A Natural History of Believability
By Michelle Ray
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Michelle Ray, 2012. Edition of 50.

7.125 x 4.5 x .25"; 16 unnumbered pages. Images and text created with photopolymer plates. Case bound sewn binding. Paper-covered boards with embossed and printed images. In the edition of 50, 1 - 31 printed on handmade paper; 32 - 50 printed on machine made paper.

Michelle Ray: "Natural History explores our fascination with facsimiles and the relationship between signs and the things they signify. Illustrated with a vanitas-style [a la memento mori, meant as a reminder of the ephemerality of life and the certainty of death] rabbit image as a recurring motif, this book’s brief essay looks at how things such as taxidermy and ornithological prints shape our relationship to the natural world. The viewer experiences a discord between representation and the real and is confronted with the question of which is more appealing."

$ 160 machine made paper copies
$ 175 handmade paper copies