FOR THIS BRIEF TIME
Winner of a Fine Press Book Association’s Collector’s Prize
at the 2022 Manhattan Book Fair.
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Twelve poems by Ingeborg Bachmann, in English, translated by Peter Filkins. In addition to her poems, Bachmann’s words circulate throughout the book as layered, secondary texts appearing behind the poems, between the folded text pages, and behind the photographs in order to capture her echoing internal voice of doubt and desperation.
Six photographic constructions were created by Richard Zauft to interpret Bachmann’s preternatural visions. The book is a custom, side-sewn design, bound by Daniel Kelm, with folded folio fore-edge pages that allow for images and texts to be inserted and viewed through the translucent Kozo paper. The books are covered with Hanji handmade paper that has been chemically etched to create unique patterns on each book. The photographs are ink-jet printed on Kozo sheets that have been inked and salt washed on the back side. The slipcase is covered with Stone Leaf slate sheets made in Italy. Readers access the book by removing it from its heavy enclosure. Bachmann often considered writing, and life, arduous tasks. So it is with accessing the book, reading the layers of text, and mining the meaning of her manic fears and delights.
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Ingeborg Bachmann is considered one of the most important German-language writers of the mid-twentieth century. Born in Austria in 1926, she witnessed the NAZI occupation and came of age in the grim post-war devastation of Europe. In 1952 she received stunning praise for her poetry at the Gruppe 47 gathering of German writers. Her rise to fame was swift as she became the most celebrated writer in post-war Germany. She died tragically in a fire in her Rome apartment in 1973.
Peter Filkins is a poet, translator, essayist, and biographer. He is the recipient of an Outstanding Translation Award from the American Literary Translators Association and the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin. He wrote the introduction and translated Darkness Spoken: The Collected Poems of Ingeborg Bachmann, published by Zephyr Press in 2006. For this limited edition he helped select the twelve poems, provided the English translations and notes, and wrote the introductory essay, “Time’s Shadow.”
Daniel Kelm is a book artist, book binder, sculptor, and alchemist known for his extensive knowledge of materials. As proprietor of The Wide Awake Garage studio in Easthampton, Massachusetts, he designs and produces handmade books, interpretive fine bindings, and book sculptures. He is the recipient of the 2020 Guild of Book Workers Lifetime Achievement Award for service to the profession of the book arts.
Richard Zauft is a photographer, letterpress printer, and graphic designer whose book work is in institutional and private collections (see COLLECTIONS page).
Concept, design, letterpress printing, photographs, photograph text, and case binding by Richard Zauft.
FOR THIS BRIEF TIME
12” x 8.125” x .25” book
with slate slipcase
15.25” x 10” x 1”.
Edition of 20.
SOLD OUT
©Richard Zauft Editions, 2022.
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For more information visit
RICHARDZAUFTEDITIONS.com
RICHARDZAUFT.PHOTOGRAPHY
or contact rzauft@gmail.com
