Limited Edition Books
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The Canon of Aphrodisia
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Victoria: A Bedside Table Tale
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The Token of Dorian Gray
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Banned Books Written by Women
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Babylon Songs
The Canon of Aphrodisia in Four Volumes
Images of The Canon of Aphrodisia
A four volume collection of short stories written by Miranda Culp and Jef Delman and illustrated by Laurelin Gilmore. Limited to 100 copies:
The price is $650 for the limited edition and includes the four volumes bound in cloth with stamping on the spine, housed in a slipcase.
Limited to 25 copies:
The price for the Deluxe is $800 and includes the four volumes each with a hand painted frontispiece, leather spine, leather headbands, and decorative stamping and titling. The collection is housed in a telescoping box with an acrylic window to show the spines. Details include handmarbled endsheets and a portfolio of hand printed erotic illustrations not included in the limited edition.
Typefaces used are Eric Gill’s Joanna and Perpetua. The books are printed on Arches Rives Lightweight Paper using Hanco Raven Black Ink on a Vandercook Universal III. Limited and deluxe bindings by Amy Borezo.
Synopsis:The Canon of Aphrodisia is a collection of 12 short stories contained in four volumes. The authors explore a variety of classic tales from a more feminine and modern perspective. From the Authors’ Note: “Unlike much erotica or fan fiction that concludes with happily ever after, in these stories we let classic horror, fantasy, noir, fable, tragedy, sci-fi, fairy tales, and Americana maintain their organic integrity. We used sex as a fresh way to explore familiar character arcs and thematic elements, taking great care to present each tale in the idiom and voice of the original author when possible, so that each story might work on its own terms….It isn’t particularly novel to blend eros with classic stories. Erotic fan fiction abounds, after all, though much of it focuses on the prurient. Our approach was to ask, how would these beloved characters express that secret part of themselves? How would they attempt to transcend? Therein lies the g-spot between the smart and the sensual.”
About the Authors and Illustrator
MIRANDA CULP grew up in Los Angeles among artists, booksellers, actors, and teachers. She got her B.A. in radical thought from Goddard College in Vermont and enjoyed her salad days in the Bay Area working at bookstores by day and singing in dive bars by night. She authored a short story collection entitled, The Brunt, and a local history book called, Becoming the City of Citrus Heights. Miranda co-owns Amatoria Fine Art Books in Sacramento, CA, and she'd like to thank you for not shopping at Amazon.
JEF DELMAN is a writer, filmmaker, and lyricist based in Los Angeles. Some of his writing credits include Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Showtime originals, in addition to several film scripts (a few of which were actually produced and made it to the screen.) His song lyrics have been heard in commercials, movies, and on the Walt Disney Records label. Jef’s first film, the unhinged horror-comedy Deadtime Stories, is now considered a cult classic, which is what they call a movie that barely did okay upon its initial release but has since developed an enthusiastic following.
LAURELIN GILMORE is an award-winning painter, writer, and mixed-media artist, best known for her fantasy oil paintings. Ms. Gilmore holds minor degrees in Fine Art and Library Science, and is co-owner of Sacramento's only art book bookstore, Amatoria Fine Art Books. She has been featured in many print publications and has shown her art across the United States, including on Showtime's 'The L Word: Generation Q', at the Crocker Museum for the 2022 Black Artists on Art exhibit, and on the cover of the Sacramento Open Studios guide. She is represented by Artize Gallery in Palm Springs, California, and she keeps a working studio at Sacramento’s Verge Center for the Arts.
Written by Tiffany Reisz
Illustrated with wood engravings by Keith Cranmer
Synopsis:This is the story of a woman who has the opportunity to embark on a mid-life journey of exploration - a rare chance to experience other worlds and time periods that go beyond what she has only read about in the books that sit on her bedside table. An unexpected dark turn to her planned vacation leads her on a deeply personal exploration of who she was as a young woman and the woman she wants to become in the second half of her life.
Detailed wood engravings illustrate her erotic exploration and ultimately, her empowered awakening and fulfillment. USA Today Bestselling Author, and NPR book of the year, award winning writer of erotica, Tiffany Reisz, spins a tale that invites the reader to fantasize and escape with its heroine across fantasies that push the boundaries of personal discovery. How far will she be willing to go to discover who she could become?
Victoria: A Bedside Table Tale
About the Author and Illustrator
TIFFANY REISZ is the USA Today-bestselling author of the Romance Writers of America RITA®-winning Original Sinners series from Harlequin's Mira Books. After leaving seminary to focus on her fiction, she wrote The Siren, which has sold more than half a million copies worldwide. Tiffany also writes mainstream women's suspense fiction, including The Bourbon Thief (winner of the RT Book Review's Seal of Excellence Award) and the RITA®-nominated The Night Mark. Her erotic fantasy The Red was named an NPR Best Book of the Year and a Goodreads Best Romance of the Month. It also received a coveted starred review from Library Journal. Tiffany also writes under the pen name, Meg Shaffer, and is the author of The Lost Story and The Wishing Game, which was a Book of the Month finalist for Book of the Year, a Reader’s Digest and Washington Post Best Book of the Year.
KEITH CRANMER is a Berkeley based artist who works on paper with drawing, gouache, ink, and painting. He prints from metal & wood engravings, etchings, and intaglio printmaking. His main interest is representational figurative drawing with, at times, a surreal edge. He is a member of the Society of Wood Engravers.
The Limited Edition prototype from Anne Covell shown here features Villani Leonello slate paper from Italy on the cover. The Deluxe Edition copy is a tufted pillow binding with slate and microsuede.
