The Plague

[Monmouthshire]: The Old Stile Press, 2009. Limited Edition. No binding. Fine. Lemaire, Angela. No. 3 of 25 copies for sale, folio size, 52 pp. The story begins: "I was present during the Great Plague of 1665, It took away my life," he said. Per the artist, this work, originally produced by her in 1967, is "about a man who is killed by the plague in London in 1665; I have brought him to life again, so that he can tell his story." The story unfolds as a series of nine eerily wonderful etchings by Angela Lemaire, which were inspired by the sufferings of the plague victims. Each enclosed in a separate leaf and introduced with a quotation from scripture also dealing with suffering, with each plate numbered and signed by her. Ms. Lemaire's Afterword tells the story of her inspiration for the work, and the essay by Anthony Dyson discusses the making and proofing of the plates which is a story worthy on its own merits.

___DESCRIPTION: Unbound folio sheets, each with letterpress printing on the first and last pages, inserted between the plates, the images from zinc plates with each plate signed and numbered by the artist in pencil. The eight intaglio plates (images 2 through 9) are each tissue-guarded; Image 1 and the original Title page are both woodcuts. Folio size, the signatures being just under 15" tall, the work is unpaginated containing 52 pages (excluding cuts and images); type Baskerville, paper Somerset soft white satin; limited edition of 25 copies for sale (plus 3 NFS), this no. 3, signed by the artist on the colophon page. The unsewn sections are held loosely in a folded portfolio of smokey blue Roma paper handmade by Fabriano in Italy, which is then laid into a clamshell box covered with blue cloth, paper label on the front with olive green lettering, lined with aubergine velvet.

___CONDITION: Signatures are fine; clean, straight, with no folds or edgewear. All tissue guards over the zinc etchings present. The portfolio is fine, as is the clamshell box.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that due to the size of this work additional postage may apply, please inquire for details.

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