Of A Feather [Custom Binding]; Avian Collective Nouns & Terms of Assembly, Group Names & Associated Terms

[Newtown, Powys]: Gwasg Gregynog, 2008. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. See-Paynton, Colin. One of 150 copies in a custom binding by Patricia Chupa, folio size, 171 pp., with prospectus and other related ephemera. Colin See-Paynton (b. 1946) spent more than four years extensively researching and writing the text, and creating the sixty-one new wood engravings for this illustrated lexicon of avian collective nouns: an unprecedented achievement. "The work of Colin See-Paynton is truly remarkable in its detail and beauty. His Wood Engravings, held in many major collections, display a love and understanding of nature as well as the skill of a master engraver" (n.b., quote from the web site of the artist). The entire work written, compiled, designed and illustrated by See-Paynton

"In a critical essay David Alston, Arts Director of the Arts Council Wales, wrote: 'not since Thomas Bewick, who both wrote and engraved in the late eighteenth century, have both literary and pictorial aspects been found conjoined in the one talent as here in this work'. That the observation and study of the natural world has been a lifelong interest is evident both from the engravings and the enthusiasm revealed in the text. From 'Abandonment of Cuckoos' to 'Zephyr of Long-Tailed Titmice' it enriches our knowledge of avian nomenclature far beyond the well-known 'Gaggle of Geese' - though that, too, is included. Colin See-Paynton has researched the origin of the nouns drawing from sources as far back as the fifteenth-century, and gives some detailed insight into the species under discussion (n. b., from web site of the Press).

This copy in a magnificent custom binding by Patricia Chupa of Olympia, Washington. Chupa's work focuses on the feminine: "My body of work is a meditation on the wisdom and power inherent in women. I seek to engage the observer by providing ways to enter into the piece, to explore what is beneath the surface; thereby gaining a depth of understanding of the subject and of my intent in the creation. I hope my work records in some small measure the ways in which the feminine principle has endured - despite all odds" (n.b., quote from the web sitew of the University of the West of England).

For this work, Chupa has created a binding that that speaks of the natural world: wood, leather, and paper all contribute. The volume is bound in half black leather which covers the spine and half of each board, the fore-edge half of the boards being a piece of wood, perhaps walnut, which has been sanded to an incredibly smooth finish, the wood piece on the front board having been branded with the shape of a single feather, the endpapers being handmade paper of a rich chocolate brown. Housed in a drop-back box, the box covered with the same rich chocolate brown paper as the endpapers, the front of the box with a rectangle of black hand-made paper mounted in the center, on top of which Chupa placed a rectangle of wood matching the boards with a small feather also branded onto the wood, the box lined with marbled paper. A truly magnificent production.

___DESCRIPTION: Binding as described above, fore- and bottom edges rough-cut, half-title with green lettering and a small engraving of a single feather, frontis engraving depicting multiple species of birds ("Mob"), the glorious title page with a large feather blocked in gold, above the title in green lettering bordered in black, each section opens with the title in green lettering with a small engraving, followed by one (or more) full-page engravings, a total of sixty-one wood engravings throughout of which thirty-one are full page, each of the illustrations are printed from the artist's blocks; Monotype Baskerville on a special making of T.H. Saunders Waterford mould-made paper, folio size (14 3/4" by 11 1/4"), pagination: [1-8] 9-168 [3]; no. 133 of 135 copies (there were also fifteen copies in a deluxe binding). Housed in a custom box as described above. With the prospectus and three related pieces: (i) the invitation to the publication reception; (ii) announcement of the publication ("A New Publication from Stingwern Books"); and (iii) a small booklet, "Of A Feather - An Avian Alphabet" which "was published "to catalogue and accompany a major exhibition of Colin See-Paynton's wood engravings 2003-2007".

___CONDITION: The volume fine overall, the leather binding smooth and supple, the wood boards clean and without wear, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, entirely free of prior owner markings; some small, light indentations to the leather on the back board, else fine. The box near fine, strong and sturdy, clean, with some very light wear to the paper around the edges of the box. The prospectus and other three pieces all fine, clean, without wear.

___POSTAGE: Please note that this is an excessively heavy volume and additional postage may apply; please contact us for details.

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