Flying Gracefully by Lee Oldford-Churchill (N 7433.4 O43 A6 F95 2008). Click image to see more.

To explore this artist's book, we first carefully unwrap the beaded string that wraps around a custom-made box. Within this box we discover a book that is also wrapped with a blue ribbon, which is printed with the only text in the book: a line describing the graceful flight of a winter crane. The covers of the book echo this line of text, as they are filled with overlapping images of flying cranes in various poses, depicted from below. There are no pages within the book covers, instead there is a single, large origami crane built out of soft white paper. The crane gently moves its wings in a flying motion with the opening and closing of the book covers (see video).

Milliner's Memoirs by Kathleen Parle and Liz Eakins (N 7433.4 P252 A6 M655 1990). Click image to see more.

This artist's book consists of a miniature hatbox made of soft green paper that contains a miniature hat and an octagonal book. In the book, the milliner recalls the various reasons why women purchase their hats. The reasons cited range from gardening or adventuring to the woman who bought a hat “every time she broke up with her beau.” The playful and vivid images that accompany these descriptions are drawn with blunt, thick lines depicting an array of women’s faces, with differing expressions and in different poses, and topped, of course, with hats. This book offers an engaging and inventive exploration of the various ways that a seemingly simple accessory finds a place in women’s everyday lives.

Sir, Come Navigate by Kimberly Precht (N 7433.4 P74 A6 S57 2006). Click image to see more.

As is revealed in the explanatory document that accompanies Sir, Come Navigate, this book was originally created for the Early Modern Travel Writing class at the University of Alberta in Fall 2005. In this document we also learn that the titular play on the word “circumnavigate” is due to the fact that the artist is not only interested in circumnavigation, but also in “the wider and less literal theme of (male) navigation.” This interest becomes obvious upon approaching the book itself, which takes the form of a grand ship, the belly of which is built out of a world map. The map unfolds into intricate, carefully constructed pages of tales of male explorers during the Elizabethan era (see video). Throughout these narratives the artist weaves together ideas of expansion, exploration, and travel writing with issues of gender, race, and empire. The complexity of the book's construction echoes the fascinatingly nuanced nature of the artist’s analysis of the politics of circumnavigation.

Alchemist's Flight Manual by Carolyn C. Qualle (N 7433.4 Q23 A6 A352 1996). Click image to see more.

The covers of this accordion-fold book are made of gorgeous multicoloured paper covered by glass in the shape of microscope slides. Yet the content of the book is grand in scale, exploring the moon and the sun, or “Luna” and “Sol,” and the varying ways in which they “reduce chaos to order,” transforming—among other things—seeds into flowers and tadpoles into frogs. There are two recurring images, of a dragonfly and of a man wearing a top hat and cane, to remind us that the sun and moon rule over everything, from insects to humans. 

Fly by Caroly C. Qualle (N 7433.4 Q23 A6 F648 1990z). Click image to see more. 

Covered in beautifully textured black paper and bound with black ribbon, this artist's book is filled with colourful, gold-tinged images of a fly. It contains no text; instead it is composed of recurring images of the same fly, printed on paper so thin and delicate that we can see through it. As we flip through the book, the fly appears in different positions and locations on the page, giving the impression that we are watching it move through time and space as it explores the page. Eventually the fly seems to be moving off-page, and the blankness of the final page affirms our suspicion that the fly has finally flown away.

Garden Journal by Carolyn C. Qualle (N 7433.4 Q23 A6 Y39). Click image to see more. 

The binding of this artist's book is covered in a repeating pattern with an image of carrots, and the pages are decorated in a manner that recalls the historic practice of saving valuable information alongside memorabilia in a scrapbook. The items pasted to the pages include small scraps of paper, newspaper clippings, handwritten gardening notes, and advertisements. Several of the images are animated with pull tabs, and some have added materials, including seeds and a tea bag. This artist's book offers a charming celebration of the women who gathered wisdom in scrapbooks over centuries.

The Years Since Hodgeville by Carolyn C. Qualle (N 7433.4 Q23 A6 Y39 1990z). Click image to see more. 

