The Art Of The Book: The Book As Art
- By Bruce McKinney
This field: books, bindings, images and artwork
By Bruce McKinney
This article is written to introduce the subject of this month's AE Comet: The Art of the Book. Click here to browse.
Books contain information and have, for more than five hundred years, been information's principal repository and medium of exchange. These printed works primarily convey ideas in words although even the first printed book in the western world, the Gutenberg Bible, included flourishes that embellished the text, enhancing and conveying feeling. Writers, printers, publishers and even collectors have sometimes felt a need to make a statement beyond the words on the page. To do this they in some cases printed elaborate versions and in other cases created elaborate bindings. The human mind is complex and communicates in many ways.
Books were not the first, neither are they the latest way, to convey information. Before printed language there were hand-written texts. Before written texts there were paintings and pictographs. And since the advent of printing there have been further iterations. Within the world of books a small but important category has been the book valued more as object than content: in other words the book itself as exceptional and unusual. This is not a new idea for examples of "the book as exceptional object" that predate printing survive today. Extraordinary bindings, some almost a thousand years old, hand tooled, even bejeweled are today treasured as some of the finest examples of culture expressing veneration for a subject through physical presentation in book form. Through the quality of the cases and bindings we sense an intensity of feeling about the content - pride, respect, veneration, even worship. It isn't always just the words on the page.
These days we read book reviews for insight and the books themselves for knowledge. But for some collectors it is the uniquely printed or bound example that is most appealing and so it has been since the beginning of book collecting. For the few who pursue this material exclusively and the many who acquire the occasional copy it is a way to appreciate a book as an emotional evocation. This is a subset of book collecting but an enormously appealing one. If not to the world, at least for the few for whom such copies matter, it is the only way to collect books.
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The Art Of The Book: The Book As Art
- By Bruce McKinney
Original dies for Bird & Bull Press - offered by Oak Knoll
From this appreciation for artful presentation the book as artful object has developed as a collecting category. If most book collectors focus on content and printing priority and thus value the first edition over the second and take their clues and information from the text, the world of "books as objects" looks both at priority and artistry and comes down with emphasis on the quality of presentation. This art expresses itself as exceptional printing, sometimes as the unusually illustrated, other times as bindings complex, original and evocative of the text, other times focusing on an author, even the book owner. In all these many ways the content of the book is but a point of departure for the printer or binder to create and convey an impression and feeling. For many collectors, it is the feeling they collect with emotion never far from the surface.
Such material is per-norm visually appealing and hence often the subject of library and institutional displays and shows somewhat out of proportion to the small numbers extant. The impression is made that librarians, who see books in all their forms, often personally connect with such richly embellished examples. Everyone can sing. A few can sing an aria with grace. For many who appreciate such material, exceptional bindings are their grace notes.
It is to the rank and file somewhat esoteric and I therefore sought to better understand this Rhode Island among the California, Texas and New Yorks of traditional book collecting by simply asking the knowledgeable for their perspectives.
For the past thirty years Bob and Lynne Veatch have made a life and business as The Veatchs Arts of the Book. For them "Book Arts" encompasses an appreciation both for the book as artifact and for the individual arts which created the book– papermaking, type design, calligraphy, layout, presswork, illustration and binding. The collector captivated by a Kelmscott Chaucer, magnificently printed on handmade paper, illustrated with Burne-Jones' woodcuts, and bound in blind-tooled pigksin, may study the history of type design. Or papermaking. Or book illustration. Or bookbinding. Then there are humbler books-as-objects which help illuminate the history of bookmaking. "Early printed books with an earlier vellum manuscript leaf used as part of the binding and an 18th century novel with its pages untrimmed and in original wraps" are two such examples, each different and yet united under the banner of book arts.
In discussing how collectors approach the 'book arts' Lynne explains that, "because the field is broad, collectors narrow their focus. One might collect 16th century French bindings, or bindings executed by women, or publishers' bindings in striped cloth. One might collect books illustrated with wood engravings or with original etchings. One might collect the entire output of one private press, or fine printing from one geographical area, or the writings of Herman Melville in every fine edition. The possibilities are endless."
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The Art Of The Book: The Book As Art
- By Bruce McKinney
Davidson, Laura. Flora and Fauna. Boston: 2008. $2,750 from Patricia Juvelis
And lest you think that the field stops at this water's edge she mentions the concept of "artists' books" which today extend the very definition of books to include non-traditional forms that may be sculptural [and difficult to shelve] – slips of paper in a bottle, an accordion-fold sandwich with paper ham & cheese tucked in, even a laced corset.
