The Speech Writer is a fictional documentary presented in the form of ten flip books (6 x 12 cm) in a slipcase. The contents follow a day in the life of a retired political speech writer. Surrounded by the memories of his family and his vast collection of speeches, he is a creature of habit, idiosyncratic behaviour and reclusive existence. Retired from a lifetime of public service work, his connection with the outside world takes the form of a daily broadcast from the comfort of his home. Passersby, now accustomed to the perplexing array of loudspeakers wired to the outside of his house, stop to listen for a few moments each day. We cannot hear him speak but witness instead a moment of ultimate freedom in the life of a man who formulated the rhetoric, visions, dreams and declarations of others.

• Cutting-edge idea! • Titles on altered books are topping sales charts • Packed with valuable artists’ resources—galleries, bookstores, Web sites, book fairs, exhibitions Famous artists from David Hockney and Andy Warhol to Gilbert and George have created their own books—distinctive bound collections of work, sometimes variations on the popular altered-book craze. Now any artist can follow in the booksteps of these well-known muses, with the help ofCreating Artists’ Books. Author Sarah Bodman, an expert on artists’ books, gives wonderful inspiration and practical guidance on printmaking processes for making books, digital output and computer-based books, assembling books with limited resources, and creating altered books. An invaluable appendix lists bookstores and galleries that sell and exhibit artists’ book; book arts collections, archives, and organizations; book fairs; related Web sites; and more.Creating Artists’ Booksis packed with ideas, inspiration, and information from cover to cover.

"The future vision of a soon-to-be emancipated 19th century Negress."--Prelim. leaf.

Artists' books have emerged over the last 25 years as the quintessential contemporary art form, addressing subjects as diverse as poetry and politics, incorporating a full spectrum of artistic media and bookmaking methods, and taking every conceivable form. Female painters, sculptors, calligraphers, and printmakers, as well a growing community of hobbyists, have played a primary role in developing this new mode of artistic expression. The Book as Art presents more than 100 of the most engaging women's artist books created by major fine artists such as Meret Oppenheim, May Stevens, Kara Walker, and Renee Stout and distinguished book artists such as Susan King, Ruth Laxson, Claire Van Vliet, and Julie Chen. Culled from over 800 unique or limited-edition volumes held by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, these books explore the form as a container for ideas. Descriptions of the works are accompanied by colorful illustrations and reflections by their makers, along with essays by leading scholars and a lively introduction by the most famous book artist in our culture, best-selling author Audrey Niffenegger. The exquisitely crafted objects in the The Book as Art are sure to provoke unexpected and surprising conclusions about what constitutes a book. The Book as Art accompanies the exhibition of the same name at the Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., beginning in October 2006.

While readers will come away from Chinese Art with a nuanced understanding of Chinese culture, the volume is also a work of art in its own right—a must-have collectible for any devotee of Chinese art and culture. Assouline’s Ultimate Collection is an homage to the art of luxury bookmaking—the oversized volume is hand-bound using traditional techniques, with several of the plates hand-tipped on art-quality paper and housed in a luxury silk clamshell.

In the seventeenth century, the Persian city of Isfahan was a crossroads of international trade and diplomacy. Manuscript paintings produced within the city’s various cultural, religious, and ethnic groups reveal the vibrant artistic legacy of the Safavid Empire. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Getty Museum, Book Arts of Isfahan offers a fascinating account of the ways in which the artists of Isfahan used their art to record the life around them and at the same time define their own identities within a complex society.

Artwork by Trenton Doyle Hancock.

The story of a Southern quilter which is printed on richly colored, uniquely shaped pages that create a layered effect.

This collection offers field-defining work from 43 master book artists.

Seth Siegelaub, (b. 19412013, New York) curator, gallery owner and author is best known for his promotion of conceptual art in New York during the 1960s and 70s. Books and Ideas after Seth Siegelaub looks at the books produced by Siegelaub in the 60s and their renewed influence on artists and their publications today. Pichler, curator of the exhibition at the Center for Book Arts NY (2013), offers this catalog as a window into an ongoing conceptual discourse with Siegelaubs books as the platform. Extensive illustrations and bibliographic details are featured including Siegelaubs Xerox Book (1968), which was printed in offset but has since been xeroxed and openly reproduced by numerous artists and publishers. His publications, often taken as starting points for new projects, are substantial artworks in their own right. Also included: Siegelaubs work with the Art Workers Coalition, a draft of The Artists Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement on contemporary art and activism, and a last interview with Siegelaub by Pichler.