Charlie, Forgive Me: a Wooden Artist Book Based on the 1879 Cleveland Murder of Mary Kelly by Charles McGill (2013)

Title: Charlie, Forgive Me: a Wooden Artist Book Based on the 1879 Cleveland Murder of Mary Kelly by Charles McGill (2013)

Description: Charlie, Forgive Me is an artist book with pages made from red oak held together with a leather spine. Text and image have been laser cut, letterpress printed and pulp-painted. The story is inspired by an 1879 murder which occurred in Cleveland, Ohio. In the facts of the case, established through newspaper articles and court records, Charles McGill finally located his estranged lover, Mary Kelly, who had been residing in a house of prostitution. He begged her to marry him and promised to change his abusive ways. He pulled out a gun and threatened to kill himself. When she refused to marry him he shot her 11 times. Author John Stark Bellamy writes, “It is one of the unfair ironies of crime that more biographical facts are often known about murderers than about their victims.” That was the case in this story, in which the murder was sensationalized and the killer given all the attention. I provided an imagined text from the point of view of the victim and also included images and headlines which appeared in the press. Listen to an audio description and full text of the book narrated by Alexa Rittichier and Don Widmer: https://soundcloud.com/dwidmer/charlie. Featured in Four Artist Books video: https://youtu.be/Y9Pep1MDHPw

Color: Multi

Material: Wood

Style: Contemporary

Dimensions: 12 inches wide, 18 inches tall, 2 inches as its depth

Shipping: $0.00

Price: $645.00