Book in a jar

The items in this display case are just a few recently produced examples from the National Art Library's extensive collection of artists' books and book art. Elsewhere in the 20th Century Gallery you will also find other works that experiment with, or comment on, the traditional format and content of the book. See, for example, Colin Hall's Book in a jar (1984), or John Baldessari's interpretation of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1988).

1

Michel Butor and Bertrand Dorny.
Tétraèdre.
Paris: F. Despalles, 1989.
X940122

No. 11 in a limited edition of 30 copies. Illustrated with collages showing fragments of a map of Paris, the book also contains references to various museums, including the Louvre.

2

Mesmer: secrets of the human frame

Toni Dove.
Mesmer: secrets of the human frame.
New York: Granary Books, 1993.
X940018

No. 25 in a limited edition of 60 copies. Mesmer began as a computer-driven slide and sound installation, and was subsequently presented as a radio programme, an essay and book. The centre pages contain a three-dimensional pop up figure "part angel, part human, part electronics".

3

Mikhail Karasik.
Sluchai III [Incidents III].
S. Peterburg : Kharmsizdat, 1994.
X940155

No. 15 in a limited edition of 21 copies. The text is taken from the writings of Daniil Kharms, who is also the subject of item number 11 in this display.

4

Terence McKenna & Timothy Ely.
Synesthesia.
New York City : Granary Books, 1992.
X940027

No. 26 in a limited edition of 75 copies. The text is by Terence McKenna, and the images are by Timothy Ely. Philip Gallo is responsible for the typography and letterpress printing at the Hermetic Press.

A humument

5

Tom Phillips.
A humument: variants & variations.
London: Talfourd Press, 1992.
X930116

Using the text of W.H. Mallock's A human document (1892), Tom Phillips published A humument Volumes I and II in 1971 and has continued to alter Mallock's narrative in subsequent editions. This version was published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of the original text.

6

Tom Phillips.
[Terrestrial and celestial globes].
London: Tom Phillips, 1992.

X920275, X920276

Like A humument, these two globes include text taken from A human document. Unlike earlier versions, the text is decidedly non-sequential. The globes were made by Sylvia Sumira.

Terrestrial globe	Celestial globe