Saturday, February 19, 2011

Plants of Sun and Sand (1939)


Plants of Sun and Sand
The Desert Growth of Arizona
Stanford Stevens
Illustrated by Gerry Peirce
The Print Room
Governor’s Corner
Tucson, AZ
©1939

My wife found this unique 48-page chapbook in the discard section of the Philadelphia Library a few years ago. It’s unique primarily due to the fact that the cover is made of wood. Plywood. There are B&W illustrations throughout but the plywood is what I keep coming back to. I had read that some Futurist books were made with tin covers, I have never seen one of those but this was 1939 – Arizona. Not what I would call the “cutting edge” in any way, but there it is (was), a beautifully made chapbook. The topic of the book is cacti, native plants of the desert Southwest. It’s an interesting and unique book, a real find.

3 comments:

Jayne said...

Lovely! Makes me think of my childhood. Everything was plywood back then.

Anonymous said...

wow,,, i live in arizona and have one of these books in my collection,,, i go to it every few years and feel giggly each and every time i hold and peruse the illustrations and written word,,, tom

ibnelson said...

Found about a year ago, at an estate sale in Alta Sierra, an original watercolor by the Sand and Sun illustrator, Gerry Pierce