Full Moon Eyes. An Ode to the Wisdom and Forbearance of Owls.

VAN SANDWYK, Charles 

Full Moon Eyes. An Ode to the Wisdom and Forbearance of Owls. 

North Vancouver: Charles van Sandwyk Fine Arts, 2012

8vo., dark red card wraps with card wrapper in brown, lettered and decorated in gilt with an onlaid image of a wise-looking owl; decorated owl endpapers; unpaginated [pp. xvi], calligraphically printed directly onto a variety of coloured card in yellows, greens and browns; one folding page; with decorative borders and vignettes as well as a further 9 tipped-in illustrations in full colour; fine. 

First edition, this copy curiously unbound, without the binding string. 

A wonderful compendium of owl portraits, which sees them looking stern, furtive and audacious in turn, sitting, often, in the crescent of the moon (“To learn the secrets of its race, an owl must find its thinking place”), as well as in flight, carrying scrolls, holding magnifying glasses and lanterns, and sometimes winking suggestively, as well as in familial settings. One plate shows a very well dressed mouse, with one foot atop a pile of books. The accompanying poem praises the wisdom and beauty of owls: 

“When faced with ever-changing skies,

It’s good to have such

full

moon

Eyes.”