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Laocoon & the double helix Michael Bartalos

Catalog Data

Author:
Bartalos, Michael  Search this
Author:
Faust, Dikko  Search this
Smith, Esther K  Search this
Purgatory Pie Press  Search this
Smithsonian Libraries Artists' Books DSI  Search this
Physical description:
1 folded sheet ([8] leaves) chiefly color illustrations 15 x 112 cm., folded to 15 x 17 cm
Type:
Specimens
Artists' books (books).)
Artists' books
Foam rubber bindings (Bookbinding).)
Neoprene
Private press books (Publishing)
Place:
New York (State)
New York
Date:
1984
Notes:
"Art & words: Michael Bartalos, printer: Dikko Faust, ... letterpress: Vandercook at Book Arts, NYC, inspector general: E.K. Smith"--Colophon
Bound in painted neoprene and issued in a printed plastic bag with six[?] neoprene figures
Imprint from colophon
Limited ed. of 150 copies, signed by Batalos, Faust, and Smith
Printed on the recto side, only, of a continuous strip of waxed paper. The strip is folded accordion-style, with one leaf glued to the next (with 7 cm. overlaps) along the fore-edge
Title from plastic bag
CHMRB copy 39088015014756 is no. 13 of the limited ed
CHMRB copy has the original yellow-printed black neoprene binding, housed in the accompanying printed plastic bag
The CHMRB copy contains only two neoprene figures (the dog and the woman), although some copies of the publication were apparently issued with figures of a woman, a dog, a dragon, a man, and a person of indeterminate gender in a skirt of leaves, as illustrated on Michael Bartalos's web site http://bartalos.com/books/ (viewed Jan. 4, 2010). Evidence for a 6th figure, as mentioned in the master record of the OCLC online union catalog from the University of Delaware, is lacking. The records for Laocoon & the double helix in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art online catalogs each mention only two accompanying figures. It is unclear whether the Cooper-Hewitt copy originally came with the other 3 or 4 figures which were later lost, or if some copies were issued by the publisher with just two figures
Topic:
DNA  Search this
Laocoön (Legendary character)  Search this
Rubber, Artificial  Search this
Toy and movable books  Search this
Artists' books  Search this
Call number:
N7433.4.B378 L36 1984
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_933880