Claire Van Vliet

Aunt Sallie’s Lament II (altered)

The original artists’ book version of Aunt Sallie’s Lament was such a phenomenal success that a trade edition was created and published by Chronicle Books. This new, limited edition by Claire Van Vliet and Margaret Kaufman has been altered from the original book by adding new color and patterned swatches of paper to brighten the pages and quilt the cut pages. These changes resulted in a much more dynamic presentation.

The book is bound using an interlocking and paper weaving technique that requires no gluing or sewing. It is housed in a fitted box lined and covered with several patterned fabrics.

Press: Janus Press
Date: 2004
Number and Edition: 12 of 120
Size: 11” x 8.5”

Circulus Sapientiae

Created to honor the 900^th birthday of the visionary saint, mystic, composer, poet and religious figure Hildegard von Bingen, Circulus Sapientiae features dynamic pop-ups drawn from her hymns and rendered against a backdrop of pulp paintings. The piece includes letterpress Latin text printed in Wallau, a blackletter typeface, and English text in Trump Medieval. The book is bound using an interlocking and paper weaving technique that requires no gluing or sewing.

Claire Van Vliet made the pulp paintings with project collaborator Katie MacGregor, who also made the colored sheets and covers. Other papers used in the piece include Twinrocker Lilac Wind, Barcham Green RWS, Nefertiti, Renaissance IV and Dover. The cover lettering of the title is set in Hildegard’s secret alphabet.

Press: Janus Press
Date: 2001
Number and Edition: 61 of 120
Size: 12.75" x 6”

Woven and Interlocking Book Structures

These step-by-step instructions for making 4-inch by 5-inch book structure models were created from diagrams drawn by Claire Van Vliet, founder of The Janus Press, and Elizabeth Steiner. The 15 models incorporate the artist’s technique of binding books without glue, posts, staples or sewing. Instead, the books are held together in various ways by creating folds and paper weavings that keep the various sections from falling apart. A mass-market book of the same title is included with the models.

Claire Van Vliet founded The Janus Press in California in 1955. Since 1966, it has been based in Vermont, and primarily publishes for contemporary writers in collaboration with papermakers and printmakers.

Press: Janus Press
Date: 2002
Number and Edition: 71 of 200
Size: 9” x 12”