2012 Rare Signed 1stED - Full Moon Eyes; Ode to Owls by Charles van Sandwyk
A beautifully produced signed first edition celebrating the mystery, intelligence, and quiet grandeur of owls, richly illustrated and designed throughout by Charles van Sandwyk.
Author: Charles van Sandwyk.
Title: Full Moon Eyes: An Ode to the Wisdom and Forbearance of Owls.
Publisher: North Vancouver: Charles van Sandwyk Fine Arts, 2012.
Edition: First Edition. Signed by Charles van Sandwyk on the title page. Printed offset in an edition of 2,000 copies.
Language: English.
Size: Approximately 9 x 6.5 inches.
Pages: Unpaginated.
Binding: Fine original brown wrap-around paper covers, hand-stitched, with elaborate gilt decoration to the upper cover incorporating owl motifs, stars, lettering, and a mounted colour illustration. Decorated turn-ins and endpapers. An exceptionally fresh example. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Fine content throughout, bright, clean, and beautifully preserved. Signed by Charles van Sandwyk on the title page.
Illustrations: Lavishly illustrated throughout by Charles van Sandwyk with mounted colour plates, full-page illustrations, illuminated calligraphy, gilt details, decorative vignettes, owl studies, and an impressive folding triptych.
Estimate: US$450–500
The book: Full Moon Eyes is one of Charles van Sandwyk’s most atmospheric artist books, devoted to the owl as a symbol of wisdom, vigilance, mystery, and contemplation. Poetry, calligraphy, image, and ornament are integrated into a highly personal sequence in which the book itself becomes part of the artwork.
The production is particularly rich. Mounted colour images alternate with delicate pen drawings, gilt embellishments, hand-lettered verse, decorative papers, and a remarkable fold-out composition presenting owls as allegorical figures of search, knowledge, light, and hope. The result has the intimacy of a private press book while retaining the dreamlike narrative quality for which van Sandwyk is best known.
The artist: Charles van Sandwyk is a Canadian artist, illustrator, writer, and book designer whose work draws deeply on the traditions of the Arts and Crafts movement and the golden age of illustration. His world is populated by owls, mice, fairies, frogs, woodland creatures, and eccentric scholars, all rendered with extraordinary delicacy and humour. His books have developed a devoted international following among collectors, and his work has also appeared in notable Folio Society editions including The Wind in the Willows and The Blue Fairy Book.