The Girl From the Sea, A Play for Voices
[Monmouthshire]: The Old Stile Press [2008], 2008. Onken, Michael. Limited Edition. Hardcover. No. II of 10 of the Special Edition, folio size, 50 pp., signed by Artist. Fine. Item #CNJL1091
There are many stories and legends of selkies - the seals that surround the shores of Orkney - their deep brown eyes that captivate humans, their singing that mesmerises. George Mackay Brown had written stories of them before his passing in 1996. Then the publishers met an American artist, Michael Onken, who came regularly to Scotland to draw and paint and had developed a passion for the writing of GMB and for selkies which he drew while on Orkney.
They asked the literary executors of GMB if by any chance there might be any unpublished writing about selkies - and almost by return they were offered this story, "The Girl from the Sea". It is a simply told play which involves a young man, his elderly parents and the arrival of a beautiful girl in their midst (n.b., above info from the web site of the Press). A lovely book with a haunting story, no. II of 10 of the Special Edition, with an original signed watercolour and a suite of four proofs of the prints from within the book, signed and numbered by the artist, all five in a wallet.
___DESCRIPTION: Bound in blue-grey cloth with a pictorial front panel of the artist's design, sky blue endpapers, title page in brown and moss green, text in moss green, profusely illustrated by Michael Onken with 27 images printed directly from wood engraved, woodcut and lino cut blocks; folio size (approximately 12.5" tall), unpaginated with 25 leaves, paper is Velin Arches, type Albertina; limited edition of 195 copies of the Main Edition plus 10 copies of the Special Edition, this is no. II of the ten, signed by the artist on the colophon page. Accompanied by the signed, original watercolour and a suite of four proofs in a wallet, each signed and numbered by the artist, as referred to above. The volume and the separate illustrations are enclosed in a clamshell box covered in grey cloth, paper pastedown on the front of the box of a drawing of George Mackay Brown.
___CONDITION: Fine, as are the separate suite of proof prints and the original watercolour; the box has a gentle bump to one corner, else fine.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please contact us for details.
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Price: $1,000.00