The Surprise Party. or: on not going not ongoing
Berkeley: Chased Press, 1977. First edition. [18] pp. Side-stapled wrappers covered with tied white ribbons. Cover sheets toned at spine, else a fine copy of a very delicate and fragile item. One of 120 copies printed. Text printed letterpress on thin tissue overlaying the offset image on the next page.
Drucker has said of this book, "A number of difficulties arose in production of this book. The first was the cutting of the tissue paper. Putting it into the guillotine cutter and keeping it flat, even, and straight was almost impossible. We used quite a number of extra sheets around the tissue as packing. Printing the tissue letterpress wasn't difficult, though handling it required some care…. As a book-object, it was sufficient to its purpose- meant to look like a party favor, designed to have the ephemerality and immediate appeal of a birthday present. Successful enough on its own terms, but the terms are pretty narrow." Druckworks 4. Item #2185
Price: $500.00