A Little Book of Birds (2017)

A Little Book of Birds (2017)
Book of 48 pages (uncut), 9 engravings by Gaylord Schanilec and a wood engraving by Thomas Bewick, all printed from the original blocks.
Signed by Schanilec, with a poem by him hand-set in Bodoni metal type.
Hand-sewn to O’Malley Crackling doublures, pasted to Degener Black from Cave Papers.
H213 x W146 mm
Edition of 100. Acquired from the artist, 7 September 2019.

”As it turned out my mid-life vessel the “Hungry Mind” (Lac Des Pleurs, 2015) didn’t get me to the other side, and A Little Book of Birds led to yet more water. The idea of birds captive within unopened pages was originally intended as a challenge for book collectors—to open the unopened pages—or not. As years passed the birds slowly emerged and their captivity began to mean something else. I thought this book might free the birds. It did not. —GS” from slip insert.

Bokeh (2020)

Bokeh (2020)
Gaylord Schanilec
Slipcase, casebound hardback with pastedown prints on covers and spine. H210 x W140 mm. 68 pages. Eight multiple color wood engravings with poems handset in Polipholis, Bembo and Blado types. Bound at Booklab 2 by Marc Hammond, Keri Schroeder and Craig Jensen in two editions (a standard edition of 94 numbered copies and a deluxe edition of 26 lettered), of which this is #37. Purchased from artist, 15 May 2020..
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Schanilec’s poetry is reminiscent of James Wright’s, who like Robert Bly was also influenced by Federico Garcia Lorca, quoted by Schanilec in this book. Unlike all of them, though, Schanilec is a poet of the page, printing press and book. Notice how he draws attention to two lines with a lighter ink, centers them across the double-page spread placed in a folio to be folded and sewn at just that point. The lines and their placement enact the reference to bridges from the poetry above and to the left, and they make the two poems above enact their reference to the tower and canyon wall. Beneath the images and noise of the tower and canyon walls, the two lines draw our eyes down to the flowers the artist/poet is photographing for etching later. That is “unusual”, to say the least, and “beautiful” does not to say the most it deserves.

The title “Bokeh” refers to the aesthetic blurring in photography produced in the out-of-focus parts. Based on photos taken by Schanilec with a 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens, the engravings in this book were produced with a multi-line tool previously used at the Sander Wood Engraving Company of Chicago early in the 20th century. The tool cuts ten very fine lines at once, which could be used to capture the “bokeh” for this bouquet of flowers.

The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart (2018)

The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart (2018)
Gaylord Schanilec (engraving) Jack Gilbert (text)
Artist’s booklet. H320 x W235 mm. 2 folios, 4 pages. Acquired from Gaylord Schanilec, 2018.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Further Reading & Listening

Arey, Richard “Fred”,Schanilec, Gaylord. 1998. “Interview with Richard “Fred” Arey, Gaylord Schanilec, Part 1, Minneapolis, Minnesota.” Minnesota Historical Society. Accessed September 12, 2019.

Gilbert, Jack. “The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart“. Read by Tom O’Bedlam. Accessed 12 November 2024.

Hoinski, Michael.  4 February 2015. “Grain by Wood Grain, a Movable Feast”, New York Times. Accessed 12 July 2018.

Schanilec, Gaylord. 28 September 2012. “The Art of Color Wood Engraving”. Talk to the Grolier Club.