BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS

St. Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2010. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. St. Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2010. Hardcover. As New/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 40 pages. Artist Book. One of Trent Parke's most beautiful art photography books. Limited Edition of 1000 hand-numbered copies. The first and only edition. Published as the inaugural volume of "Children's Books For Adults" by Alec Soth's Little Brown Mushroom (LBM) imprint. The Limited Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Trent Parke and LBM: Small-size volume format. The book is patterned after classic children's books. Black hard boards with brown cloth overboards and metallic-silver titles printed on the cover, as issued. There is a circular die-cut in front and on the back. Photographs by Trent Parke. Whimsical text. Printed on glossy stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in a Limited Edition format, Trent Parke's "Bedknobs And Broomsticks". The artist/photographer's charming homage to the Little Golden Books For Children from the 1940's. Actually, what Parke has directly appropriated, for his own purposes, is the "Bedknobs And Broomsticks" film adaptation (1971) by Walt Disney, which conflates two classic children's books: "The Magic Bedknob, Or How To Become A Witch In Ten Easy Lessons" (1943) and "Bonfires And Broomsticks" (1945), both written by Mary Norton. "With his own fierce and inimitable photographic style, Parke takes the reader along on a magic bed of free association from Down Under" (Publisher's blurb). Trent Parke has put Australia on the map as a vital center of art photography, that is to say, of the most serious and ambitious contemporary art itself, which has become more, not less, photographically-based. An absolute "must-have" title for Trent Parke collectors. This is a copy of the Limited Edition of 1000 copies, indicated/hand-numbered as such, on the Front Limitation Page. Although not called for, it is very boldly and beautifully signed in gold pen-marker on the Inside Back Cover by Trent Parke. It is signed directly on the board itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary art photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Limited Edition available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: This Limited Edition sold out shortly after publication and was not reissued by the publisher. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with tritone plates. One of the most brilliant artist/photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TRENT PARKE TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0615375502.