Signed by “Gypsy Lou Webb”: Two Large Prints (30” x 22”) Made with Original LouJon Plates, Perdido Press 1994

Works from Ed Blaire’s Perdido Press seem hard to come by. He does limited runs and I think his many friends and fans of the press snap them up quickly and tend to hold onto them.

To celebrate the anniversary of LouJon Press, in 1994 Ed Blair commissioned the production of two fine-art prints designed from original printing blocks from The Outsider Magazine.

Outsider magazine became the standard for poetry journals between 1961-1963.  No other publication attracted nearly the talent that appeared in its pages and the production value of the magazine itself was unrivaled.

Only 100 sets of these prints were produced, each signed by “Gypsy Lou Webb” with hand-signed comments around many of the impressions. They were also signed by master printer Frances Swigart, who designed and printed the sheets. This set is prints # and #.

““The old plates from the newsletter were brought to me in a box,” Swigart recalled later. “I was asked if I could do anything with them to print a piece that could be framed. Of course, I said yes.  I put the blocks together inking them in different colors and printed a pair of large pieces adding multi-color patches of chine collé. I wanted Gypsy Lou to write notes on it as if she were editing for her publication.”

The paper used is 100% cotton, French made, acid free, Arches cover, cream (250 GSM). The prints were hand-rolled, done with black and terra cotta colored inks and chine colle with five carious colored Japanese papers. The prints are named “Skscraper” and “Ursulines”.

Both prints are in fine condition.

Please note: The photographs of Frances Swigart and Gypsy Lou are not included here. They are courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection, presented to them as a gift by Edwin J. Blair.

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