Gnadenlos hinrichten. Freundlich begnadigen.Merciless Execution. Friendly Pardon.

Basel:: Studio for Design,, 2006.. Edition of 306. Of the total edition of 306, the first 120 copies were used for a special purpose (see description below) and copies 121 - 306 are available in this form. 8.25 x 11.75"; 8 page altar-fold plus poem card, banderole, and pictorial supplement with translation in American English. Printed in two colors. The altar-fold, poem, and banderole are hand-composed and handprinted. Supplement ink jet printed. Housed in printed paper envelope. This description of Gnadenlos hinrichten appears in 2nd Part: Romano Hänni, Handprinted Books 1992 - 2010: "In August 2006, an article was published in a daily newspaper with the headline: Shot at Dawn, Pardoned 90 Years On. Three hundred and six British soldiers were court-martialed and shot during World War I by their comrades. The complete text from the German Press Agency is printed on the front of the altar-fold. "Merciless Execution. Friendly Pardon. is composed of three parts. The jacket around the altar-fold with a French Military Cross, the gate fold or altar-fold with eight pages, and a card with a poem. This letterpress work is dedicated to showing that war is cardinally a criminal act. "Number[s] 1 to 120 are part of a box named Colorless - Colored. Merciless - Friendly. The box was published during the 8th Book and Handprinting Fair in Frauenfeld/ Switzerland, in 2006. Enclosed with the letterpress work numbers 121 to 306 is an eight-page pictorial supplement translated into American English (composed on computer, printed in inkjet). "The two flaps of the altar fold with the capitals G and S from the word GNADENLOS (merciless). In the middle, the inner pages with parts of the red text can be seen Altar fold because the two flaps are opened like a priest opens the two wings of an altar. The text on the two flaps is a statement with footnotes that proves the incompetence of the High Command, their lies to the men in the trenches and the families at home. The statement is entitled 'State-ordered Murder, called War.' "On the right page, the enclosed card with the poem 'Glory of Women' by Siegfried Sassoon (1881 - 1967).  "The banderole represents the blindfold of the executed men. The wood engraving of a French Military Cross, produced in Paris around 1915, is printed on French toilet paper, in order to show its true value. On the back of the banderole is a statement about four French soldiers who were court-martialed and shot on March 17, 1915. Humphrey Cobb was inspired by the story when he wrote his novel Paths of Glory, as was Stanley Kubrick when he made the film of the same name in 1957, starring Kirk Douglas.