Banned Books Written By Women on the Subject of Love & Desire
From Izumi Shikibu’s Love Poems written in China around 1007 to Salwa Al Neimi’s The Proof of the Honey written in 2008.
This limited edition book and deck of fifty-two cards features women whose writing about romance, love, or sexuality has been banned, censored, or challenged either in their lifetime or posthumously, in their homeland or abroad.
Each card features either an illustration or a quote representative of the book. Original cover art or book illustrations were used if they were adaptable to fine press printing. The cards were designed with artwork that was from, or representational of, the time of publication. For the verso, the cards feature four illustrations adapted from cover designs by Sarah Wyman Whitman, an influential mid-nineteenth century American artist and book designer.
Several of these banned books may be unfamiliar to today’s readers. This presentation of authors spans countries, cultures, and centuries to provide a broad examination of women’s perspectives on romance, love, and sexuality. While the definitions and vocabulary have changed over the years, recurring themes and commonalities emerge from the voices presented here.
The book includes a bibliography for further research, a chronology of the featured women and their books, and contains a tipped in, folded letter from George Sand to her critics.
The Token of Dorian Gray
“I am only going to tell you this once. Listen carefully. Do whatever you want in the rest of the house but you must follow three rules. One: The picture must always hang in the parlor with nothing else on the walls. Two: Do not look at the picture no matter what you hear. Three: Do not ask about the picture. Do not talk about the picture.”
In a secluded mansion set in a wealthy San Francisco enclave, newly married designer Andy Little discovers that his husband may run much more than a venture fund. As Andy moves into his dream home, the euphoria of newlywed life turns into a chilling mystery as he discovers his husband’s peculiar art collection—which leads Andy on a terrifying journey toward the truth.
Written by Theodore Gioia and illustrated by Laurelin Gilmore, this limited edition fine press publication was hand printed on a Victoria Parallel Platen Press on Arches Rives Lightweight Paper. The typefaces are Fournier MT Pro and Mr. Darcy. This signed edition was limited to 25 Deluxe and 75 Limited.
The book was hand sewn and bound at our bindery using tactile materials, which reflect themes in the book, one of which is taxidermy. The book cover paper is Lokta Leopard. The Deluxe Edition features a black leather spine, gold book cloth, and is held together with leather strips and a gold padlock earring (read the story to find the connection). Both the limited and deluxe editions have a black silk bookmark with a heart-shaped padlock.
About the Author
Theodore Gioia is a writer living in San Francisco. Mr. Gioia earned a B.A. in English at Harvard writing his senior thesis under James Wood. He currently works as a Director at Arion Press. As a critic, his essays on the evolution of California culture have appeared in The New Republic, New York Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The American Scholar. “The Token of Dorian Gray” is his first work of published fiction. Theodore is currently writing a novel based on the story’s universe.
About the Illustrator
Laurelin Gilmore is an award-winning painter, writer, and mixed-media artist, best known for her fantasy oil paintings. Ms. Gilmore holds minor degrees in Fine Art and Library Science. She has been featured in many print publications and has shown her art across the United States, including on Showtime’s ‘The L Word: Generation Q’, at the Crocker Museum for the 2022 Black Artists on Art exhibit, and on the cover of the Sacramento Open Studios guide. She is represented by Artize Gallery in Palm Springs, California, and she keeps a working studio at Sacramento’s Verge Center for the Arts. This is the second book she has illustrated for First Bite Press.
Illustrations by Laurelin Gilmore
Babylon Songs
Babylon Songs presents the unsung voices of women, both real and mythical, from our present and past. Written by Colleen Harris with linocut illustrations by Sandie Levent, the collection is divided into three sections: “A Prelude to Madness,” “These Inconvenient Women,” and “Perishable Truths.” Each section of the collection combines Harris’ lyrical poetry form of storytelling with relatable and reflective dialogue that feels like a personal exchange between the poetess and her reader.
This edition is limited to 100 copies. It is hand printed on our Victoria Parallel Platen Press at First Bite Press and hand bound by bookbinder Christine Wolf. The book is printed on Arches Rives Lightweight. The typefaces used in the book are Palatino Linotype and Adobe Garamond Pro.
The Binding
The book cover is Ginga Iridescent Bronze, a Japanese bookcloth with deep purple fibers that shimmer in the bronze cloth. The binding has two purple 100% silk ribbons sewn into the cover of the spine for decoration and into the binding as a bookmark. The signatures of the book are hand sewn using purple silk thread. The three sections of the poetry collection are highlighted with title pages printed on a lightweight, pearlescent purple paper, Stardream Punch Metallic. The endsheets are hand printed on our Vandercook Printing Press in two colors on Hahnemühle Ingres paper using a repeat pattern of a small design made by Sandie Levent for this edition.
About the Author
Colleen S. Harris is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She holds an MFA in poetry, a PhD in Mythological Studies, and her Doctorate of Education (along with five other academic degrees). Harris currently serves as the Dean of the Meriam Library, California State University, Chico. Among her poetry scholarship she co-edited Women Versed in Myth: Essays on Modern Women Poets (McFarland, 2016) and Women on Poetry; Writing, Revising, Publishing, and Teaching (McFarland, 2012).
About the Illustrator
Sandie Levent is the founder of Studio Mauvais Œil, a print and design practice based in Lyon, France. A part-time illustrator for almost twenty years (her main activity is motion design), her competing interests coalesced into a cohesive artistic project when she discovered linoleum carving and printing. The artisanal and unpredictable nature of this process pairs well with Levent's patient drafting, breathing life and immediacy into thoughtfully conceived, often dreamlike images of nature and femininity.
