Many black & white illus. [15] leaves, printed on rectos only (except for one leaf). Small folio (295 x 210 mm.), pictorial wrappers, fastened with black plastic clasps. [From verso of the first leaf]: Amsterdam: Agora Studio, Sept. 1980.

A rare exhibition catalogue, printed in an edition of 200. Carrión (1941-89), the Mexican book artist, publisher, and bookseller, devised a retrospective of his works and communications with his collaborators, for which he investigated the use of names and addresses. Drawing on his archive of names and addresses, the artist accomplished this by “concealing the signature on each one of the... More

Folded poster (ca. 450 x 290 mm.) printed in the artist’s signature ultramarine, International Klein Blue (IKB). Los Angeles: Dwan Gallery, 1961.

The extremely rare poster conceived by Yves Klein (1928-62) for his May 1961 exhibition at Dwan Gallery in Los Angeles; unrecorded on WorldCat. This groundbreaking show came after the far more muted one at Castelli (11-29 April 1961). These were the first two presentations of Klein’s work in North America. Exhibition materials from Klein’s lifetime are very scarce and the Dwan exhibition was crucial in the artist’s introduction to the American audience. Five Klein pieces are among the... More

Single printed sheet & large crumpled and folded sheet (ca. 440 x 600), printed on both sides. San Francisco: [1999].

A very rare Steven Leiber (1957-2012) catalogue, one of approximately 100 copies produced. Numbered by Leiber as no. 30, Steven Leiber Catalogs has it as his 36th (March 1999). Imitating Duchamp’s celebrated poster and a work by Martin Creed, this catalogue is also very rare. Our copy is complete with the tongue-in-cheek certificate of authenticity for “A Sheet of 24 x 18 inch paper printed on both sides crumpled into a ball.”

The catalogue itself offers artists’ books by Roberta... More

128 pp. Four black & white illus. 128 pp. 8vo, red printed softcover. Stuttgart: Edition Patricia Schwarz, 1989.

Scarce first edition.

“Gelenke I [Joints I] contains 121 aphorisms, questions and risqué jokes by Martin Kippenberger entitled ‘improved paper tigers not afraid of repetition,’ scattered in small portions throughout the entire book. In the gaps between the ‘paper tigers’ there is a topsy-turvy of texts, some of them previously published. They include letters from and to Kippenberger, poems co-authored with Albert Oehlen, and texts and quotes by friends such as the artists and writers Werner Büttner, Diedrich Diedrichsen, Hubert Kiecol, Michael... More

73; 67; 57; 70; 69; 56; 52; 74; 73 folding leaves. Ten juan in nine vols. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: from final leaf of final volume (in trans.): “ninth month September 1619.”

First movable type edition printed in Japan, and a very rare book; there is apparently no copy in WorldCat. There is an example in the National Diet Library.

The book is of unknown authorship, but both its contents and the extant editions suggest that it was written in the Yuan period (1271-1368). It lists the family names of prominent Chinese lineages arranged by pronunciation. The... More

Unpaginated. 8vo, pictorial wrappers. London: 2001.

Rare bookseller catalogue issued by Peter Gidal; a fascinating mix of modern firsts, artists’ books, exhibition catalogues, and artworks.. With 801 items listed, including books and artwork by Beckett, Beuys, Cage, Duchamp, Kafka, Klein, Polke, Rauschenberg, Roth, Ruscha, Schneemann, Twombly, Warhol (lots!), etc., etc.

A fine copy. More

Full-bleed color illus. throughout. Unpaginated. 8vo, glossy pictorial semi-stiff wrappers, perfect-bound, title on spine. London: Sadie Coles HQ; Köln: Walther König, 2003.

Scarce Richard Prince artist’s book published in conjunction with his exhibition of the same name at Sadie Coles HQ (23 April-31 May 2003); published in an edition of 1400 copies. It opens with Prince’s essay on his book collection, “Collecting: Bring It All Back Home.” The remainder of the book consists of photographs that juxtapose the covers and dust-jackets of American and English editions of books in Prince’s collection.

In fine condition. Designed by Herman Lelie.

❧ Max... More

Many illus. 85 pp. 12mo, printed semi-stiff wrappers, title on spine. Amsterdam: Tuja Books, 1999.

An amusing collection of reminiscences by collector and gallerist Harry Ruhé. With anecdotes about artists such as Brecht, Brouwn, Carla, Corner, Friedman, Hansen, Maciunas, Moorman, de Ridder, Roth, etc. A separate, signed edition of 100 copies was made the same year.

Near fine; some marks to the lower wrapper. More

Color illus. throughout. 271 pp. Thick 4to, semi-stiff covers, pictorial dust-jacket. Stuttgart: Edition Hansjörg Mayer, 1994.

An essential reference work on German artists’ books. Fine.

❧ A. Desjardin, The Book on Books on Artists Books (2nd ed.: 2013) 161. More

Single folded sheet with inkjet color illus., and printed text on both sides (277 x 102 mm. folded), laid in original plastic cassette case (a little worn), and original audio cassette. [From the folded sheet]: San Francisco: April 1998.

A very rare Leiber catalogue (no. 32), and one of his most ingenious vehicles for offering materials. The catalogue consists of an audio cassette, its case, and a list laid-in the case. “Artists, curators, art librarians, and others associated with the art world were faxed catalog entries with instructions to call and read the entry aloud over Steven Leiber’s answering machine... More

Black & white illus, mimeographed text. [50] pp. Large 4to, brown paper printed wrappers (head of spine a little worn). Amsterdam: Kontexts Publications, 1978.

One of 300 copies from the regular edition of this publication by the visual poet and publisher Michael Gibbs (1949-2009). There was a separate lettered edition of 26 copies, all signed and with an added “original page.”

“Gibbs presented a summary of ways of working with text in his book Selected Pages (1978). He starts by listing sixteen approaches to dealing with texts, which vary from ‘kindly’ to ‘with contempt.’ After that printed texts are juxtaposed... More

Many black & white illus. 30 long vertical sheets (ca. 430 x 282 mm.), printed on rectos only, stapled at head. [From final sheet]: San Francisco: August 2003.

A scarce Leiber catalogue (no. 42), offering 289 items of mail art, visual poetry, artists’ books and publications, exhibition catalogues, and rare ephemera; produced in an edition of ca. 100 copies. This profusely illustrated catalogue imitates Allan Kaprow’s DAYS OFF: A Calendar of Happenings, a commission by the Junior Council of the Museum of Modern Art, created in 1970.

Each page focuses on a particular theme or presents works by an individual... More