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Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
CHWAST, SEYMOUR. The Book of Battles. Introduction by Dachine Rainer. Cover illustration and 9 hand-colored linocuts. Oblong 8vo, Florentine paper-covered boards with green cloth spine and paper cover label, mild edgewear and toning; front blanks and title-page leaves loose from binding, a few others starting; Chwast's adhesive notes indicating his desire for larger spreads on most illustrations. From the collection of the artist/author. New York: The 6x9 Press, 1957
chwast's scarce first artist's book, entirely hand-printed, -colored, and -bound. The only institutional copy resides at Yale. Created when he was twenty-six and still at Cooper Union in New York City, it reflects his interest in Ben Shahn, George Rouault, George Grosz, and Honoré Daumier; its anti-war theme (showing major battles as banal events) displays his deep commitment to social causes. Since the early thirties, he was an active member of SANE, the group that advocated and demonstrated for nuclear disarmament and had just formed Push Pin Studios with fellow artists, creating visually representational images of current events and a thriving outlet the artists' and designers' creativity. See Steven Heller, Design Literacy (Continued), New York, 1999.
