The Handbook of Phrenology

[Baltimore, Maryland]: Dolphin Press / Maryland Institute, College of Art, 2000. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Lorenz, Hilary. No. 7 of 40 copies of the deluxe edition (total edition 100), elephant folio size, 40 pp., signed by Albert Mobilio and Hilary Lorenz. "The Handbook of Phrenology" is a collaboration between artist Hilary Lorenz, an artist and printmaker whose work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and the co-founder of the Dolphin Press, and writer Albert Mobilio, a poet and literary critic, whose work has appeared in The Village Voice, Harper's, Fortune, and The New York Times Book Review (n. b., artist bios from the book).

The book is a collection of five prose fiction pieces that revolved around the nineteenth-century science of phrenology or "the reading of one's head shape to determine personality" (n. b., from website of Hilary Lorenz), and is a provocative examination of what is now recognised as a pseudoscience.

___DESCRIPTION: Full black Japanese Asahi cloth, gilt vignette and lettering on the front board, hand-marbled paste-down endpapers, hand-sewn binding, six etchings interspersed throughout the text, both etchings and text printed on the rectos only; Dante monotype on Rives Heavyweight, elephant folio in size (16" by 13.5"), unpaginated with 20 leaves (excluding front and back blank leaves), per the colophon page, a limited edition of 100 copies, this being number 7 (per the web site for Hilary Lorenz, numbers 10-100 were for sale), signed by Albert Mobilio and Hilary Lorenz on the colophon. The slipcase is covered in matching cloth, gilt vignette and lettering on the front which mirrors the book, lined with maroon paper. With a sheet with a description of the book, serving as the prospectus, one sheet printed on one side.

___CONDITION: Volume is fine, with a strong, square text block, solid hinges, perfectly straight corners with no rubbing, the interior is clean and bright, and it is entirely free of prior owner markings - crisp, as new. Slipcase is also fine, strong and sturdy, clean, without wear. The prospectus sheet is near fine, clean, with very light toning to the edges and light wear to the corners, else fine.

___POSTAGE: Please note that this is an oversize book, and additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please contact us for details.

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