Zebra Noise; with a flatted 7th

Berkeley: Peter Koch, Printer [designed by Peter Koch and Richard Wagener], 1978. First and Limited Edition. Hardcover. New. Wagener, Richard. One of 70 copies, folio size, 60 text pp. with 26 plates, in chemise and slipcase, signed by Richard Wagener. Richard Wagener (b. 1944) is an American wood engraver who creates gorgeous and detailed landscape scenes as well as abstract engravings. He was been creating wood engravings for over fourty years, with his work being published not only under his own imprint of Mixolydian Editions, but also by Peter Koch, David Pascoe (Nawakum Press), and The Book Club of California. He has won numerous awards and his work is with well over one hundred institutions.

This work was his first published artist book (his first publication following his Master's thesis), with Wagener creating both the artwork as well as writing the text. It had the distinction of being included in the exhibit "Artists' Books in the Modern Era, 1870 - 2000" at the Legion of Honor (San Francisco).

Bestiaries have a long history, having originated in the ancient world and becoming extremely popular in the Middle Ages. "Animals tumble, soar, and race through the pages of the bestiary... Abounding with vibrant and fascinating images, the bestiary brought real and fantastical creatures to life for readers" (n.b., quote from the web site of the Getty Center discussing a 2019 exhibit of bestiaries).

The beasts are often presented alphabetically, as is the case here. What makes this alphabestiatry special is the pairing of Wagener's prose poems with each beast; when we were fortunate to speak with Richard about this work, he shared that the poems are not intended to be descriptions of the beast, or provide a moral lesson (which was often the case with the medieval works) but rather a hint at the thoughts and emotions evoked by the creature depicted.

Issued in an edition of only seventy copies, our search of OCLC locates thirty copies with institutions, leaving only fourty for private ownership. As of this writing we see two other copies online; our copy was acquired directly from Wagener, hence is truly "as new", never having been previously owned.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in quarter red leather with grey laid paper over boards, printed on the front board is the title and wood engraving of the initial "beast", the armadillo, this surrounded by a rectagular border, title in gilt on the spine, matching grey laid endpapers, title page with a small abstract engraving by Wagener in red, the section for each beast also with a small abstract engraving in red onto which the initial capital has been printed, this followed by the short prose poem, and this by the wood-engraved creature set upon a larger abstract engraving, these both in black and printed on the rectos only; Ehrhardt type on Zerkall paper, binding large folio size (15" by 8 7/8"), unpaginated with 60 unnumbered text pages and 26 unnumbered leaves of plates, this no. 56 of the 70 copies, signed by Wagener in pencil at the colophon. The volume encased in a chemise covered in a darker grey laid paper, both housed in a slipcase covered in changable silk of red with gold highlights, grey paper spine label with grey lettering (the slipcase measuring 15 3/8" by 9 1/8").

___CONDITION: Volume is fine, the boards clean, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, entirely as new. The chemise also fine, clean and without blemish. The slipcase fine overall, strong and sturdy, utterly without wear; there are two very small, very light spots on the paper spine label, which we presume occurred during production as the book has never before been owned. A truly stunning production by a renowned artist.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note the following: (i) additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs, please inquire for details; and (ii) any taxes, duty, or tariffs charged by your country will, of necessity, be your responsibility.

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