Nancy
Lev-AlexanderBaltimore, MD
AbeCedarium
An Exhibit of Alphabet Books
Nancy
Lev-Alexander
Baltimore, MD
A to Z
An Adaptation of Kanter’s Illustrated Book of Objects, 1892
4 1/2 x 5 1/8 x 3/4 inches
The book is covered in full oasis goatskin with cut leather design and inlay of paste
paper. Tooled lines are drawn freehand and filled with metallic pigment mixed with acrylic
gel medium. The single folio Nideggan sections are sewn on linen tapes with Maziarczyk
paste-paper endpapers and silk and metallic end-bands. Photocopies of original text are
reproduced at 200%, then hand colored with Derwent pencils. 1998.
The Anxiety Alphabet
4 x 7 x 3 inches
The boards, covered in fog-blue Strathmore charcoal paper, have inserted pins and needles
protruding front and back. Endpapers are the same Strathmore, with the text gray Rives BFK
in a coptic binding. This is from the deluxe edition of 10. Standard edition of 25. 1998.
Charlene
Matthews
Hollywood, CA
Abecedarium
8 1/8 x 8 3/4 x 5/8 inches
The covers are sheets of an optical-distortion polyvinyl called lenticles, with leather
bands laced through three silver buckles. The text of single signatures of lenticles is
sewn onto the leather bands and has letters cut from acrylic paste papers. 1998.
Christopher
McAfee
Springville, UT
Rodentia Abecedarium
8 x 6 x 1 inches
The covers are goat leather and rabbit skin. The book is sewn on hemp cords and has
leather endbands. The text is Arches Cover with illustrations in acrylic, gouache and ink.
1998.
Letter Lines, An Alphabetical Praise Song by Wynne Busby
12 x 6 7/8 x 1/2 inches
The text pages are paste-decorated Arches Text Wove and MacGregor & Vinzani handmade
paper. The text, hand-lettered and painted in gouache and shell gold with stamping and
stitching, is inspired by historic and contemporary written forms. There are archway
images with abecedarians and borders of real and invented letters. 1998.
See "Glaister" entry for description of binding.
Patricia
Owen
Santa Monica, CA
The Neolithic Adventures of Taffi-Mai Metalu-Mai How the First
Letter was Written
From How the Alphabet was Made by Rudyard Kipling, Bieler Press, 1997
8 7/8 x 10 3/4 x 1/2 inches
In a tight-back full oasis leather binding with blind impressions on a raised surface, the
book has three dimensional onlays, painted Japanese endpapers and silk endbands. The text
paper is Kitakata with illustrations printed on gampi inserts. 1998.
Maria
G. Pisano
Plainsboro, NJ
Identity
9 x 12 x 8 3/4 inches
All papers are handmade of abaca and cotton. A three-sided mask wrapper contains
twenty-six paper leaves and twenty-six printed mylar leaves with text of an
autobiographical alphabet. The stencil designs are made with colored pulp. Edition of 4.
1998.
Eleanore
Edwards Ramsey
San Francisco, CA
A Fowl Alphabet
Cheloniidae Press, 1986
8 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 3/4 inches
Bound in full French Cape morocco with a framed portrait of a loon sculpted and tooled
with mosaics of morocco, chagrin and box calf. Cutout board covers reveal antique
marbled-paper flyleaves and the book closes with a leather-covered magnetic clasp at the
foredge. The text consists of twenty-six wood engravings by Alan James Robinson, with
calligraphy by Suzanne Moore. Bound for Jane Pearce and Anne Howson. 1997.
Abecedario Della Cucina (Abecedarium for the Kitchen)
8 7/8 x 3 7/8 x 7/8 inches
An Italian butcher paper accordion book with watercolor, supracolor and ink illustrations.
A page opens behind each letter to reveal a recipe incorporating the food depicted. The
book is in Italian and uses the 21-letter Italian alphabet. Calligraphy is by Paul Shaw.
1998.
Alphabeticus
7 1/2 x 6 x 1 1/2 inches
The paste paper covers, decorated with pastel and pen-and-ink, are attached to an
accordion-folded paper spine, with painted linen threads. Arches Text and Stonehenge pages
have stencil, rubber stamp and pen-and-ink illustrations.1998.
