 QUARANTINE (For more information, please click on title) |
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Eavan Boland’s moving poem is a stark and severe depiction of the deep relationship between a man and a woman that transends the traditions of love poetry. The imagery and design of the book have been inspired by the bleak winter landscape of snow and frozen trees and by the practice of grafting.
Quarantine has been made as a limited edition accordion book in an edition of forty-two copies in the spring and summer of 2011. The images are monotypes of bundled twigs that have been printed as high-resolution digital prints with additional pastel finishing. The text is 12 point Palatino and has been printed letterpress by JR Press, San Francisco, on BFK Rives. The box was cut on a Gunnar 3001 Cutter at Magnolia Editions, Oakland, California and the covers have been editioned by John DeMerritt in Emeryville, California. The book design and images are by Charles Hobson who assembled the book and the boxes with the assistance of Alice Shaw. A stop action animation about the making of Quarantine has been created as a video on Youtube. See the video. 18 pages. 9 x 6.5 x 2.25 inches. Publication Price: $1,750 |
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 TREES W. S. Merwin (For more information, please click title.) |
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W. S. Merwin’s soft and contemplative poem conveys a sense of quiet awe as he looks into trees from a mysterious time and place. The poem was first published in 1977 shortly after he settled in Hawaii. He now lives on a former pineapple plantation in Haiku, Hawaii, where he has spent years restoring the property and raising endangered palm trees. The plantation has more than 700 palms that he planted, some of them very rare. |
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 THE MAGIC JACKET (For more information, please click on title) |
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The Magic Jacket is a short story based on a concept developed by Sandra and Charles Hobson. In the story a young mother soothes the discomfort of her son who has had a bad day at school, or rather, a series of bad days at school. She tells him about a little girl who, many years before, was also having a bad time at school. In the tale the little girl learns a vital life lesson about self confidence from her encounter with a magic jacket--a jacket her grandfather got for her when he took her to her first big league baseball game. |
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 RITUALS FOR LIFE MILESTONES (For more information, please click on title) |
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For more than twenty years Sandra Hobson has traveled around the world encountering and engaging with indigenous cultures and shamanic traditions. Her travels have taken her to Nepal, Ecuador, Lapland and Tuva (in Siberia), to name a few of her destinations, as well as to Native American sites in the United States. From the travel and lessons learned in these cultures she has created rituals for contemporary life transitions and events. |
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Roger Angell, the distinguished senior editor at The New Yorker magazine, is best known outside the magazine for his writings about baseball. However, his memoir “Ancient Mariner” about sailing in Maine displays his ability to use language elegantly and precisely while conveying vivid images of his experiences of more than sixty years. Edition of 39 copies. Publication Price: $2,500 |
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 EXPERIMENTS IN NAVIGATION The Art of Charles Hobson (For more information, please click title) |
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Catalogue published by Stanford University in conjunction with the joint exhibitions at Green Library and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts. Text by Charles Hobson. Preface by May Castleberry. Foreword by Roberto Trujillo. Stanford University Libraries, 2008. |
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 NELSON & EMMA Aphrodite & Ares Contemplate Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton (For more information, please click title) |
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NELSON & EMMA has been made as a limited edition of thirty-five copies during the fall and winter of 2007-2008. The text has been written by Charles Hobson who also designed the edition. Concertina binding with sewn signatures, hand painted pages with digital prints on transparent sheets, lenticular photo, pop-up, and board cover, in net embossed slipcase. |
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 red thread, two women (For more information, please click title) |
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red thread, two women, 2006, is a limited edition artists' book built around the collaborative poem by Paula Sager and Lizbeth Hamlin. Each book is constructed with two signatures sewn into an accordion structure incorporating hand-colored cotton and jute twine. The book is bound in boards and housed in a fabric covered slip case made by John DeMerritt. Charles Hobson designed and assembled the book with the assistance of Alice Shaw. |
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 FIVE BEETS Charles Hobson Limited Edition Portfolio from red thread, two women (For more information, please click title.) |
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Five Beets is a portfolio of five hand-colored digital images from red thread two women in an edition of 20. Each image has been accented with pastel and has been printed on BFK Rives paper. The sets are numbered and signed by the artist and measure 12 x 8 inches and are contained in a grey presentation portfolio. Publication Price: $900
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 R.O.W. A consideration of the Right of Way rules for sailboats (For more information, please click title.) |
