original portraits were done in pen and ink. These limited edition letterpress portfolios are limited to 60 copies. (Description from the publisher's website.)
Image source: Charles Mayrs. "Color Blind | Skin," n.d. http://charlesmayrs.com/cm/Books/Pages/Color_Blind.html#4.

Call Number: N7433.4.K448 F67 2002
"This book was inspired by a 19th century porcelain doll shown on an Antiques Roadshow TV programme. The doll's secret was unknown to its owner, who was very surprised by it's "fortune telling" power. The "fortunes" were hidden within the folds of its paper skirt, as they are within the folds of the pages of this book." (Description from the title page verso and following page.)
Limited edition of 49 copies. More information may be found on the publisher's website.
Image source: De Walden Press. "[Fortune Teller in Box]," n.d. http://www.dewaldenpress.com/_Media/fortune-teller-in-box.jpeg.

Call Numbers: N7433.4.V52 S67 2005; N7433.4.V52 S85 2005; N7433.4.V52 F34 2001; N7433.4.V52 W56 2004
Four books--Fall (2001), Winter (2004), Spring (2005), and Summer (2005)--making up Vincente's series Four Seasons, each released as limited editions. "The non-adhesive origami binding and case of each volume is made from Japanese papers wrapped in green, yellow, red, or grey silk. Each case has a closure made of gold and silver. Each book contains nine three-line poems about the seasons by such poets as Basho, Buson, Chiyo, Chiyo-ni, Chora, Issa, Joso, Moritake, Onitsura, Shara, Shiki, Shiko, Raizan, Ransetsu, Roka, and Taigi. This special set pays homage to each season with simplicity and elegance."
Description from Canadian Women Artists’ Books. “Artists O-Z,” n.d. https://omeka.library.ualberta.ca/exhibits/show/womenartistsbooks/artists-o-z.
Image source: Vincente, Ann (artist), and Karin Fodor (photographer). [Fall; Winter; Spring; Summer]. n.d. Bruce Peel Special Collections Library Online Exhibits. https://omeka.library.ualberta.ca/files/original/5255e7b3fbb23c9b0f626fd4852717d4.jpg.

Call Number: N7433.4.B793 J33 2002
"With 43 linocuts and 2 woodcuts by Tara Bryan printed in black. 96 leaves. Printed one side only. Dimensions 93h x 88w x 91d. Text set in Gill Sans, Eve, Liberty, Garamond, Bembo, Emerson, Broadway and others in various sizes. 24 copies printed on St. Armand Canal paper, white with silk fibres. Concertina-folded, in varicoloured (6 different colour schemes) cloth-covered box with a metal clasp, title blind stamped on top; a spring in the box makes the text-block pop out when the box is opened." (Description from artist's website.)
Image Source: Tara Bryan. "[Jack!]," n.d. http://www.tarabryan.com/b1j.html.

Call Number: PS8576.A9677 N86 2010
Nunuvata takes place 65 million years in the future, where a large section of North America has broken off and slowly drifts in a southerly direction to the mid-Atlantic. The stories and illustrations are a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Charles Darwin as the evolution of life is explored on this fascinating new continent. This hand-coloured letterpress edition is limited to 12 copies. (Description from the publisher's website.)
Image source: Charles Mayrs. "[Spread of Nunavata]," n.d. http://charlesmayrs.com/cm/Books/Pages/Nunuvata.html#14.

Call Number: NK1505 .H634 2019
PatternPattern by Barbara Hodgson and Claudia Cohen "adds another branch to their ongoing adventures in decoration, materials and processes previously explored in the four-part color series as well as Cutting Paper (2013), Decorating Paper (2015), and Folding Paper (2017). PatternPattern focuses on traditional and modern systems of analyzing repeating decorative patterns. These systems--grid, proportion, tessellation, symmetry, motif, and style & culture--are each discussed in a brief overview, and extensively illustrated, primarily with examples hand-drawn by the authors in each copy. Each section starts with a drawing done on translucent drafting vellum, to overlay the accompanying text. The focus throughout is on design development, progression, and variety, emphasizing the possibilities for infinite interpretations of basic styles." More information is available on the publisher's blog.
RBSC has one of the first 10 numbered copies, supplemented with 21 unmounted specimens protected in 2 portfolio covers of hand-made paper. The bound volume and all 3 portfolios are laid in a custom clamshell box, covered in gray cloth and patterned paper.
Image source: Heavenly Monkey. "[Pattern Pattern Image 4]," 2019. https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYJCglXo_CU/XbtRgasLshI/AAAAAAAAGFY/dZ7rWaIDrKU1dsvEt3OkGXqnPLNbKdCsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Pattern4.jpg.

Call Number: N7433.4.K47 U4 2000
A book housed in a painted synthetic case covered in fabric with a metal hinge. Book is one signature, with a hand-sewn binding, 21 cm.
Image Source: MassArt. "[Open View of Ufology Keepsake]," 2015. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.massart.edu/dist/6/1675/files/2015/12/201601914-1e9ntie-e1450375692145.jpg.

Call Number: PZ7.J137 Wl 2006
Publication Date: 2006
"...Published by Barbarian press in the Spring of 2006 in an edition of 125 copies. The book was designed & the text handset by Crispin Elsted in Garamont roman and italic (with Bembo, Perpetua Light Titling, and Dutch Initials for display, and was printed by Jan Elsted on Zerkall Cream Wove. R. R. Jackson's wood engravings were printed from the blocks; she also designed the pattern paper for the binding, which was printed by offset lithography from digital scans at Abbotsford Printing."--Colophon.
"This is the 35th book from the press."--Colophon.
Image source: The Whole Book Experience. "[The Wolf’s Carol by N. R. Jackson; Published by the Barbarian Press]," 2011. https://www.thewholebookexperience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Wolfs-Carol-2.jpg.

Call Number: AM221 .H623 2011
"The book (8.5 x 10.25 inches, 56 pp.) was designed and composed in Bembo by Barbara Hodgson. Reg Lissel spent ten months making over 1,000 foolscap sheets of paper specially for this project, which were printed damp by Rollin Milroy at Heavenly Monkey. Each copy is contained in a box decorated with onlaid wood veneers forming geometric patterns. Inside, in addition to the book, the box contains in various compartments a unique assortment of approximately two dozen objects culled from the creators’ own collections (e.g. shells, fossils, plants, optical devices and plaster casts) with a descriptive listing (each list written out by one of the authors), making each copy a unique wunderkammer in its own right." (Description from the publisher's website.)
Limited edition of thirty numbered and six A.P. copies, each signed by the authors.
Image source: Vanasco, J. 2011. [Photograph of Wundercabinet]. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-wonderful-wundercabinet.