Ma Nao Books ~ Oregon
(Margaret E. Davis)

A Tango with Ataturk
By Margaret E. Davis
Portland, Oregon: Ma Nao Books, 2008. Edition of 10.

7 x 4.25"; 8 leaves. Accordion structure. Letterpress printed. Laid inside a slim red cloth-covered custom binding. Paper title label on spine.

Margaret Davis: "Mustafa Kemal Ataturk brought many things to Turkey as he pulled it out of the Ottoman Age and into the modern world: an alphabet, a secular government, freedom from capricious and oppressive religious rule, and a sold sense of patriotism in the land where Europe and Asia meet. He also brought tango.

"A Tango with Ataturk, based on a story about a 1926 reception that Ataturk hosted as his nascent country's new leader, imagines what happens from the perspective of a female tango dancer that night... "

"There can be no revolution without music."
— Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

"We women face our partners, our hair and ankles naked, ready for the transcendental power of the dance. We will help destroy another taboo."
$45

Bahia Night
By Margaret E. Davis
Portland, Oregon: Ma Nao Books, 2003. Edition of 50.

4.5 x 8" with 26 pages. Original hand-lettered in Lloyd Reynolds "Oregon" italic reproduced digitally. In a sewn daifuku cho Japanese binding with distinctive cover papers.

A story of international intrigue and mischief, "Bahia Night" details South American sensuality in cinematic takes. Expats and Brazilians mix it up in an open-air bar in Bahia, where flirtations percolate like a samba beat and a foolproof dating method gets put to the text.
$40

Beijing Heart: A Tiananmen Story
By Larry Hanbrook
Portland, Oregon: Ma Nao Books, 1999. Edition of 100.

22 cm; 20 pages. Handbound in traditional Chinese style, with silk thread over dark blue wrappers.

Illustrator/binder/publisher Davis has also lived and worked in China, as managing editor of Beijing Scene, a newspaper that was finally shut down by the government. She studied traditional binding techniques while there.

On the eve of the infamous anti-democracy massacre in Tiananmen Square, Larry Hanbrook joined Chinese activists in their makeshift campground, giving witness as the tanks rolled in upon them. In these sharply observed vignettes, he has captured the humanity and tensions of these mostly young people whose struggle continues even today. After the crackdown, Hanbrook went to Hong Kong for a time, where he operated a safe house for activists escaping from the mainland. Now his essay, illustrated with three photo-transfer images by Margaret E. Davis, has been issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the most painful and pivotal event in the ongoing quest for Chinese democracy.
(SOLD)