Illustrated with 27 copper-engraved Leonard Baskin etchings, mostly in color, all but two are signed in pencil by Baskin (first two not signed which includes the title page and the Part One header), all are printed by Michael Kuch; plus a red-orange engraving on colophon. (Folio) 17¾x12½, quarter dark blue morocco and red-orange wood-patterned paper over boards bound by Daniel Gehnrich all by hand, gilt-lettered red morocco spine label, blue-gray hand-made endpapers, housed in the publisher’s blue linen clamshell box with gilt-lettered red morocco spine label. No. 13 of 26 total hand-numbered copies printed at The Gehenna Press on hand-made Italian paper; letterpress by Arthur Larson. First Edition.
Signed by both the author and artist, Michelson and Baskin, in pencil in the colophon. Spectacular and captivating mask illustrations by artist Leonard Baskin (1922-2000), who is also known for his exquisite death mask artwork. Richard Michelson, also a Northampton and award-winning author and book arts enthusiast, whose first book, Tap Dancing for the Relatives, was praised by Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel as “deeply moving.” He has collaborated with Baskin on a number of children’s books, including such titles as Can You Say Ghosts? and Animals that Ought to Be, which were printed by trade publishers. Masks, their first joint fine press project, is a collection of Michelson’s non-juvenile poems and Baskin’s grotesque imagery, which inspired the ironic poems. Includes the publisher’s 4-page prospectus, containing two color illustrations (some creases), laid in.