8.25 x 11.25"; 36 unnumbered pages.18 pt Bodoni type. Printed on Nideggen paper by a hand-fed Vandercook Press. Spiral bound at top with cloth-covered hardcover wraparound. Paper title on wraparound. During World War II Feldman was an lieutenant in the infantry, serving from 1943 to 1946, even acting as an aide at the Potsdam Peace Conference. Deeply affected by his wartime experience, Feldman at his Ziggurat Press continues to publish works that examine war and its effects. Donald Kuspit, Walter Feldman 2007: "In his book, A Packet of Letters, Feldman looks back at some of his experiences as a soldier. He recalls how his mother learned to read and write English so she could stay in touch with her son stationed across the globe. "While at war, Feldman found himself under small arms fire in the forests of the Ardennes, more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. The shards of shrapnel that lodged in his lower back left a lifetime injury, and the trauma of his near-death and harrowing recue made a lasting impact on him. Feldman used art as therapy for the wounds of war. While recuperating in Paris, he was told he would never walk again. But he did. And as he recovered, he learned to paint through his pain and found healing through brush and canvas". The Books of Walter Feldman: 'In A Packet of Letters, which can be described as being about words and the writing of words, he has himself contributed the text. A wartime book done in spiral notebook wrapped in fatigue green, it tells in every way - visual and textual - a story about filial and maternal love." |
