Working through files at work this week the following line leapt out at me – “A collection of ink rubbings of stone inscriptions, pasted together in an accordion-style folding format.” It triggered thoughts relating to the history of concertina books, from early orihon folded configurations through to artists’ books utilising this unfolding leporello design.
As noted in the beautifully crafted ‘A Concertina of Concertinas’ by Coracle press, a ten-panel object detailing most of the fold-out publications produced by them, in the opening lines on the front page – “The concertina-form is always with us quietly, openly presenting its facets to the world. Packed away in a box or awkwardly stacked, or standing almost closed on the bookshelf, it may genuinely be the closest to sculpture the printed artefact ever comes.”
Further publications that have arrived with me this year using this layout include- Cloud Cover, a miniature permutational poem by Greg Thomas (Essence Press), various pieces from Moschatel press, and “Brevfoldslette” by derek beaulieu (Non Plus Ultra), all to be folded and unfolded over time.
For an extensive overview of accordion publications visit Simon Perkins’ http://accordionpublications.blogspot.com/
Nuts and Bolts 
Another wonderful demonstration of the important work of the small press
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Thank you Angela.
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