Lunation Press ~ California
(Marylee Bytheriver)

Bookworks on Color by Marylee Bytheriver
Flora and fauna bookworks by Marylee Bytheriver

The Heart Sutra
By Marylee Bytheriver
California: Lunation Press, 1991. Edition of 50.

10 x 6". Hand-set letterpress text, illustrated with five spit-bite etchings on French-folded pages. Rives Johannot Lightweight paper. Case Bound in boards covered with marbled Superfine paper, black cloth spine.

The Great Wisdom Beyond Wisdom Heart Sutra is a simple, elegant interpretation of a revered ancient Buddhist Text. The typography and illustrations are treated with Zen-like simplicity to reflect, without detracting from, the spare, yet profound message of this beloved Sutra. Velvety white Johannot paper provides maximum contrast to rich black abstract etchings and deep black letterpress text. This visual contrast heightens the subtle, yet sensual, tactile contrast of the alternating relief and intaglio printing textures.
$200

Venus on the Half Shell
And Other Images of Divine Women
23,000 BCE to Date
By Marylee Bytheriver
California: Lunation Press, 1994. Edition of 50.

10.5 x 7". Text printed letterpress from polymer plates, and images from linoleum blocks. Printed on Lenox, 100% cotton rag paper. The binding is a variation of an exposed sewing split-board binding, with two accordion-style fold out signatures.

A portrait gallery of twenty-seven divine women from diverse cultures around the world. These women have been revered by people throughout history and before – from Neolithic fertility goddesses to the Statue of Liberty. Each image is individually printed in color from linoleum blocks carved by the artist, and is accompanied by original text.

Reading Venus is an interactive experience - it invites the reader to partake in a process of discovery. As the book unfolds the reader encounters unexpected images within the twists and turns of the uniquely folded pages. Afterwards Venus closes to be encased within wrap-around cloth-covered boards, locked with a black frog clasp.
$250 (Last Two copies)

Outsider Art
By Marylee Bytheriver
Oakland, California: Lunation Press, 1998. Edition of 50.

8.5 x 11 x 9" tunnel book. Inner-wall images are from linoleum blocks carved and printed by the artist. CONTENT and CONTEXT graphics on outer walls designed by CJ Studios. Paper is archival Somerset Velvet. Can be viewed as a peep show through window cut-out on first page, or the front door (first page) can be lifted to afford a better look. Housed in hinged black plastic box (by Tap Plastics) with black felt lining. Paper title on lid.

From a catalog of the exhibition Out West: The Artist's Book in California: "Using images of graffiti and Native American petroglyphs, Outside Art raises questions about both the content and context of art: Who defines what is art and what is not? Is our appreciation of art dependent upon our ability to understand the intention of the artist? Does the identity or anonymity of the artist affect the value of the art? Can art be both destructive and creative? Is natural weathering an artistic process itself? … The tunnel book structure ... allows the reader to view both graffiti and petroglyphs in the context in which they are usually found."

Ed Hutchins, Exploring Tunnel Books: "For Outside Art (1998), text is an integral part of the concept. By adding a third top hinge the artist has created a cave setting as much as a tunnel. The reader can peer through a peephole, in this case constructed to resemble a broken window of a derelict building, or swing the front panel aside for a fuller view. The natural cave setting inside the book is set up in opposition to the rundown urban structure outside the book. At the same time the text contrasts the 35 Native American petroglyphs inside the tunnel with contemporary graffiti scrawled on the outside. The tunnel book structure allows the reader to experience both messages in the context in which they are typically found."
$300 (Six copies remaining)

Color
By Marylee Bytheriver
California: Lunation Press, 1992. Edition of 45.

Each print 9" x 18" when opened. Printed on Johannot 100% rag paper with collages of Moriki, a hand-made paper from Japan. Text is printed letterpress from polymer plates.

A sequence of thirteen mixed media prints exploring the way color affects us and reflects who we are. Each print is composed of collaged Japanese "rice" paper and relief printing in a wide spectrum of colors. A short text, printed letterpress, forms one of the design elements on many of the pages. Words and images, in various colors, are printed on the stark white background and over the colored collages, creating movement between interacting colors and forms both within a single print and from one print to another in sequence. The entire series of prints is case-bound between brightly colored hardcovers with contrasting cloth spine. In keeping with the concept of the book, each cover is constructed of different materials, so that no two books in the edition are exactly alike.
$250

Zen not Zen
By Marylee Bytheriver
California: Lunation Press, 1997. Edition of 50.

3 x 3"; 42 pages. Letterpress on Lenox cotton paper. In Japanese-style corrugated paper envelope. Pages are bound between hard covers by a brass screwpost at one corner.

Advice from some well-known Zen philosophers and quite a few accidental Zen masters, for instance, Spencer Tracy (Learn your lines and don't trip over the furniture); Albert Einstein (Imagination is more important than knowledge); and James Thurber (It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers). Read in sequence as is, unbind and remix, or display as individual affirmations. The book opens out into a circular fan and the backs of the pages form a complete color wheel.
$200 (Last two copies)

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Beans
By Marylee Bytheriver
California: Lunation Press, 1991. Edition of 50.

6 x 10" Text hand set and letterpress printed; images form linoleum blocks. Somerset Satin paper. Accordion binding, boards covered with handmade Fabriano Roma.

A lush visual experience in which the text, describing the artist's out-of-control garden, is surrounded and almost over whelmed by entwining string bean vines and vibrantly-colored flowers. Each opening is densely layered with rich color from the reduction linoleum block prints which bleed off all four edges and run over from one page to the next page. This book can be read one page at a time in the conventional manner. Or, when the removable spine is set aside, it can be opened to create a three-dimensional paper structure which can be displayed as a sculpture and viewed in the round.
$250

Praise God: Psalm 148
Hymn of All Creation to the Creator
By Marylee Bytheriver
California: Lunation Press, 1995. Edition of 30.

7 x 7" The text printed letterpress from polymer plates. Illustrated with linoleum block prints, hand painted in watercolors. On Rives Johannot lightweight, a 100% rag paper. Accordion binding with endboards covered with Tiziano by Fabriano. Enclosed in an handmade, cloth-covered clamshell box.

The exuberance of the Psalmist is reflected in the bright colors of these hand painted images which glorify all of God's creation. The illustrations are created by combining deep, velvety black linoblock prints with luminous watercolors. A joy to behold.
$200 (Last four copies)

Lilies of the Field
By Marylee Bytheriver
Oakland, California: [Lunation Press], 1991. Edition of 25.

12 x 16.25 x 1.25"; 23 pages. Eight 15 x 11" folios. Paper: Lana Gravure. Letterpress printed. Text typeface: 14 pt Gill Sans and Gill Sans Italic. Titling typeface: 72 pt Garamond. Printed at Mills College. Folios enclosed in a folder of handmade paper. Housed in blue cloth-covered clamshell box.

Lunation Press: "Lilies of the Field is a suite of original etchings based on sketches of wild California lilies drawn by Marylee Bytheriver in the fields and woods of northern California over the last twenty years. The illustrations reflect the amazing variety of these exquisite native flowers, from the demure to the extravagant.

"Each of the eight large etchings is presented in a separate folio, faced by a short text describing the plant, its habits and habitat. The outside of each folio is printed with the flower's common names and an appropriate short quote."
(SOLD)