Haiku Alphabet Zoo

[Camden, ME], 2015. Artist's book, from a total edition consisting of 78 books printed on Mohawk Via Smooth Flax cover stock: 26 black and white, 26 hand-watercolored, 26 deluxe hand-colored with gelatin printmaking techniques heightened with watercolor and colored pencil. This copy is from the third deluxe set, with original gelatin-print and letterpress illustrations hand-colored, signed and hand-numbered by the artist / author, Richard Smith. Page size: 7 x 6-3/4 inches; 32pp. Bound: hand sewn in special Coptic stitch, boards covered in letterpress printed Fabriano Tiziano paper polished with beeswax, green ground printed in dark green with the alphabet, each letter in a small box lined up vertically, with rows of quick sketches from the interior illustrations alternating with the letters, a variation of circle - square theme, label printed in black, HAIKU ALPHABET ZOO, within black rule and dotted border, hand-watercolored pale green as ground for title. Set inTimes Roman 14 on 17pt. and printed using photo-polymer plates on the Vandercook Universal letterpresses at Maine Media Workshops & College as the inaugural project, 2015 Book Artist-in-Residence Program. The drawings were created in pen and ink, edited with Adobe software and printed in the same manner by the artist. The hand-coloring on each page lends an air of freshness and delicacy. The images and the Haiku are inventive, quirky, and do provoke at least a smile if not chuckles. This is for children of all ages! See the "C" page: A precocious cow, curtly chewed a clover cud, causing curdled cream" or the "V" page: Vixen velvetly vowed, "Vegetables only, Vole!" Villainous victress.