The Best Tailor in the World
By Ilse Nesbitt
Newport, Rhode Island: The Third & Elm Press, 1983. Edition of 100.

10 x 13"; 24 pages. Printed on Rives heavyweight paper. One double-spread page per story. Printed with black ink specially made by the artist. Housed in a printed wrapper of colored cover stock.

Prospectus: "The nine stories in The Best Tailor in the World are folktales. They have their sources in eight different countries: China, Esthonia, France, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Northeast Africa; and one is a Chassidic tale.

"It was the intention of the artist to present them in a format that would be visually enjoyable and, at the same time, readable. So this book resembles the block books of the early history of printing: the text and illustrations have been cut on the same block.

"The tales were selected from a large and varied collection that was made over many years: some are childhood memories, one is recalled from a high-school French test, and others come to the fore in trying to complete the choice for the book. Each story covers a double spread, printed on one side of the sheet only. The double spreads are hinged together to make a unique binding enclosed in a covering wrapper."

Nine folktales:

German: Mayer Hoppe
Esthonia: Good Luck and Bad Luck
Japanese: The Two Frogs
Chassidic: The Treasure
Persian: Death also comes to Isfahan
French: The Three Tailors
Chinese: Who is the Delinquent?
Irish: The Planet
Northeast African: The Hare

$220