Circle Press ~ England

Alphabeta Concertina
By Ron King
1983. Edition of 1000.
56 pages, 16.5 x 11 cm. A double-sided concertina alphabet book made up of 26 pop-out capital letters. Cut and creased onto Heritage Book paper and glued to silk screened Heritage Museum end-boards. Produced in two editions of 1000. This is one of the first edition copies.
$200

The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
[Geoffrey Chaucer]
1978. Proof
11 x 16'" Illustrated with original screenprints in color by Ronald King. One of 50 Artist Proofs SIGNED by Ron King. The Artist Proof has a separate portfolio containing one of 20 prints in their related folders. This Artist Proof edition contains The Nonne. The book has been hand-set & printed letterpress in Monotype Plantin series 110. Paper is 190 gsm Queen Anne Antique White. Separate folder of The Nonne is Buckler Light Grey Plain and was hand-set & printed letterpress. The screen-prints are printed on Bockingford 190gsm. The Nonne poem is by Kevin Power with lithograph in two colours. Included is a page of mock ups for the Nonne's figure. Fine, in very good slipcase. Boards and slipcase covered in blue cloth.
$500

The White Alphabet
By Ron King
1984. Edition of 150
5.25 x 11.5" with colophon letter-press in 14 pt Gill Light – 56 pp – 29 x 14 cm in canvas box and slip-case. With title in gilt capital letters across spine.
A double-sided concertina alphabet book, without text, cut onto RWS hand-made paper and bound between inlaid wood boards.
$1,500

Matisse's Model
By Ron King
1996. Edition of 50
23 x 17cm, with mirror-foil, sprayed pages, and a removable freestanding figure in collaged cardboard box.
One of a series of recycled books designed by King, cut by laser, assembled & painted by hand. Cover cut- being assembled to form a free 'leaning' figure.
$385

The Looking Book: A pocket history of the Circle Press 1967-96
By Cathy Courtney
1996
4.5 x 6.5" 180 pp. Contains 70 pages of full color plus 80 black and white illustrations of Circle Press work.
In 1996 Circle Press was 30 years old and to mark the occasion a double retrospective exhibition was organized in the Lyttelton at the Royal National Theatre and in the Poetry Library at the Festival Hall. Cathy Courtney has written a lively history of the Press. Published in a limited edition of 1000 it is full of illustrations, has a signed hand-printed cover and a pop-up insert of an alphabet poem by Roy Fisher.
$40

Tabernacle
By King, Ronald
2001. Edition of 50. 33 x 23 x 23 cm., seven-drawer black cabinet.
Designed to celebrate seven generations of printing in the King family.
Case I: "Hole", a bound book with verse, graphics, and history concerning the first three generations and a foreword by George Szirtes (44 pages, signed , 28 x 21 cm).
Case II: "Horse"', a double-sided folding print with verse, graphics and history covering the remaining generations (in 16 sections, 71 x 54 cm).
Cases III & IV: Contains two sets of magnetized letters one black (50 magnetized letters reproduced from the original 'found' box of type onto a 10mm base) and one red (60 magnetized letters reproduced).
Case V: Contains a set of rubber-stamp letters (64 rubber-stamp letters cast from the originals and glued to a solid base 16mm high for printing with dye ink or oil paint).
Case VI: A Folding double-sided metal-based display and storage box for use with the magnetized letters.
Case VII: "Hell-box", a folding display box for one of 56 unique montage designs made from left- over material.
$4,800

Anansi Company
By Ron King and Roy Fisher
1992. Edition of 130
45 x 34 x11cm. Made up of 15 colorful unbound sections with thirteen screen printed removable wire and card puppets. All loosely inserted into card wraparound and held in large colour-blocked solander box. Each book involved over 500 hand workings. Introduction and accompanying verse printed letter-press in 14 & 18 pt Walbaum.
This is the seventh collaboration of King & Fisher. The content was derived from Walter Jekyll's 'Jamaican Song & Story 1907,' a contemporary rendering of some familiar tales central to Caribbean culture, brought by slaves from Africa, concerning Anansi the spiderman and his company of friends.
$3,600

