Faythe Levine
As Ever, Miriam
7.5 x 5 inches | 129 pp | b&w illustrations
Perfect bound, softcover with gold foil stamp and a double gatefold pull-out timeline
First edition, 2024; ed. 300. OK Stamp Press.
Second edition, 2025 (TBD).
Researched, transcribed, collected, and introduced by Faythe Levine, this book centers on the relationship and lives of Charlotte Russell Partridge (1882-1975) and Miriam Frink (1892-1978). Based on extensive archival and secondary research involving books, magazines, newspapers, and interviews, Levine brings readers into the work of connecting archival traces to tell stories about past lives. The book presents a collection of epistolary sign-offs from Frink’s letters to Partridge across the decades of their working and personal relationships. Levine takes time to provide extensive footnotes that bring context to these brief but rich archival excerpts. She includes reflections on quotidian details, vernacular translations, historical references, photographs, and information about the pair’s contributions to the arts and art education in Milwaukee, WI, and beyond in the early to mid-20th century.
PRESS
-
A Conversation with Faythe Levine on Archives, Letters, Love, and Her New Book; author interview by Laura Mclaws Helms, Feb 3, 2025
-
As Ever, Miriam, an interview with author Faythe Levine; by Maddy Court, Nov 27, 2024
-
‘As Ever, Miriam’ explores shared life of Milwaukee collaborators Charlotte Partridge, Miriam Frink; author interview by Annie Raab, Oct 8, 2024
FUTURE EVENTS
-
November 2025: A related exhibition focusing on Partridge and Frink's domestic space and civic work curated by Levine will open at the Lynden Sculpture Garden.
-
July 12, 2025: Author talk, book signing and zine making. Alice Austen House Museum, Staten Island, NY.
PAST EVENTS
-
January 18, 2024: Small Print mini book fair at Working Loose. Blue Hill, ME.
-
November 13, 2024: Author talk and book signing. Hudson Area Library, Hudson, NY.
-
October 12, 2024: Book release party at Cactus Club. Milwaukee, WI.
-
October 3, 2024, Concordia Art Publishers Conversation with publisher maya rae Oppenheimer, co-director of Ok Stamp Press.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR FOR MEDIA, PRESS & EVENT INQUIRIES: faythelevine@gmail.com
EXTRACT
“Partridge and Frink haven’t been entirely forgotten nor erased like so many others, but there is still a lack of visibility and understanding about their personal dynamics and professional impact... While doing my research, I found nearly every component in their papers compelling: more often than not, a single document prompted an entirely new string of questions… Since I initially thought I would write a version of their biographies or possibly a historical narrative, I was looking through as much content as possible. Over time, I realized that, for my mental health and to pull something shareable out of my research, it was necessary to create a smaller framework for myself. I flipped my vision from the macro to the micro.” - Faythe Levine “Introduction: A Habit of Curiosity,” As Ever, Miriam
SALES
Limited first-edition copies are available by request via the author. Once the second edition has been printed, additional information will be updated. You may also find copies at Working Loose, Lion's Tooth, and via the Ok Stamp Press distribution page
Levine’s text suits a methodical reader as well as a casual browser. Notable, however, is her introduction that positions her personal and kindred relationship to the lives she encounters through her letter-based research. Levine is currently based in upstate New York but has spent twenty years of her adult life living and working in Wisconsin. She has a career engaging with archives and collections through a queer, feminist lens that spans decades. As Ever, Miriam would interest readers connected to art education, queer archival methods, twentieth-century history, and anything related to correspondence and biography.
1– 4. (top) As Ever, Miriam held in hand promotional image, 2024. (middle) Archival image courtesy of the Charlotte Russell Partridge and Miriam Frink Papers, 1862-1980, Housed at the University of Wisconsin Libraries' Archives Department. (bottom) As Ever, Miriam book interior promotional images, 2024.