By Johanna Drucker. The first full-length analysis of the development of artists' books as a 20th-century art form, this book explores more than 200 titles: their structure, form, and conceptualization. In this detailed examination of the works of many well-known book artists and publishers, such as William Blake, Marcel Duchamp, and Max Ernst, Johanna Drucker discusses the poetics of the book, the book as a metaphor, and books as narrative and non-narrative sequences, as in Ernst's surreal collage books. Covering the historical, theoretical, sociological, and technical aspects of the artist's book, Drucker, a printer, writer, and scholar who has been making artist's books since 1972, presents a comprehensive study of the medium within every significant modern art movement, from early 20th-century avant-garde, dadaism, and surrealism to the present. A folded fan, a set of blocks, words embedded in lucite: artists' books are a singular form of imaginative expression. With the insight of the artist and the discernment of the art historian, Drucker (The Alphabet Labyrinth, LJ 2/15/95) details over 200 of these works, relating them to the variety of art movements of the last century and tracing their development in form and concept. This work, one of the first full-length studies available of artists' books, provides both a critical analysis of the structures themselves and a basis for further reflection on the philosophical and conceptual roles they play. From codex to document, from performance to self-image, the world of artists' books is made available to student and teacher, collector and connoisseur. A useful work for all art collections, both public and academic.?Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Used Book in Good Condition