Five signed artist's books: Twentyseven Photographs, A Few Notes Selected From Lesson A of Wilson's Photographics, For nothing changes..., Three Soliloquies, and Several Dialogues

A grouping of five signed self-published artist’s books by American photographer and book artist Todd Walker (1917-1998). In the mid-1960s, after receiving an offset press as a gift from his wife, Walker began publishing his own works, which show an increasing mastery of the various aspects of book production, from typesetting to binding to photolithography. He is particularly known for his iconic nude photographs produced using Sabbatier solarization—a technique on striking display in three of the five works in this grouping.

1) Twentyseven Photographs. Self-published, 1974. Prints of Walker’s solarized photographs of nude women, printed on the recto only. Signed by Walker in pencil and numbered 13/166. Perfect-bound in printed wraps; 8 x 6 in.; unpaginated. Some light foxing to the wraps, internally fine.

2) A Few Notes Selected from Lesson A of Wilson’s Photographics. Self-published, 1976. A selection of quotations originally given in Edward L. Wilson's "Photographics" (1881), each one printed on the verso in a unique typographic format and accompanied on the recto by solarized nudes. Inscribed by Walker to former owner at rear. Perfect-bound with unopened fore-edges (blank interiors); 6.25 x 5.5 in.; unpaginated. Some very light soiling and foxing to spine and fore-edge.

3) For nothing changes.... Self-published, 1976. Inscribed by Walker on the title page. Versos contain a selection by Democritus, as taken from Robert Burton’s "Anatomy of Melancholy," interlineated with selections from "recent newspapers." Rectos feature photographs of nudes, originally black-and-white, but here colorized by a "series of photo-mechanical masks." Perfect-bound in printed wraps, with unopened fore-edges (interiors blank); 6 x 4.75 in.; 21pp. (paginated on versos only). Light foxing to textblock edges, else near fine.

4) Three Soliloquies. Self-published, 1977. From an edition of "about 500 copies." Signed and inscribed by Walker, "For Jack, best wishes." Three black-and-white photoseries, two from 1961 and one from 1967. Perfect-bound with unopened fore-edges (interiors unprinted); 7 x 5.75 in.; unpaginated. "Halftone negatives, hand typesetting, platemaking, & presswork were all done by the photographer, who also wrote the words. The edition, on Mohawk Superfine smooth, will be about 500 copies printed on a 1250 Multith, the press of Todd Walker, April of 1977."

5) Several Dialogues. Tucson, AZ: Thumbprint Press, 1980. A collaboration with poet Brandon Kershner. Walker's photographs accompany a series of first-person poems exploring fraught sexual and domestic dynamics through reported dialogue. Saddle-stapled in printed wraps; 8.25 x 5.5 in.; irregularly paginated to 14 (the number of Kershner poems). Numbered 112/180 and signed by both Walker and Kersher on copyright page at rear. Especially scarce; just four copies located in OCLC.