This artist's book, by Carolyn Qualle, evokes a historic photo album. The four serigraph black-and-white photographs each show a single child and each caption tells us one small detail about him or her at the time the photograph was taken or much later. The first tells us that these are the children of the pioneers, and the title suggests that these pioneers lived in Hodgeville, Saskatchewan. The photographs are attractively reproduced with added colour that adds dimension and movement, and the pages are decorated to resemble the deckle edge pages that are frequently seen in old books. The cover is decorated with a cutout silhouette reproduction of one of the photographs.

Patsy's World by Pat Strakowski (N 7433.4 S8795 A6 P38 2000z). Click image to see more.

This artist's book alters a book called Patsy, published in 1923. Artist Pat Strakowski is well known for her papier-mâché sculptures, and she has adorned this book to evoke her sculptures, using objects ranging from photographs, stitched wallpaper, metal pendants, leaves, stamps, a Shaman's song, film negatives, newspaper clippings, and puffy stickers. Some of the objects sit on top of the pages, while others sit inside framed sections cut into the book. The meaning of this artist's book is playful and elusive, as illustrated by the table of contents that lists: collections, travels, postcards, masks, stuff, secrets, and mystery.

Spirit Flight Path by Pat Strakowski (N 7433.4 S8795 A6 S65). Click image to see more. 

The binding of this altered book is partially covered with a patch of fringed leather, onto which the artist has attached buttons and beads. This artist's book traces the path of the human spirit in a series of decorated images, connecting human life to nature, both on earth and in the larger cosmos. The artist has created a world of fascinating and vaguely disturbing images using printed papers, cutouts, mesh screens, buttons, stitchery, lace fabric, metal objects, glitter ribbons, and rainbow-coloured pages (see video).

The Old Madhouse by Pat Strakowski (N 7433.4 S8795 A6 O43 2006). Click image to see more.

This artist's book is an altered copy of William De Morgan's The Old Madhouse (1919). The fractured image on the cover is powerful, simultaneously representing both a face and a house. On the spine, the artist employs a pun, identifying this as an "altared" book. Inside the front and back covers, a tiny bus filled with people travels along a crudely drawn route. Throughout the book, images of birds and gardens—with or without figures of snakes or devils or ghostly spirits—are seen in open views or through the bars on the windows of the implied madhouse. While themes of love and temptation are evident, the precise message is unclear because the text is obscured in various ways. The final image, a framed metal sun, offers a hopeful message: “dormant, the light waits to emerge.” 

Childhood Summers by the Sea by Andrea Taylor (N 7433.4 T39 A6 C55 2003). Click image to see more.

This is one of ten deluxe copies of a limited-edition artist's book made of black-and-white linocuts and “short writings [which] came through reflection on the experience of spending every childhood summer at Bowen Island” in BC. The upper and lower boards are made of wood and the book is bound with an exposed sewn binding with binding tape made of salmon skin. The book is a celebration of the artist's childhood memories of playing in a gorgeous outdoor setting, feeding the birds, playing on the beach, and eating ice cream.

Sea Monsters by Andrea Taylor (N 7433.4 T39 A6 S43 2005). Click image to see more. 

The cover of this limited-edition artist's book is silk-screened with the image of a sea monster, and is bound in a hand-stitched accordion-fold binding. Made of handmade paper that is hand-printed with commentary about sightings of sea monsters at various points in history, the text of this well-executed artist's book is illustrated with etchings that are inspired by earlier images, some of which are hundreds of years old.

A Handful of Odes by Jennifer Van de Pol (N 7433.4 V211 A6 H26 2007). Click image for more.

This book is comprised of thirty drawings, with accompanying text, that were created during an artist residency in Sweden. The images were digitally printed and then individually coloured and embellished, so that each of the 15 copies in the limited edition is unique. The images are often broken, faded, and seemingly half-complete. The brief odes that accompany them vary significantly in tone and message: while some offer wry humour and others are movingly profound, most are very personal and very relatable. 

In the Garden by Dana Velan (N 7433.4 V432 A6 I35 1994 folio). Click image to see more.

