the idea of the book

A small sampling of acquisitions from our recent travels to Europe. Family, friends, and books – not sure there’s more to life. Very much excited to get this material cataloged and up on the site, and also to be exhibiting at the @sfartbookfair this coming July. Hopefully we’ll see some of you there.

A concrete poetry poster by Jean-Claude Moineau, who was only active for a few years in the late 1960s, and also one of the founders of the Meta-Art interdisciplinary art group alongside Yves Charnay, Claude Portail, Georges Aperghis, Gérard Frémy, and Luc Boyer. DM for information or read more at theideaofthebook.com.

‘Poor Old Tired Horse’. No. 21 by Edgard Braga designed by Nigel Sutton. Published by Ian Hamilton-Finlay’s Wild Hawthorn Press. DM for information or read more at theideaofthebook.com.

Round die cut catalog issued for an exhibition devoted to kinetic art and op art. With contributions by Lygia Clark, Alexander Calder, Jean Tinguely, Josef Albers, Enzo Mari, Victor Vasarely, Lillian Florsheim, Jacob Agam, Richard Lohse, and Lily Greenham among others. ‘Mouvement 2’ designed by Carlos Cruz-Díez and published by Galerie Denise René, 1964. DM for information or read more at theideaofthebook.com.

Flyer for Henri Chopin’s ‘OU Revue’ promoting works by Burroughs, Cahn, Chopin himself, de Charmoy, Degottex, Gisiger, Golyscheff, Hausmann, Janco, Mariën, Orton, and ‘Phases’. DM for information or read more at theideaofthebook.com.

A comprehensive prospectus from ‘art in progress’ consisting of five brochures housed in publisher’s original envelope. Featuring contemporary artwork from the early ’70s available for purchase via mail by Vostell, Rot (Roth), Kriwet, Brehmer, Bayrle, Hoffman, and Reipka among others. ‘edition art in progress katalog no. 7’, 1972. DM for information or read more at theideaofthebook.com.

Issue no. 4 of ‘Form’ featuring articles on Black Mountain College and Josef Albers, a map of the Brighton Festival Exhibition of Concrete Poetry, and an essay on concrete poetry by Eugen Gomringer among other things. Edited by Philip Steadman, Mike Weaver, and Stephen Bann, and published in 1967. Sold.

Issued on the occasion of Baer Cornet’s retrospective exhibition in 1998. Designed by Cornet with a foreword by Wim Crouwel. 96 pages of Dutch modernism with essays in Dutch and English. ‘Baer Cornet grafisch ontwerper graphic designer’ by Paul Hefting 1998. DM for information or read more at theideaofthebook.com.

A signed original work of concrete poetry typeset in Adrian Frutiger’s Univers featuring a tribute to John Cage. ‘The Age of Cage’ by Leonard from 1969. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

Pierre Albert-Birot’s concrete poetry broadside declaring paradise is finally within reach. ‘Poême-Pancarte / Paradis’ published in 1964 by Ian Hamilton-Finlay at Wild Hawthorn Press. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

‘Plakat 1’ by Dom Sylvester Houédard, inscribed on verso by John Furnival to American poet and frequent collaborator Jonathan Williams. ‘plakat 1: typestract’, 1965. Published by John Furnival at Openings Press in Woodchester Gloucestershire. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

‘Concrete Poetry: An Exhibition in Four Parts’ featuring the work of Ray Johnson, Michael Morris, Stephen Bann, Carlo Belloli, Henri Chopin, Hans Clavin, Eugen Gomringer, Allan Kaprow, D. A. Levy, Hansjörg Mayer, Franz Mon, Bruce Nauman, Yoko Ono, Diter Rot (Diether Roth), Victor Vasarely, Edgardo Antonio Vigo, and Emmet Williams among others. Includes twenty-five plates, a folded poster, and several essays on the topic. Elaborately produced and published in 1969 by The Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

Recently acquired material from our latest travels soon to post to the website—a perfect overlap of art, design, and concrete poetry. More to come.

1971 moving announcement for Art & Project addressed to Dutch artist Henk Peeters, part of the ZERO movement. Handsomely typeset in Frutiger’s iconic lowercase Univers. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

Poster published on the occasion of Lawrence Weiner’s exhibition at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven in 1983. “BEING WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF [A] PLACE / BINNEN DE CONTEXT VAN [EEN] PLAATS”. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

Thirty-two silkscreened plates of concrete and visual poetry by Herman de Vries, Adriano Spatola, Haroldo de Campos, Timm Ulrichs, Ferdinand Kriwet, Arrigo Lora Totino, Mirella Bentivoglio, Reinhard Dohl, Eugen Gomringer, Hans Clavin, and E. M. de Melo e Castro among others. ‘exempla: documenti di poesia concreta e visuale / documents of concrete and visual poetry’, edited by Maurizio Nannucci, 1970. Housed inside a black paper slipcase and complete with an essay on the evolution of experimental poetry. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.

Issue no. 4 of Gomringer’s scarce ‘konkrete poesie = poesia concreta’ series, featuring early renditions of Rühm’s concrete poetry. ‘konstellationen’, 1961. Happy new year, everyone. 2018 is going to be the best book year on record. Read more at theideaofthebook.com or DM for information.