Illus. throughout (several in color). Oblong thick 8vo, semi-stiff pictorial wrappers, metal fastener. Unpaginated. Amsterdam: 1986.

Boekie Woekie’s first catalogue, issued several months after the bookshop’s founding in January 1986. A collaborative effort and filled with snapshot images of many of the books, this is an important catalogue heralding the opening of the artist-run shop and its considerable efforts to distribute artists’ books worldwide. The original founders were Henriette van Egten, Rúna Thorkelsdóttir, Jan Voss, Pétur Magnússon, Kees Visser, and Saskia de Vriendt.

The catalogue lists 130 items, some with prices. It includes work by Voss, Thorkelsdóttir, van Egten, Visser... More

310 black & white illus., on rectos only. [24] leaves. 8vo (210 x 141 mm.), orig. semi-stiff printed wrappers, perfect-bound. Paris: CNAC, 1974.

First edition, an excellent copy of Boltanski’s fifth inventory, documenting all the earthly possessions of a randomly selected person, this time a resident from Bois-Colombes, a suburb of Paris. This book was published for an exhibition (15 October to 2 December 1974) at the Centre national d’art contemporain. Earlier versions of this piece took place in Baden-Baden, Jerusalem, Oxford, and Copenhagen.

Boltanski explains the intention of this work in the Avant-Propos (in trans.): “The inventory of objects... More

Three black & white illus. 9 unnumbered pages. 8vo (210 x 135 mm.), orig. gray printed wrappers (a little sunned), staple-bound. Paris: P. Rosenberg, 1936.

A scarce Braque exhibition catalogue of paintings made since 1931, featuring mostly still lifes along with two nudes. It lists 20 paintings, three of which are illustrated. Rosenberg had lured Braque away from Daniel Henry Kahnweiler and his brother Léonce in 1922. Braque’s first solo exhibition at Paul Rosenberg’s famed gallery on 21, rue la Boëtie took place in 1924. The final page of this catalogue announces future exhibitions for Seurat, Picasso, Monet, Matisse and... More

14 black & white illus. [10] pp. 4to (270 x 215 mm.), printed wrappers. Eindhoven: prins bernhard fonds, 1980.

Very scarce Stanley Brouwn (1935-2017) catalogue, published to mark the artist receiving the David Röell-Prijs from the Prins Bernhard Fonds in 1980; unknown edition size. It contains reproductions of this way brouwn (1964) and 1 m, 1 step (1980). Text in Dutch.

In near fine condition; some minor scuffing to the spine. WorldCat records just three copies in North America.

❧ Stanley Brouwn: a chronology (2nd ed.: 2005). More

Unpaginated. Square 4to (158 x 162 mm.), printed softcover, title on spine. Frankfurt: Portikus; Rotterdam: Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, 1993.

Rare Stanley Brouwn (1935-2017) artist’s book co-published by Portikus and the Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art; unknown edition size. We locate only a handful of copies in American institutions.

In this publication, Brouwn multiplies meters, ells, steps, and feet on each page, and converts them to centimeters. It was produced on the occasion of the 1993 Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Very good copy; large diagonal crease to the lower cover and a smaller one to the upper... More

A trio of rare Stanley Brouwn (1935-2017) artist’s books published simultaneously, with identical paginations and produced in editions of 700. This joint work was made on the occasion of the artist receiving the 2000 Oeuvreprijs van het Fonds voor Beeldende Kunsten, Vormgeving en Bouwkunst.

All three volumes are in fine condition, but for some minor scuffing to the covers. The Clark Art Institute is the only American library with a complete set of all three.

❧ Harry Ruhé, Stanley Brouwn: a chronology (2nd ed.: 2005). More

Unpaginated, printed on rectos only. Thick 4to (156 x 156 mm.), printed softcover, artist’s name on spine. Eindhoven: Van Abbemuseum; Barcelona: MACBA, 2005.

Uncommon artist’s book by Stanley Brouwn (1935-2017), jointly published by the Van Abbemuseum and MACBA in an edition of 1400 copies. The exhibition for which this book was printed took place at the Van Abbemuseum (23 January-17 April 2005); MACBA (22 June-25 September 2005); and Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (14 December-5 March 2006).

The distances in the book are cyclically recorded from Africa, North America, Europe, South America, Oceania, Antarctica, Asia beginning on 24 January... More

[1] leaf (title-page), 21 leaves, printed on rectos only. Square 4to (194 x 198 mm.), black printed wrappers (trace of spine label), staple-bound. Schiedam: Stedelijk Museum, 1970.

The artist’s first publication produced to mark a solo museum exhibition. For the remainder of his life, Brouwn (1935-2017) generally made square-format artist’s books with minimalist white covers to document (or materialize) his shows with museums and galleries. Based on Harry Ruhé’s exhaustive bibliography and exhibition list of Brouwn, this is very probably the first exhibition catalogue/artist’s book that Brouwn co-published with a museum.

In this book, the artist invites the reader to... More

xvi, 364 pp.; 2 p.l., 397 pp. Two vols. 8vo (220 x 140 mm.), 19th-century polished calf (joints a trifle rubbed), spines gilt, red & green morocco lettering-pieces on spines. London: R. Ackermann, 1824.

First edition of an essential firsthand history of the mass British acquisitions of Old Masters in the first decades of the 19th century. “William Buchanan (1777-1864), a Scottish lawyer turned art dealer, was to benefit most from the turmoil caused by the Napoleonic Wars, although he started too late to participate in the Orléans sales. He employed mainly James Irvine of Drum, Aberdeenshire, in Italy and... More

Many black & white illus. throughout. Unpaginated. Small 4to, printed wrappers & orig. printed dust-jacket, staple-bound. London: Kettle’s Yard Gallery, 1986.

One of the great exhibition catalogues on artists’ books. This sharply conceived book was published for a 1986 exhibition at Kettle’s Yard Gallery (1 November-7 December). Organized by Pavel Buchler (b. 1952), who also designed and wrote this catalogue, the exhibition included loans from Christian Boltanski, Ulises Carrión, Nigel Greenwood, Richard Hamilton, Kasper Koenig, Annette Messager, Anthony d’Offay Gallery, Hansjörg Mayer, Barbara and Gabriele Schmidt-Heins, Michael Werner Galerie, Karsten Schubert, Lawrence Weiner, etc. The exhibition featured the work of... More

Black & white floor plan on recto, details on verso. Pictorial card. Düsseldorf: Galerie Konrad Fischer, 1982.

Scarce Daniel Buren exhibition announcement. Held concurrently with a show by Ludger Gerdes. In fine condition.

❧ Ausstellungen bei Konrad Fischer: Düsseldorf Oktober 1967-Oktober 1992 (Edition Marzona: 1993) 191 (p. 203). More

Black & white illus. on recto, details on reverse with printed address label. Photographic postcard, mailed. New York: John Weber Gallery, 1976.

Scarce postcard invitation to Buren’s 1976 solo presentation with John Weber. The postcard’s recto depicts the artist’s subtle interventions in the windows of the gallery at 420 West Broadway. In excellent condition; mailed to Eve Sonneman.

❧ Michael Lailach, ed., Printed Matter: Die Sammlung Marzona in der Kunstbibliothek (2005), p. 104. More