Twelve Block Prints of Lake Chelan
(Prosser): Privately Printed, 1930. Frances Blakemore. First Edition. Stiff Paper Wraps. 4to. Heavy printed wraps, treated with a mottled texture, and illustrated with a block print. First page offers the unattributed Native American origin of the name "Chelan." An anecdote from John Wapato involves a founding story about the tributaries of the Columbia River, and the seeding of salmon and trout, followed by the twelve block prints. Printed by H. P. Hamaker, Prosser, Wash. Stapled binding with the cover affixed. Ghost of a decal the size of a dime on the front cover (please see photo), else Fine. Near Fine. Item #5596
In the 1990s this copy was bought from the historical museum in Chelan, WA, where a handful of copies had recently been unearthed, in situ, wrapped in the printer's original packaging (printer Hamaker, Prosser Wash.). Wismer would become Frances Blakemore, with a CV that included producing White Propaganda for the WWII Office of War Information, which dropped her leaflets over Japan. From the mid-60s to the mid-80s she operated the Franell Gallery in Tokyo's Hotel Okura. WorldCat locates only four copies, all in Washington State libraries. SMITH, 8059.
Price: $175.00