This gorgeous oversized artist's book offers a range of painted pages, prints, and fabric in deeply vibrant colours that create a lush garden and a series of fantastical nature scenes decorated with butterflies and flowers. Some of the images are beautiful and peaceful, while others are darkly disturbing. Inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, the text is obscured and complicated by design, leaving interpretation to the reader. This book was selected by librarians in Bruce Peel Special Collections to help celebrate the accomplishments of U of A Honorary Degree recipient The Honourable Anne McLellan.

Salad Daze by Erella Vent (N 7433.4 V465 A6 S159 1990). Click image to see more.

This endearingly pint-sized book consists of twenty-four pages of hand-lettered text, decorated with simple prints, on handmade paper. Playing on the idea of the foolish "salad days" of our youth and punning on days/daze, this charmingly simple narrative tells us about a dazed friend who is sent to buy a zucchini but comes back with a cucumber instead. A light and optimistic tale that ends with a happy thought, “Well, well, well, let’s make a salad.”

Blue Butterfly by Ann Vicente (N 7433.4 V42 A6 B58 2003). Click image to see more. 

Enclosed in a handmade box, this artist's book has a cover created out of soft blue handmade paper, and a non-adhesive origami binding. There is an image of white butterfly wings on the front and back covers, and there are two wire antennae that emerge from the top of the spine. The pages of the book evoke butterfly wings in variant colours of blue and grey. The text of the book is composed of haiku poems that the artist discovered in Vancouver Public Library. Inspired by blue butterflies, this book is a celebration of the many species found in North America, and it ponders human perceptions of and connections with butterflies.

Fall; Winter; Spring; Summer by Ann Vicente (N 7433.4 V42 A6 F35 2001; N 7433.4 V42 A6 W56 2004; N 7433.4 V42 A6 S67 2005; N 7433.4 V42 A6 S96 2005). Click image to see more. 

This limited-edition artist's book consists of four volumes: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each volume is made from handmade Kozo paper. The non-adhesive origami binding and case of each volume is made from Japanese papers wrapped in green, yellow, red, or grey silk. Each case has a closure made of gold and silver. Each book contains nine three-line poems about the seasons by such poets as Basho, Buson, Chiyo, Chiyo-ni, Chora, Issa, Joso, Moritake, Onitsura, Shara, Shiki, Shiko, Raizan, Ransetsu, Roka, and Taigi. This special set pays homage to each season with simplicity and elegance.

Paper Sample Alphabet by Ann Vicente (N 7433.4 V42 A6 P37 2002). Click image for more.

The artist "selected the fibres, processed the pulp, formed the papers, printed and bound this book." Organized alphabetically, each page in this artist's book is printed with a description of the fibre that was used in its construction to literally create a "paper sample alphabet." "L" takes the form of "Linen Napkins," for example, while the "W" page is made of "Waspnest in Woodpulp." The artist offers us an alphabet with physical dimension and texture.

The Columbia Icefield by Ann Vicente (N 7433.4 V42 A6 C726 1990). Click image for more.

This book originally took shape as a journal created during Vincente's time as an artist-in-residence at the Columbia Icefield. Her textual descriptions of the icefield and the wildlife and plant growth in the surrounding area are accompanied by photos and illustrations. We are offered glimpses into the gorgeous landscape, information on topics such as how snow becomes ice, and warnings such as, “In the mountains—look down—take care—take time. Small perfect wildflowers. Don’t step on them.” After gaining insight into this intricate natural environment, which has indeed been hindered and harmed by human activity, we cannot help but take seriously the artist’s question: “What footprint do we each leave on this earth’s surface?”

Friends of Hinterland by Marlene Yuen (N 7433.4 Y84 A6 F75 2009). Click image to see more. 

This limited edition is an accordion-style pop-up book with hand-set type and woodcut prints. The cover, with no spine, is made of two blue cloth-covered cardboards. Yuen presents six “friends”—Caribou, Snowy Owl, Coho Salmon, Leatherback Turtle, Monarch Butterfly, and Canada Goose. Beside each black-and-white pop-up, Yuen explains what each eats and where each lives, and she offers some interesting facts about each one. Did you know that the Snowy Owl can survive in -50 degrees Celsius or that the Leatherback Turtle can swim from Cape Breton to Trinidad? Did you know that since 1996 the population of Coho Salmon has declined by 60%? In calling attention to these non-human friends, Yuen asks us to understand them better and invites us to consider their fate.