(Melena Ryzik’s article appeared in The New York Times, 6/11; via Pam Green.)
In the mid-1970s, Samuel Beckett and Jasper Johns collaborated on a book, although “collaborated” is perhaps too strong a word, and “book” may not cut it, either.
The project was conceived and orchestrated by Vera Lindsay, an editor for the art imprint Petersburg Press. Beckett agreed to supply a collection of short texts — though only after his idea of an illustrated version of “Waiting for Godot” was shot down by his would-be partner — and Mr. Johns offered 33 black-and-white etchings.
Beckett translated the texts, a collection he titled “Foirades,” from French into English, calling them “Fizzles.” A limited edition of 250 copies was released in 1976, with Beckett’s and Mr. Johns’s signatures on the heavy handmade pages and with bright original lithographs as end leaves, all presented in a deluxe tasseled box.