Priscilla Juvelis of Maine, an important dealer in contemporary book arts, explains American collecting interest in the book as art this way. Previous to 1970, legendary American collectors such as J.P. Morgan, Henry Huntington, and Lessing Rosenwald collected European bindings, fine printing, illuminated manuscripts, books illustrated with original graphic art, etc. – all of which can be thought of as book arts. Since 1970 America has steadily developed a distinctive, even exuberant, style that today defines American contemporary book arts as a thing apart from its European roots. In this field, for its collectors, binders, printers and artists, the outcome has been a growing community of hundreds of individuals who today create art expressed as beautiful books often in bindings. The subset, "artists' books," where the author both creates the book as well as its text, has been a particularly vibrant part of the market. Book arts, encompassing the entire range of what may be considered the book as beautiful object is Ms. Juvelis' specialty.
Of the field today she recently commented - "The American book arts community is particularly strong at this time. We are living in an era where the sheer volume of artists whose aesthetic expression is combining with a level of craftsmanship not seen before. What was once the purview of kings, queens, cardinals, dukes et al. - books created for one patron to hold and enjoy – is now possible for most collectors." The art of the book is one of the most personal ways to enjoy art – and one of the most satisfying ways as well."
Bill and Vicky Stewart of Vamp & Tramp, Booksellers represent over 250 contemporary fine presses and book artists. "Our concern is with works of art where text (if present) and image/illustration (if present) combine with the physical aspects of the work to trigger the aesthetic experience. What to call these works - fine press books, artists' books, bookworks, sculpture, or simply books - is less important than the experience. In this world books are no longer just a container for information and story. The physicality of the book - the materials, the paper, the structure, how it opens or doesn't open - is an expressive component, just as important as the text and image. In any one book, one or two of these aspects may dominate, but all three contribute in some way.
"We feel that because of the nature of these objects, in order to be appreciated they must not only by seen and read but also handled. You have to play with them in order to appreciate and experience that physical component. No matter how good the catalog, the website, or the exhibition (where the books are usually displayed, for understandable reasons, behind glass with one spread only on view), there is no substitute for actually handling the books. Hence, we spend much of the year taking the works we represent to institutional and private collectors.
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The Art Of The Book: The Book As Art
- By Bruce McKinney
An etching by Michael Kuck - from the Veatchs
"Collecting in this field is no different than collecting anything else. You don't need a lot of money. We represent books that sell for less than $10 (as well as books that sell for over $15,000). You narrow the field or not depending on taste, interest, and budget. If you have wide interests and a big budget, the limits are less restrictive. But for many, the fun is in the restriction. Not surprisingly collecting categories are not much different than in more traditional book collecting. You can collect by subject matter, by structure, by artist category, by high spot.
"Although we think these books are works of art, most differ from more traditional art – paintings, prints, sculptures – in that they are meant for the lap rather than the wall. They require physical interaction on the part of the reader. Hence museums – and galleries -- have a hard time dealing with them. The objects we are interested in share the personal nature of more traditional books. One reader/viewer/manipulator playing with and processing an artifact composed of text, image, and materials to lead to that moment of aesthetic focus."
Bob Fleck of Oak Knoll has taken a different path albeit in the same direction. For the past 32 years he's been selling books on the history of the book and emphasizing that history by also selling examples of the most interesting typographically designed books from all centuries. This gives him perspective both on how this field has evolved and a sense of where its going –
"In this category 'how-to' books are very popular. This suggests an interest to create as well as acquire. We see interest in learning how to print by hand, make paper, bind books and design typographically pleasing projects." We of course also sell examples of special bindings and unique copies.
Each fall we sponsor "Oak Knoll Fest" which gathers together people that produce books by hand and allows them to show off their work while interacting with librarians and private collectors in the stress free environment of New Castle, Delaware. Our 15th annual Fest will be held on October 4th and 5th this year."
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The Art Of The Book: The Book As Art
- By Bruce McKinney
Collectible material comes in many forms / Oak Knoll
The book arts are thriving. This is a field with a history that is also experiencing a vibrant present. There are so many ways to participate, as a collector or artistic contributor. No doubt the skills to create and the judgment to acquire are dispersed around the globe so that whether you live in Johannesburg, Moscow, Paris, Melbourne, Phoenix or New York there are opportunities to see material at local libraries and at dealers, online for sale and upcoming at auction. This material enjoys broad support. It makes it a very exciting collecting area. So, to whoever said you can not tell a book by its cover they perhaps have not collected in this small but appealing slice of book collecting. It turns out you can. Who knew.
Links:
This month the AE Comet focuses on this area of collecting: The Art of the Book: The June AE Comet.
A Reference Auction for those interested in the Book as Art [Sotheby 5699]
The Guild of Book Workers: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/gbw/index.shtml
The Guild of Book Workers 100th Anniversary Exhibition: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/gbw/gallery/100anniversary/index.shtml
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