Antony & Cleopatra
By William Shakespeare.
1979. 40 x 32 Designed and produced by Ronald King with notes & introductory essay 'The Elusive Absolute' by Keith Please. This is #AP XXXV. Limited edition of three hundred books with five H.C. copies, forty Artist's Proofs and ten marked Circle Press held for presentation; all the books SIGNED by the artist. Book designed & printed by the artist at Circle Press. Text in 10 pt. Baskerville. The paper is pure rag-made 250 gsm. Velin Cuve Rives Blanc, and the box designed and made at Dorset Bookbinding by Paul Haskell. A beautifully rendered edition of Shakespeare's play with King's own marginal notes and lustrious contemporary illustrations.
$1,295

The Tao of Water
By James Kirkup
1979. 25.5 x 25.5cm. Poem by James Kirkup with prints by Birgit Skiold. SIGNED by poet and artist. Includes original etching SIGNED by Skiold. The lithographs and etchings were designed and hand printed at Print Workshop, London. Text set in 18pt. Optima and printed by Ron King on 250 gsm. Velin Arches Blanc. It is made up of 10 four page sections contained in a cloth-covered solander box produced by Dorset Bookbinding.
First published as part of ZEN CONTEMPLATIONS by James Kirkup in 1978 (Kyoto Editions, Japan). It reflects on the analogy of water, in its humble & all-accepting action, to the Tao (or Way).
$1,150

Cooking the Books. Ron King and Circle Press
In stiff pictorial wraps with inside flaps. 6 x 9" with 179 pages. With essay by Andrew Lambirth. Descriptions and Commentary by King. Published on the exhibit of King's work at Yale June 15 - September 8, 2002. Includes an example of his pop-up alphabet with one black letter E. Lots of illustrations and commentary on his work and methods.
A nice presentation of Ron's work and career in fine press and book arts showing his inventive and creative spirit through the years.
$75

As From a Fleece
The London Series.
1990. Edition of 100 copies.
A landscape concertina format for a long screen printed design with text printed letter-press in Helvetica – over 3,000 cm in length – 26 pp on Rivoli paper held in card folder with translucent wraparound. One of eight commissioned poetry books, with new verse in seven of the collaborations. All designed to the same dimensions, 30 x 20 cm, to celebrate the move of Circle Press from Guildford to London. All limited to 100 copies for sale and 20 proofs. Copies 1-25, fully signed, were reserved to be sold as boxed sets called ‘The London Series’. (CP)

One of the books featured in the Inspiration section of the New York Library's exhibit Ninety from the Nineties: "Printer John Christie collaborated with poet Gael Turnbull to celebrate Ron King's Circle Press in "The London Series;" this pamphlet is one of eight in the series.
$120

Bluebeard's Castle
By Ron King and Roy Fisher. 1972. 10 quires, 9 with pop-ups, as issued in perspex box. Edition of 175 copies [of which only about 125 were made]. This is #26. Signed by Ronald King and poet Roy Fisher. An early and exquisite example of Ron King's art.
$5,000

Les Bijoux
Charles Baudelaire. With a "free variation" in English by Kenneth White entitled "The Lady of the Jewels." The text of the poem and Ron King's wire-pressed illustrations are printed on alternating panels. The accordion-fold book opens from the top to reveal the translation and images. Then the book opens further, into a triptych in which the bejeweled lady fills the large central panel. Side panels are printed in French and show the reversed images from the English side. Letterpress printed in two colors and "drawn" in wire on blue-black Khadi handmade paper. Board covers and handmade paper wrapper. (7 x 11 inches closed.) Second unsigned edition of 75.
$250

Turn Over Darling.
By Ronald King. Embossed and debossed images of a womanly figure reveal themselves as the reader dips through each page. Wire forms were pressed into the dampened sheets of each spread to create a delightful and lighthearted erotic sequence. On Khadi pure rag paper. The unlimited edition is a classic of fun.
$90

Circus Turns
Ronald King. The embossed and debossed images of circus scenes and animals create playful pages. Wire forms, pressed into the dampened sheets of each spread, create an energetic sequence. On Khadi pure rag paper. Pumpkin-colored cover. Unlimited edition.
$90

Echo Book
By Ronald King. The words echo book are embossed into substantial handmade rag paper so that the impression gradually grows "quieter" as you advance. White pages and dark blue cover. Unlimited edition. Pamphlet stitched. Long, narrow format. (3 x 7.5 inches.)
$30

Circle Press Out of Print Title:
Lettre De La Mer Noire: Black Sea Letter