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2012 · 005079 — New York: Thames & Hudson Inc. 2012. First Edition First Printing. . Very Fine/Near Fine. In the early 1930s the legendary American surrealist Joseph Cornell engaged in one of his favorite pastimes of wandering through the bookstalls of lower Manhattan searching for old books photos and other ephemera to use in his artmaking found and bought the "Journal d' Agriculture Practique" Vol. 21 1911 a voluminous handbook of advice for French farmers. Over time Cornell altered and reinvented many of the Journal's pages transforming it into a mult-faceted work of art by inserting collages photomontages and drawings crossing out words in the text and making French puns with others. Hand-colored engravings cutouts and lift-ups pull the reader from one page to the next. The Journal was discovered in his studio after his death in 1972 and is now in the Philadelphia Musuem of Art. Its fragility has made it one of the least known of Cornell's major works. This boxed two-volume set represents a unique effort -- sixty of the most extraordinary pages from the Journal have been re-created in virtual facsimile with handmade details. They are included in a hardbound volume in company with a DVD of the entire Journal including pop-up commentaries as well as a softcover volume of illustrated essays on the Journal and Cornell's art -- all held in a specially designed box reminiscent of Cornell's boxed assemblages. The boxed set contains: Hardcover facsimile; 60 pages 68 color illustrations. Softcover book of essays 96 pages 35 illustrations; DVD of the entire work. Review copy with publisher's news release laid-in. The paper-covered foamboard box 8 x 11 x 2 inches with blue cardboard dividers shows only a single almost invisible one-inch closed tear/crack along the fold between the box's front lid and spine o/w no tears chipping or creasing to the box or any of its contents which are clean and unmarked tight and square. A very unique collectable Cornell item. Sorry we cannot accept orders on this set from outside the U.S. <br/> <br/> Thames & Hudson, Inc. hardcover