Johnee's Box

Columbus: Luna Bisonte Prods, 1990. No. 5 of 15 copies numbered and initialed to contents sheet and front of box. Collated and complete; overview of contents below. All items fine, save the hat and the box, both of which show toning.

A limited edition box set gathering a substantial number of chapbooks, broadsides, and art objects by American poet and book artist John M. Bennett (b. 1942), notable also for his career as a special collections librarian and curator of the Avant Writing Collection at Ohio State University. The contents, whose publication dates span 1975-1990, include 31 poetry chapbooks, text-based artist's books, and folded broadsides, mostly self-published, a number in collaboration with other artists and writers (including Bruce Andrews and David McLimans); 26 broadsides; 12 postcards; two cassette tapes; a reproduced photograph of Bennett; and two items unique to this box set: a packet of stickers ("Throne Fog label pak") and a paper chef's hat with holograph text and purple stamp ("Utter Utter Hat"). Though frequently modest in size and construction, all items are marked by Bennett's sophisticated sensibilities, including collage elements and his unique style of calligraphic writing. Altogether a delightful collection, demonstrative of the impressive aesthetic range of this prolific and underappreciated book artist. Of the 15 total copies, OCLC locates four held institutionally.