OLYMPE AND HENRIETTE

[Sherman Oaks]: D'Ambrosio, 1992. No. 21 OF 75 COPIES (and 10 artist's proofs) SIGNED in the colophon. 225 x 165 mm. (9 x 6 1/2"). 6 p.l., 24 pp., [2] leaves.With an introduction by Patrick Magarick.
A delightful box-binding with patterned floral cloth sides, a blue-gray cloth backstrip over a broad telescoping spine composed of five stepped planes, the central and highest of these surfaces with long vertical printed paper label. Text printed on leaves with raised accordion portions, (often these portions are margins framing the text, but sometimes the text is partly on raised and partly on recessed surfaces), both raised and recessed portions with engraved illustrations, cloth inlays, or serigraphs. The recessed title page under a stretched netting meant to resemble opera hose. Most of the leaves with decoratively cut curved and spiked edges. ◆In mint condition.

This is a delightful example of the kind of consistently inventive and always severely limited works produced by one of the charming book artists of the last part of the 20th century. The story of two Parisian prostitutes by the obscure French satirist Villiers de L'Isle-Adam (1838-89), the work is printed on paper made by Madeleine Pestiaux, and the production as a whole is a particularly impressive combination of whimsy, liveliness, and delicate construction. Joseph D'Ambrosio (1934-2009) began designing books at age 35, aiming to "create a visual environment for the written word," according to his 1989 retrospective bibliography. In a laudatory piece, the California State Library Bulletin (#78) characterizes D'Ambrosio as a "versatile artist" who has created a number of admirable artist's books that, because of their strict limitation, are now "virtually impossible to acquire in the antiquarian market.".