"Specimens" Set of Letterpress-printed Miniature Books

Love bites, baby. With little insect teeth...

"Specimens" is a story told in four parts, in the form of 4 single-sheet miniature books. A little dark, a little cheeky, the narrative combines the romantic with the scientific, and plays on the captions that tend to accompany scientific illustrations. Told from the point of view of an entomologist's romantic partner, "Specimens" draws a parallel between her relationship to the behavior of carnivorous and poisonous insects. With some serious sass, the fictional narrator recalls how she is compared to a praying mantis, a monarch, a firefly, and a voracious grasshopper nymph.

This is a set of 4 books, each printed as a single page that folds down into miniature book form. Letterpress printed using photopolymer plates, linoleum block prints, and hand-set metal type. Printed on Ingres paper. Edition of 50. Each book folds open to 6" x 12" and folds down to 3" x 3". Signed and numbered by me.

Excerpt from text:

[fig 1: The entomologist fears predation.] At first, I wasn't bothered when you compared me to a mantis. After all, males are only devoured 5-31% of the time. Females are choosy that way. And I say there are worse fates than being eaten.

As often as possible, I use packaging that is compostable and recyclable (such as glassine, rigid cardboard mailers, and compostable padded mailers).