The Archive of Bernard Taylor.

Selected and edited by Peter Ward.

Understory Books, USA, 2021. English, 144 pp., 80 duotone illustrations, 8x10".

Includes Hillside: Further Selections from The Archive of Bernard Taylor, a chapbook which contains three poems and fifteen black-and-white photographs not included in the previous collection.

The creator of The Archive of Bernard Taylor was interivewed by Kim Beil for BOMB magazine. Read that interview Here.

The archive as a whole, on the other hand, is the product of a truly ecumenical mind – one that was happy to bring literature into dialogue with the study of optics, and aqueducts with the design of the universe. The Archive of Bernard Taylor is more than a record of place – it’s also a reflection on isolation and imagination. – Eugenie Shinkle, in C4 Journal

In his preface, filmmaker Peter Ward describes acquiring the archive of Bernard Taylor, an enigmatic former resident of his suburban New York village. Ward selected and edited this group of Taylor’s papers: intimate worksheets that combine a series of photographs, maps, and postcards with illusive short texts that were clearly created for Taylor’s private study. Ward’s editorial interjections – all relating to local history – punctuate the book, and blur distinctions between fiction, biography, and reportage.

An afterword by The Publisher contextualizes Taylor’s worksheets, critically re-examines Ward's editorial practices, and describes the agonizing process of preparing this edition.

The Archive is equal parts photographic narrative, fiction, puzzle and mystery – an obstructed view of an inward journey that explores the outside world. The questions and answers remain with the reader to piece together.

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