On the Art of Painting. Interpreted by Zahra Partovi. With 26 line etchings by Annette Senneby

New York: Vincent FitzGerald & Company, 1989. One of 50 copies only, each on Rives Johannot and Dieu Donne handmade paper, signed by both Partovi and Senneby on the colophon. Page size: 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. Illustrated by the noted Swedish sculptor, Annette Senneby, with a continuous etched line that extends across the box housing the book, across the covers and endpapers and on each page of text, in white on the mottled endpapers lining the box and the endpapers of the book, in charcoal gray on the white text. The line crosses the pages in various directions - now going diagonally up, now down. The strong etched line can be seen through the pages forming a ghostly pattern on the viewed page. This mirrors Rumi's parable of the painting contest between the ancient Greeks and Chinese. The text is repeated in Persian calligraphy after the English text, divided by a rust-colored paper insert, but the etched line continues. The text is printed in gray ink by Daniel Keleher at Wild Carrot Letterpress. The etchings were accomplished by Marjorie Van Dyke and M'Lis Bartlett at The Printmaking Workshop. The Persian calligraphy is by Zahra Partovi. Bound by Zahra Partovi: black silk with blind etched line on both covers, rust-colored gray endpapers with white etched line, sewn with Persian signature on the diagonal as are the covers, forming a trapezoid. Housed in a black linen trapezoid box with a steel panel set into both covers covering the entire surface but for a small border. The steel panels are etched with a continuous line. The book has a sculptural feel about it; yet it is still the printed work in book form that can be held and read. Rumi's parable is set off by the simplicity of the book's conception and design.