Before LiPo
Stillwater, ME: Nancy Ruth Leavitt, 2121. Original Wrappers. Fine binding. Item #10887
10" x 6-3/8." [26] pp., illus. Unique artist's book, 1/1; signed by Leavitt at the colophon. Zig-zag structure of fabric and paper with lettering and painting in watercolor and gouache. Sewn into sun-printed fabric over paper, all housed in cloth clamshell with painted paper floors and hand-lettered paper label on the spine. Fine.
A remarkable book and structure that, in the spirit of Leavitt's poetry within, invites slow contemplation. This was how the poem was written, slowly working the lines in her mind as she walked the same path over time. It follows that the result is a book through which one meanders and discovers—textually and visually. Those same walks through the woods are what inspired the zig-zag structure, one that, in the words of Leavitt, "stretched out to [allow for] discovery and then easily folded back into itself again." A reader finds the poem amidst paintings on paper and sun-printed cloth of trees and foliage. The book can be leafed through or expanded outward offering a variety of reveals and conceals, one can never see the whole of it at one time, such that, like a forest stroll, it is different every time. Leavitt writes of Before LiPo as being an uncommonly spontaneous book in which, except for the planning of the lettering, she largely followed her intuition as she created it. And the work certainly has that feel of organic freshness. She takes us on a wonderful, contemplative journey.
Price: $3,750.00