Limited hand-bound edition, signed and numbered by the artist
edition of 100 copies, 10 AP and 2 HC

The idea of a book without words had resonance for Chuck Close. As a child, his severe dyslexia stood in the way of reading, making images all the more important. He remembers a visual encyclopedia from his early years and the feeling of being overtaken by the intensity of its pictures. The idea also resonated with his ongoing interest in revealing the process of his work, which he accomplishes largely through visual presentation, using very few words, if any.

Scribble Book is a self-portrait that emerges step-by-step out of the printing process, one plate and one color at a time. The viewer follows a series of nine individual plate proofs (volume 1) along with a corresponding series of nine progressive proofs (volume 2). By comparing the plate proofs against the progressives, the viewer may ascertain not only the effect as one color is added to another to create the final nine-color portrait, but also the compositional decisions and careful modifications made by the artist at each stage of the project.

Scribble Book is presented as two accordion-fold books. The first shows the series of plate proofs, and the second the series of progressive proofs, culminating with a 9-color self-portrait. For those seeking a more detailed understanding of the process, these books are accompanied by a separate text in which the artist gives a personal account of his drawing process as recorded through printmaking.

The limited edition of Scribble Book follows a unique hand-construction method developed by Chuck Close: an accordion is made by mounting individually trimmed pages on a continuous strip of linen. In this way, only the linen on which the sheets are mounted is folded, not the paper itself. After spending time in the artist's studio, it became clear that the binding was a critical part of the history of his process works, and we set aside 100 sets of printed sheets to be bound in this method. The labor-intensive binding was carried out by Stuart Einhorn at Portfolio Box in Rhode Island. The books are housed in a linen-wrapped, handmade clamshell box that is signed and numbered by Chuck Close.

Three volumes in a linen-wrapped clamshell box: two hand-bound, linen-wrapped hardcovers, each with a 9-page accordion mounted on a continuous strip of linen; one stitched softcover booklet

Page format 292 x 343mm (11.5 x 13.5 in.)
Dimensions of each unfolded accordion: 281 x 343mm (110.5 x 13.5 in.)
Booklet: 8 pages; text in English
Box dimensions: 325 x 390 x 51mm (12 7/8 x 15 3/8 x 2 in.)
Paper: Hahnemühle Natural Line Velin 170g, an acid-free, naturally sized, alkaline buffered paper that meets the highest permanency standards under ANSI Z 39.48-1992, DIN ISO 9706, and DIN 6738
Boards are acid-free, high-density bookbinder’s boards
Scans: Steidl, Göttingen
Printing: 9-color offset-lithographic printing by Gerhard Steidl
Binding: Stuart Einhorn/Portfoliobox, Pawtucket, Rhode Island