Granary Books on Books ~ New York
(Steve Clay)

The Century of Artists' Books
By Johanna Drucker
2004. Second Edition.

9.25 x 6.25"; 392 pages. 200 black & white reproductions.

A re-issue in softcover with a new preface by Drucker of the first full-length study of the development of artists' books as a twentieth century artform. This work situates artists' books within the context of mainstream developments in the visuals arts from Russian Futurism and Surrealism to Fluxus, Conceptual Art, to Postmodernism. Designed to raise critical and theoretical issues as well as provide a historical overview, Drucker explores more than two hundred individual books in relation to their structure, form, and conceptualization. Topics include the discussion of the poetics of the books, the book as metaphor, the conceptual space of the book, and books as narrative and non-narrative sequences. Each chapter uses these specific issues to examine the works of well-known book artists and publishers. The book provides a foundation for future work in the history and critical interpretation of artists' books, as well as offering a structure for teaching artists' books to practitioners, collectors, and curators.
$30

the book, spiritual instrument
Edited by Jerome Rothenberg & David Guss
1996.

7 x 9", 160 pp.

Essays, musings, pictures, interviews, by Stéphane Mallarmé, Edmond Jabès, Becky Cohen, Alison Knowles, George Quasha, Dick Higgins, Karl Young, David Meltzer, Tina Oldknow, J. Stephen Lansing, Paul Eluard, David Guss, Jed Rasula, Gershom Scholem, Jerome Rothenberg and Herbert Blau.

. . . there is a primal book as there is a primal voice, & it is the task of our poetry & art to recover it — in our minds & in the world at large. — Jerome Rothenberg
$22

When Will the Book Be Done?
By Steve Clay

For over fifteen years, Granary Books has brought together bookmakers, writers and artists to explore verbal/visual relations in the time honored spirit of independent publishing. With a foreword by Charles Bernstein and an introduction by publisher Steven Clay, When will the book be done? features complete lists and descriptions of nearly 100 artists' books, writer/artist collaborations and books of theory pertaining to books, writing and publishing. Each book is annotated with quotes from the artists and writers, critical notes, bibliographic information and full color illustrations.
$40

The Cutting Edge of Reading:
Artists' Books.
By RenÚe Riese Hubert and Judd D. Hubert.

This book provides in-depth readings and analyses of many individual artists' books while establishing a useful and international twentieth century overview. Topics include: Visual Deviants and Typographical Departures; Various Ways of Frustrating out Reading Habits; Altering Books: the Cutting Edge of Editing; The Book, The Museum, and Public Art; and Narrative and Verbal Manipulation. Dozens of artists and writers are discussed including: Johanna Drucker, Dieter Roth, Buzz Spector, and Susan King. Illustrated throughout in black-and-white and color. Hardback with dust jacket (280 pp).
$55

Figuring the Word:
Essays on Books, Writing, and Visual Poetics.
By Johanna Drucker.
Introduction by Charles Bernstein.

11 x 8.5 inches.

This book is a sort of Johanna Drucker reader, yet rather than anthologize from published books, Figuring the Word collects writings published in obscure academic and literary journals or delivered as talks or interviews. The book contains several sections (each with several chapters) including writing as Artifact, ' visual Poeti' and artists' Books Past and Future. Figuring the Word is a work of poetics rather than criticism or theory in that these essays are the products of doing as much as thinking, of printing as much as writing, of designing as much as researching, of typography as much as composition, of autobiography as much as theory. The mark of the practitioner-critic is everywhere present in these pieces . . . Figuring the Word is a wide-ranging collection of Drucker's essays from the early 80s to the present. Written in a variety of styles and presented in a variety of formats, the book reflects many divergent aspects of her work and thinking, while at the same time demonstrating how cohesive her project has been.
$24.95

A Secret Location on the Lower East Side:
Adventures in Writing 1960-1980
A sourcebook of information by Steven Clay and Rodney Phillips.
"Pre-Face" by Jerome Rothenberg.

Based on the acclaimed 1998 exhibition at The New York Public Library, [the book] documents a period of intense exploration and experimentation in American writing and literary publishing. The various strains of poetry identified by Donald Allen in his watershed anthology The New American Poetry, 1945-1960 (Grove, 1960) - Beat, Black Mountain, New York School, San Francisco Renaissance, and others - extended into and evolved throughout the 60s and 70s, finding expression in ïunderground' magazines and presses. Focusing on the small press publishing scene in San Francisco and in downtown New York City, this book offers a glimpse into the Mimeo Revolution, through descriptions and checklists for over 80 magazines and presses. Packed with contributions from many of the original editors and publishers, a chronological time-line of the literary underground, and over 200 black-and-white images, this volume is a useful guide to one of the richest periods of American writing and publishing, and an essential point of departure for students, collectors, literary historians, and librarians alike.
$40

Granary Books Out of Print Title:
• Artists Books: A Critical Survey of the Literature