Angels Over the Altar: Christian Folk Art in Hawaii and the South Seas

University of Hawaii Press, Published 1961. Hardcover, viii 101 pp.; 28 cm; First Edition; illustrated with color and black-and-white plates. In Good condition, no dust jacket (issued without one; the design is printed on the boards). Quarter-bound in white cloth with gold spine lettering over tan paper boards, a gold-printed angel woodcut on the front board. Light bumping and scuffing to edges and corners, light soiling and aging to the boards; binding tight. Handmade blue and sand endpapers (Nelson-Whitehead Roma) with light foxing and spotting. Period ink presentation inscription to the half-title, "For Sylvia, with admiration, love, and respect for you and your comprehensive sense of design. Always," over initials. Text leaves lightly aged. Otherwise unmarked. A finely produced study of the Painted Churches of Hawaii, the folk-art interiors created by the Belgian priest Father John Berchmans Velghe and Father Evarist Gielen at St. Benedict's in Honaunau and the Star of the Sea at Kalapana, set alongside related Christian folk art of the Marquesas and the South Seas. Alfred Frankenstein, longtime art and music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, traces the churches' imagery and its European sources, with photographs by Norman Carlson and an introduction by Robert P. Griffing, Jr., Director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. A Plantin Press production designed by Kenneth Kingrey, printed letterpress in Monotype Bembo at Saul Marks's Plantin Press in Los Angeles, with handmade Nelson-Whitehead endpapers and binding by the Earle Gray Bookbinding Company. The book is dedicated in print to Sylvia Frankenstein (the author's wife) and Ina Carlson; this copy carries a contemporary presentation inscription to "Sylvia." Contents: Text; Notes; Plates; List of Plates; Acknowledgments. Title: Angels Over the Altar: Christian Folk Art in Hawaii and the South Seas Author Name: Alfred V. Frankenstein; Norman K. Carlson Location Published: Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press: 1961 Binding: Hardcover Book Condition: Good Size: 28 cm Type: Hardcover Categories: Folk & Outsider Art, Art & Architecture Seller ID: 20260617013 Keywords: alfred frankenstein, christian folk art, hawaii folk art, painted church honaunau, plantin press