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Feast of the Animals: An Alaska Bestiary, Volume II (1991)

Book
Written by Sheila Nickerson;
Wood Engravings by Dale DeArmond
Published by Old Harbor Press

Regular edition of 2500 (softcover)
Edition of P/P: 10

Limited edition of 50 (threaded, hardcover)

Editor's note: an early title for this book was A Northern Bestiary. It initially took Dale two years to complete the fifty-seven engravings for both bestiary volumes, some of which were done over as many as four times. Twenty-nine appear in the first volume and the remaining twenty-eight appear in this follow-up, released four years later. The hardcover version is individually signed and numbered, the softcover version is not (though Dale autographed many at book signings).

Old Harbor Press, a wood engraving shown in the inner title page but not featured in the book.

From the included colophon:
This book was hand set in 14-point Bembo type printed on an Original Heidelberg platen press and Mohawk Letterpress Text paper. Two thousand five hundred copies are bound in Fox River Circa '83 paper. A hard cover, limited edition signed by the author and the artist, is bound in Canson Mi Tientes paper, with Ingres Antique end sheets. Each includes a print hand pulled by the artist from the original wood engraving. They are hand sewn in the Japanese style and materials used are archival quality.

The title of this book comes from the Eskimo observance of a feast day to honor the animals and birds who have let themselves be killed so that people can have food and clothing and the many artifacts they make from the hides and bones and beaks. At one point in the ceremonies the hunters return to the sea the bladders of the animals they have killed so that the inuas (souls) can return to them and there will be more animals the following year.

The illustrations shown below appear in this book; click on any image for more information. For volume I, click here.

Original price:
paperback: $12.95; limited edition: $55.00
ISBN: 9780961552985
ISBN: 0-9615529-8-0