Catalogue 30 – Winter 2005

Items 77-79. Denise Mullen’s Photographs

Denise Mullen, presently Director, School of Art & Design, SUNY Purchase, New York, has had a distinguished career in teaching for over two decades. She has participated in many exhibitions, including the Biennale Internazional del’Arte in Florence, Italy; the International Competition of Book Arts in Ancona, Italy; and the Biblioteque Historique de la Ville de Paris, in France. Her work is in several fine public and private collections, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rutgers University Library, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Collection at Florida Atlantic University.

We have pleasure in listing some of her unique photographic work inspired by nature’s wonders in the western United States. In addition, refer to Mullen’s work in our Catalogue Twenty-Seven, Summer 2003, items 34-41. The photographic method used in the following three books is that of kallitype. Used widely in the nineteenth century, the kallitype process is a historical photographic method in which a surface, usually paper, is made light sensitive by coating it by hand with a liquid silver nitrate solution. Once dry, the hand-sensitized paper is “slow” by photographic terms and requires a long exposure in direct contact with a photographic negative. This process is used in the books Mount Saint Helens, Alta Peak and Lassen Peak to give an antique sepia-toned quality to the images and to recall the photo albums produced in United States in the nineteenth century which extolled the drama of the landscape in the American West.

77. (Denise Mullen) Mount Saint Helens. Photographic book by Denise Mullen. 1991. Book - 21” x 15.25“; dropback box - 22” x 16.25”. Linen covered accordion fold book of 5 kallitype photographs comprising a panorama from the crater rim. List of prints, inset into the box, and title page are printed letterpress in Bulmer Roman type. Dropback box. Fine. $1500.00

Title page states: 180 degree panorama from the south crater rim at 83651’ reached by a 5.5 mile trail at an incline of 35 degrees.

Note: “At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments. In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.”

78. (Denise Mullen) Lassen Peak. Photographic book by Denise Mullen. 1991. Book - 15.25” x 20.25”; dropback box - 16.25” x 21.5”. Linen covered accordion fold book of 9 kallitype photographs comprising a panorama from the peak. List of prints inset into the box. Title page are printed letterpress in Bulmer Roman type. Linen and paper covered box Fine. $1700.00

Title page states: 180 degree panorama from the 10,4571 Cascade Range’s southernmost volcanic peak, erupting 1914-21, reached by a 2.7 mile trail.
Note: “In May 1914 Lassen Peak burst into eruption, beginning a seven-year cycle of sporadic volcanic outbursts. The climax of the episode took place in 1915, when the peak blew an enormous mushroom cloud some seven miles into the stratosphere. The reawakening of this volcano, which began as a vent on a larger extinct volcano known as Tehama, profoundly altered the surrounding landscape.” -- From: U.S. National Park Service Website, Geology Fieldnotes - Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, April 2000.

79. (Denise Mullen) Alta Peak. Photographic book by Denise Mullen. 1991. Book - 20.5” x 15.25”; dropback box - 21.5” x 16 .5”. Linen covered accordion fold book of 11 kallitype photographs comprising a 360 degree panorama from the peak. List of prints, inset into the box, and title page are printed letterpress in Bulmer Roman type. Linen covered box. Fine. $1900.00

Title page states: 360 degree panorama from the Sierra Nevada’s 11,204’ peak, reached by a 7 mile trail climbing 40,001’.

Note: Compared to the innumerable rugged peaks of the Sierra Nevada Range, Alta Peak is neither alta ("tall" in Spanish) nor particularly prominent from any vantage point, nor is it a challenging climb. This summit is simply a high point along the southern ridge of Tokopah Valley, the headwaters of the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. However, Alta's stellar summit views, its proximity to the road, and its ample opportunities for backcountry ski descents redeem the peak as an all-season playground. Alta Peak is also one of the few "westside" peaks that is as easily accessible and offers similarly stunning views as the eastside peaks.

Joshua Heller Rare Books, Inc. PO Box 39114, Washington DC 20016-9114 USA.
Joshua & Phyllis Heller
hellerbkdc@aol.com, Tel. (202) 966-9411, Fax (202) 363-5658.

Member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, and the Washington Antiquarian Booksellers Association.

Joshua Heller Rare Books | Catalogue 30 | Winter 2005 - www.joshuahellerrarebooks.com/catalogues/30