Four Corners Books are based in London. The small publishing house specializes in books about under-recognized, under-reported, and under-appreciated artists, movements, and theories. Works under their imprint include Come Alive! The Spirited Art of Sister Corita (2006) and Brian Wilson: An Art Book (2005).
They've now introduced the Familiars series, which pairs classic novels and short stories that have passed into the public domain with an artist's response to the text. Every book is of individual style and format, making each familiar feel like an entirely new object of desire. A truly exciting approach to the illustrated novel. Series designed by John Morgan; different artist for each title.
Book descriptions courtesy Four Corners.
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The Jet Age Compendium: Paolozzi At Ambit. From 1967 until his death, Eduardo Paolozzi was involved with the innovative British literary magazine Ambit, using its pages as a space for some of his most experimental and innovative creations, pushing at the boundaries between text and image - collages, visual essays, and fragments from novels drawing on pop culture images from newspapers, magazines, and advertisements. Reprinted in their entirety for the first time, Paolozzi’s works for Ambit tackle the war in Vietnam, the acceleration of Japanese technology, and the utopias of mass advertising. The Jet Age Compendium reproduces the Paolozzi pages from Ambit that originally appeared alongside the artist’s work and includes an essay by David Brittain which puts Paolozzi’s work for the magazine into context. Paperback with day-glo plastic cover, 80 pages plus 28 page essay. 9.5" x 6.75". $25.
Blumfeld, An Elderly Bachelor. Text: Franz Kafka; Artist: David Musgrave.
Musgrave has chosen a little-known novella left unfinished by Kafka. It concerns a man who comes home to find that two bouncing plastic balls have invaded his home. The book is illustrated with a series of pencil drawings of curious artifacts and archaeological fragments invented by the artist. The text is set in Walbaum, Kafka's preferred typeface. Dark gray, letter embossed cover. Hardback, 84 pages, 8" x 6". $19.