| R.O.W was made as a limited edition artists' book in 2006. The central image used in the book is a three foot square relief print which was created as part of a program at the San Francisco Center for the Book. It was originally printed in 2005 by a steamroller at Carolina and 16th Streets, San Francisco. Kay Bradner and Charles Hobson collaborated on the design of the print. Kay Bradner cut the linoleum block and printed the relief prints on Rives BFK 300 gm paper. Charles Hobson designed the book and assembled it with the assistance of Alice Shaw in an edition of 12 copies. It is covered in a transparent corrugated chemise which is closed with sailing line and a cleat. R.O.W. measures 18 by 9 inches closed and extends, when opened fully, to a length to 7 1/2 feet. Edition of 12. Sold Out. |
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 THE NEAR WOODS (For more information, please click title.) |
| A BEAR came last night. It came down through the trees into the clearing around the house, most certainly in the bright moonlight. -- from The Near Woods |
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| Barry Lopez's multi-layered short story has been made into a limited edition of forty-eight copies in the summer and fall of 2005 with images and design by Charles Hobson. Images of hands emulating gestures of a map maker at work have been reproduced as digital pigment prints on transparent film. Each book has been assembled using original USGS maps for the concertina binding and selected pages, and the cover has been wrapped with a reproduction of a 1911 map of Bogotá from the collection of the Library of Congress. Landscape images and the images pencils from Barry Lopez' writng desk have been created as monotypes with pastel and printed as digital pigment prints. The text has been printed letterpress by Les Ferriss on BFK Rives using a Garamond Narrow typeface. John DeMerritt made the slipcase and board covers with the assistance of Kris Langan. Edition of 48. 11 x 10 x 1.25 inches. Publication Price: $2,100 |
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 THE WRITER, 2004 (For more information, please click title.) |
| This two-part limited edition artist’s book with images and design by Charles Hobson has been inspired by Richard Wilbur’s warm and gentle poem conveying a parent’s respect and love for his child as she begins the voyage into adulthood. The two volumes are housed in a clamshell box with the larger volume containing the text of the poem set in 14-point courier and printed letterpress on BFK Rives paper. The smaller volume is a flip book, or rather a "flutter book," and contains selected words taken from the poem that reprise the poem with a new cadence. The edition in its box measures 12 x 12 x 1-1/4 inches. Edition of 54 copies. Out of Print. |
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THREE KISSES, 2004 |
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THREE KISSES is a handmade limited edition book that has been made from postcards, translucent envelopes, various papers and features the photographs of Robert Doisneau. Each envelope contains a photograph and a fictional story by Charles Hobson about the persons in the photographs. A pastel monotye by Charles Hobson has been reproduced as a digital pigment print with hand coloring. The book is bound as an accordion and has a corrugated board slipcase which measures 5 1/2 x 4 x 3/4 inches. Edition of 90 copies. Publication price: $275
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 POEMS FROM THE HEART, 2004 |
| POEM FROM THE HEART is a hand made artist's book picturing the heart sculpture by Charles Hobson which contains eighteen poems by children about love and the heart. Each book has been hand sewn into a painted cover and mounted in a folded corrugated folder. It contains digital pigment prints from an Epson 2200 printer which portray the printed books and poems used on the heart sculpture. Sales of the book, Poems from the Heart, benefit the San Francisco General Hospital through its "Hearts in San Francisco" project. The poems have been used with the kind permission of the poets which have been made available through the California Poets in the Schools. 24 Pages. 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. Publication Price: $25 |
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ADAM & EVE, 2003 |
| EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF ADAM & EVE as translated by Mark Twain was made as a limited edition of 38 copies during the summer and fall of 2003. The images of a running man and woman created as pastel monotypes by Charles Hobson are printed as digital pigment prints and are based on the human motion studies by Eadweard Muybridge made in 1901. Additional versions of the Muybridge studies have been collaged onto each page and contain the handwriting of Mark Twain and Livy Clements from letters they exchanged in 1903. The concertina and French door structure with cut-out pages and collaged folded sheets has been designed by Charles Hobson and assembled with the assistance of Alice Shaw. John DeMerritt made the board covers and slipcase. 13 x 5-3/4 x 1-1/2 inches. 46 pages. Out of Print. |
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WHY I LOVE BOOKS
The Artworks of Charles Hobson, 2003 (For more information and a link to the PDF version, please click title.) A fifty-six page exhibition catalogue with an introduction by Barry Lopez covering more than fifteen years of the artist's books and related work. The catalogue contains 110 four-color images and has been printed in an edition of 2000 copies, 100 of which have been specially bound in hard cover with hand painted papers and include a limited edition pigment print signed by the artist. Catalogue $20. Limited Edition version $150. |
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 TAKING OFF EMILY DICKINSON'S CLOTHES, 2002 (For more information, please click title.) |
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This book is built around Billy Collins' extraordinary poem and has been produced as a limited edition of thirty copies. It employs buttons, ribbons, feathers and lace and a pastel monotype by Charles Hobson with a feather sewn to it. Accordion binding. 8 1/2 x 7 x 1 inches (closed). Seven pages with hidden definitions and fold out stanza from an Emily Dickinson poem. Out of Print.
