Karen Hanmer

Artists' Books & Installation

Gallery: Archive

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Title: Carmilla

Carmilla

Carmilla

Carmilla | bound by artist in 2011 | private collection, Dallas, TX

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Pentaradial Press, 2010

Full goatskin binding inspired by Paul Delrue’s "Tudor style" technique. Carbon tooling and titling. Edge-to-edge goatskin doublures, suede flyleaves, gilt edges, hand sewn silk headbands.

8.5 x 5.75 x .75”

This 1872 tale follows a young woman as she struggles to comprehend the amorous attentions of a beautiful teenage girl, who is in fact a vampire.

The design references multiple dichotomies in the text: innocence and awakening, passion and violence, life and death.

Carmilla predates Dracula by 25 years.