{Ed. Note: This is part 3 of a series looking at a mix of Limited Edition Club (LEC) publications from the Shiff-era; an era in which the book form was elevated to an art in itself, publishing editions with no expense spared. See here for part 1 and here for part 2.}

Part two of this series on Shiff-era LEC’s focused on highlighting great works by African-American writers and artists. Similarly, in part three, we look at a set of great works by a diverse set of writers and artists that have had enormous influence on modern literature and art.

• Ficciones by  Jorge Luis Borges. 1985. With silk screens by Sol LeWitt.
• Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Conner. 2005. Six color etchings by Benny Andrews.
• Poems by Frank O’Hara. 1988. Seventeen lithographs by William de Kooning.
• Three Poems from les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire. 1997. Four Photogravures by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 1982. Illustrations by Rafael Ferrer.

While all of these editions have typical LEC high quality, I particularly would like to say how fantastic the edition of O’Hara poems is, especially the De Kooning illustrations.  Sometimes I am not the greatest fan of his work, but I find these striking and beautiful.  I also think the illustrations by Benny Andrews in the O’Conner book are marvelous. If you have not read Marquez or Borges, you owe it to yourself to do so. These particular works by Marquez and Borges are outstanding, and deserve a solid place in the Western Canon. Three Poems from les Fleurs du Mal is, well, Baudelaire, and the photogravures are appropriately artistically racy.

{Ed. Note:  Readers should contact Jeanne Shiff at the Limited Editions Club at 212-737-7600 or 800-701-8870 to inquire about availability and pricing if interested. As of a few months back, I believe they had a few copies of remaining of each of these books, except One Hundred Years of Solitude.}

Pictures

(All pictures on Books and Vines are exclusively provided to highlight and visualize the work being reviewed.  A side benefit, hopefully, is encouraging healthy sales of fine press books for the publishers and fine retailers that specialize in these types of books (of which Books and Vines has no stake or financial interest). Please note that works photographed are copyrighted by the publisher, author and/or illustrator as indicated in the articles. Permission to use contents from these works for anything outside of fair use purposes must come directly from the copyright owner and no permission is granted or implied to use photo’s found on Books and Vines for any purpose that would infringe on the rights of the copyright owner.)

{Ed. Note:  Apologies for the somewhat poor quality of the pictures here, as well as the small number of them. I was at the tail end of my visit to LEC, had to snap these quickly without attention to lighting, and my ‘good’ camera was out of battery power! If and when I get to LEC again, I will focus on giving these works the time they deserve and will update the pictures.}

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. 1985.

• Written by Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)
• Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) created 22 silk screens (by Jo Watanabe), tipped in by hand
• Sol LeWitt designed the volume itself, including typeface, size of pages, etc.
• Bound in full black leather
• Printed at Anthoensen Press
• Set in Cloister Bold by MacKenzie-Harris Corp
• Bound by A. Horowitz & Sons
• 8 1/4″ x 8 1/4″
• Limited to 1500 copies
• Signed by Sol LeWitt

Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Conner. 2005.

• Written by Flannery O’Conner (1925-1964)
• Six color etchings and an afterword by Benny Andrews (1930-2006)
• Peter Petengill made the plates and editioned the prints at his Wingate Studios in New Hampshire
• Designed by Dan Carr and Julia Ferrari designed the typography, cast the Kis-Janson type in metal, set the type by hand and printed the text at Golgonooza Letter Foundry & Press, Ashuelot, New Hampshire
• Printed on BFK Rives
• Red Japanese linen, the color of Georgia clay, covers the hand-sewn and hand-bound books and the lined solander box
• 17″ x 22″
• Limited to 300 copies
• Signed by Benny Andrews

Poems by Frank O’Hara. 1988.

• Designed and edited by Benjamin Shiff
• Written by Frank O’Hara (1926-1966)
• Seventeen lithographs by William de Kooning (1904-1997)
• De Kooning’s drawings were transferred from their original mylar sheets to lithographic plates (at American Atelier by Benjamin Shiff) and printed on hand-made ochre-tinted Japanese Kitakata paper at Trestle Editions
• Each print torn by hand and pressed into the book’s pages by the intaglio method at Wingate Studio and Renaissance Press
• Introduction by Riva Castleman
• Set in English Monotype Bodoni 135 by Julia Ferrari and Dan Carr at Golgonooza Letterfoundry and hand-composed by Arthur Larson at Horton Tank Graphics; the display type is Bauer Bodoni
• Text has been printed at Wild Carrot Letterpress
• Paper made at Cartiere Enrico Magnani
• Bound in black Nigerian goatskin
• Solander box covered in Italian cotton, lined in grey fabric
• Limited to 550 copies
• Each signed with a facsimile signature authorized by de Kooning

Three Poems from les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire. 1997.

• Written by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)
• Four Photogravures by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)
• Negatives were transferred to a copper-plate using gelatin-coated paper; Gravure plates were made and the prints editioned by Jon Goodman on hand-made paper
• Designed, set in Monotype Walbaum and printed by Michael and Winifred Bixler
• Bound in red linen and presented in a hinged red linen solander box
• 13 1/2″ x 14 1/2″
• Limited to 300 copies
• Signed by Henri Cartier-Bresson

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 1982.

• Written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (b.1927)
• Illustrations (8 oil paintings, 25 drawings and an original lithograph) by Rafael Ferrer (b.1933)
• Translated from the original Spanish by Gregory Rabassa
• Introduced by Alastair Reid
• Designed at the offices of the Limited Editions Club
• G.G. Laurens created the calligraphy and Michael and Winifred Bixler set the text in Monotype Fournier at their letter foundry in Boston, Massachusetts
• The text and drawings were printed by The Stinehour Press in Lunenburg, Vermont
• The eight oil paintings were reproduced by the Seaboard Lithograph Corporation, New York
• The original lithograph was handprinted on Rives paper at the Blackburn Studio, New York
• Bound by Robert Burlen & Son
• Limited to 2000 copies
• Signed by Rafael Ferrer, Alastair Reid and Gregory Rabassa