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ANOTACIONES, 2001 |
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ANOTACIONES is a one-paragraph fiction with sixteen footnotes by Barry Lopez. The footnotes have been printed on laser cut puzzle pieces, all contained in a cigar box with chemise. Assembling the puzzle organizes the footnotes in order to be read. Ink jet monotype, Color Xerox and offset litho. 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 x 2.5 inches (size varies from box to box.) Seven pages and a fold out version of assembled puzzle. Edition of 30. Out of Print. |
SEEING STARS, 2001 |
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SEEING STARS uses die cut cards, a flashlight and a small story book to introduce children and adults to several prominent constellations. Greek stargazers in the 4th century BC gave the names of characters in the Andromeda myth to six constellations clustered together near the North Star. As a parent reads the myth a child can use the flashlight to shine the shape of each character's constellation on the ceiling, wall or table. Later, looking at a night sky, the constellations can be found by following instructions given in the book, conveying an understanding of how the stars have fascinated human beings and how accessible are their patterns. For ages 6 and up. $14.95 at your local bookstore; or order from Amazon.com or directly from Chronicle Books at 1-800-722-6657.
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DANCING WITH AMELIA, 2000 |
| Six short fictions and twelve IRIS prints taken from six mixed media drawings of dancing couples by Charles Hobson. The cover is constructed of laser cut boards printed with cut-out images of contrasting clouds, and the book is protected by a cloth covered chemise. Edition of 38. Size: 6-1/4 x 8-1/2 inches closed (7 feet long when extended). 36 pages. Out of Print. |
WRITING ON THE BODY, 1999 |
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Writings by Edgar Degas about how to draw the human figure accompanied by eight handcolored photogravure etchings by Charles Hobson. Limited edition modified accordion book in slipcase with typography by Jack Stauffacher. Edition of 45. Size:11-1/2 x 7-3/4 x 3/4 inches. 18 pages. Out of print.
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ANDROMEDA IMAGINED, 1998 |
| Limited edition concertina book by Charles Hobson with six monoprints over star atlas drawings from 1690, six IRIS prints from mixed media drawings, and six hand-punched constellations. Edition of 30. Size: 11 x 10-1/2 x 1-1/4 inches. 32 pages. Out of Print. |
FRESNEL'S TOWER, 1997 |
| Limited edition sculptural book by Charles Hobson with photogravure, stacking cylinders with hand-colored diagrams and laser prints. Fabric covered box. Edition of 38. Size: 5-1/4 x 5-1/2 x 6 inches. Out of Print. |
SHIPWRECK STORIES, 1996 |
| Limited edition accordion book by Charles Hobson with seven photogravures, hand-colored charts, and mylar drawings. Edition of 28. Size: 10-1/4 x 8-3/4 x 1 inches. Out of Print. |
PARISIAN ENCOUNTERS, 1994 |
| French door format book by Charles Hobson with monotype/pastel portraits of eight famous couples who met in Paris, includes maps and eccentric biographies. Chronicle Books trade edition. Size: 6 x 11 inches. Out of print, but available from the artist at $25. Signed copies available. Publication Price: $25 |
IMPROMPTU, 1994 |
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A collaborative poem by Tom Centolella and Kathy Evans with six images each by Kay Bradner and Charles Hobson. Photo-offset. 7-1/2 x 5-3/4 inches. Out of Print.
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LEONARDO KNOWS BASEBALL, 1990 |
| An accordion book juxtaposing excerpts from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks on how to draw the human figure with five soft ground colored etchings of baseball figures by Charles Hobson. Limited edition of 20. Size: 10 x 8 x 1/2 inches. Out of Print. Trade Edition published by Chronicle Books, 1991. $95. |
