Janus Press ~Vermont
(Claire van Vliet)

Miniature by Janus Press

Eat Book
By Katharine Meynell
1991. Edition of 150.
Photo offset images in sepia of various foods and eating utensils. Hand lettered printed offset as well. Bound in split boards with vellum spine. Wrapped in a linen napkin. Boards plastered with acrylic and wrapped in a rumpled linen napkin. 26 pages.

In conjunction with Gefn Press, this long poem by Katharine Meynell, is a satire on nursery rhymes. A sardonic poem with six sepia duotone still lifes of cherries, sausages, and white bread, made in collaboration with Susan Johanknecht who lettered the text, made eight reliefs of various kitchen utensils, and designed the binding. With recipes written out by Meynell.
$350

Aunt Sallie's Lament. Altered.
2004. Deluxe adaptation of collaboration between Claire Van Vliet and Margaret Kaufman. Originally published in an edition of 150. "An inspirational story of a Southern quilter printed on colored, uniquely shaped pages that create a layered effect, mimicking the patterns of a quilt, gathering words as stitches, gazing back to a moment lost but not forgotten, to a love burned deep."
This new production of Aunt Sallie's Lament by Claire van Vliet has been altered by adding new color & patterned swatches of paper to brighten the pages and to quilt the cut pages. Laid in fitted box covered with lined with several patterned fabrics as well as covered in patterned fabric. $400
Trade edition of original Aunt Sallie's Lament $10

Rise
Alan Loney is a New Zealand poet and printer. His poem inspired the publisher Claire Van Vliet to come up with yet another book structure, a further development of Elizabeth Steiner's woven Gioia II structure. Loney has indicated a sequence for the poem with page numbers; however, he also wanted to encourage the reader to read at random. The solution was to have two spines and three panels. This allows the reader to read from right to left and from left to right returning to the center panel with each turn. The pulp was beaten by Katie MacGregor with water that had a seaweed content. The cover is nonadhesive with the head and tail flaps slipping behind the digital print. Edition of 150. 2003.
$150

Deep in the Territory
Poems by Margaret Kaufman. Third in a series of quilt books by the poet and the press, this edition also echoes, in its design, Janus' Beauty in Use by Sandra McPherson. The thirteen quilts, which bring to life the eleven poems herein, are built from interlocking strips and shapes of paper to form double-sided quilt squares. But, while book artist Claire Van Vliet's intricate and sumptuous delivery may draw us at first visually into the book, Kaufman's quiet, carefully rendered verse stands at its heart. Kaufman, a collector of fine quilts, elevates the ordinary through close observation to the arts and artifacts of life. Her attention to detail, as she stitches together a poem word by word, reveals a fascination with language and object that echoes Van Vliet's equal delight in the interplay of materials--shape, paper, text. Illustrative quilts range from the geometrically spare to one that "flaunts convention." Letterpress. Composed of a variety of hand- and machine-made papers; minimal adhesive. Housed in a cloth-covered clamshell box. Early edition numbers come with a bag of paper scraps . . . to perhaps start your own quilt book. (9.75 x 8.75 inches, boxed.) Edition of 120.
$500

In Black and White: Landscape Prints by Claire Van Vliet
By Genetta McLean. Printed on the occasion of the above entitled travelling exhibition, this hardbound, slipcased volume is more than a catalogue. Spanning more than forty years, and several continents, with over thirty representative prints, this book is an opportunity for many people to see an aspect of Van Vliet's work that is less well-known. Mediums include lithograph, vitreograph, pulp painting, watercolor, charcoal, even ballpoint pen. McLean guides us through the artist's landscapes of California, Europe, the American Southwest, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and, closer to the artist's home, Wheeler Mountain in Vermont. Includes an Interview with Van Vliet, a brief Introduction that outlines influence of landscape in her early years, a Chronology, and a detailed listing of Catalogue Illustrations. Printed offset at the Stinehour Press in Lunenberg, Vermont. The Special Edition of the exhibit catalogue has been handbound with a proof of an original print by Van Vliet on the front cover. Exposed spine sewing. Slipcase. A trade edition is also available. (11 x 9 inches, landscape; 78 pp.)
Special Edition: $75
Trade Edition $35

Batterers
By Denise Levertov. Powerful poem of concern for the earth written as about a battered woman. Clay paperwork, made by Kathryn Vigesaa and set into a wooden tray, forms the base of this sculptural book. The "pages" of Twinrocker paper, printed with an image by Claire Van Vliet, unfold into a fiery landscape. Text is printed on tabs at the bottom. Powerful and evocative. Slipcase. Three years in the making. Edition of 100.

One of the books featured in the Inspiration section of the New York Public Library's Ninety from the Nineties: "Claire Van Vliet printed the poem on her pulp paper painting and constructed the book so that there are two possible readings of the poem."
$750 (Few copies available)

Summer Day/Winter Night
Linoleum block prints by Ruth Fine. A wordless excursion of color and shape. What narrative you find here will be of your making as you explore a wooded, park-like landscape at different seasons and times of day. The prints are a profusion of overlapped hue and loosely defined cuts that nevertheless evoke a familiar landscape. The Summer scene is printed in green, yellow, blue and rust, with numerous dramatic variations from overprinting these base colors. Winter, with more white space left to suggest snow, is only two colors--dark blue and rust deepen into darker blue and brown, again through overprinting. The Japanese paper sheets have been printed on both sides and folded lengthwise with the feathery deckle to the top like a soft sky. A gold border anchors the bottom of the page. Enclosed in a brown handmade paper wrapper, the book block is adhered at the front only. Housed in a gold paper covered slipcase. Edition of 150. (7.25 x 4 opens to 64 inches.)1994.
$175

Woven and Interlocking Book Structures from the Janus, Steiner and Gefn Presses
2002. Models discussed in Woven and Interlocking Book Structures housed in a cloth covered clamshell box. 'The models were executed by Audrey Holden following the instructions in the book; the boxes were made by Judi Conant and Mary Richardson in Maidstone, Vermont. Two hundred copies were published by the Janus Press in Newark, Vermont.' SIGNED by Claire Van Vliet.
Models of book structures in clamshell box. $400
Trade edition. $35

Janus Press Out of Print Titles:
• Compound Frame.
• Praise Basted In: A friendship Quilt for Aunt Sallien
• Narcissus
• Bone Songs
• Beauty in Use