DEREK JARMAN’S SKETCHBOOKS

Edited by Stephen Farthing and Ed Webb-Ingall; with a preface by Tilda Swinton. There are few more complete examples of an artist’s record of their own life than the intimately detailed and beautifully produced handmade books that writer, filmmaker and artist Derek Jarman created throughout his career. Wholly private during his lifetime (Jarman died from complications from AIDS in 1994), these precious books are an intimate pictorial record of the relationship between Jarman’s personal and professional life. They reveal how he gathered, shaped and made concrete his ideas. These sketchbooks contain poetry, drawings, pressed flowers, photographs, scripts and notes. They are part autobiography and part social history; but are also redolent with the energy and creativity, not only of Derek Jarman, but also of London (and gay London) in the 1970s and ’80s. In addition to the $55 standard hardcover edition, a very handsome $300 deluxe limited edition is available and includes three prints suitable for framing.

The Bookshop specialises in gay and lesbian books. Phone (02) 9331 1103, email info@thebookshop.com.au, go to thebookshop.com.au or visit 207 Oxford Street, Sydney.