George Macy Companies, Inc.: Limited Editions Club and The Heritage
Press:
A Preliminary Inventory of its Art Collection at the Harry Ransom
Center
Creator:
George Macy Companies, Inc.
Title:
George Macy Companies, Inc.: Limited Editions Club and The Heritage Press Art Collection
Dates:
circa 1930-1967
Extent:
6,731 items (220 boxes)
Abstract:
The collection consists of original artwork that was
used in Limited Editions Club publications and a few that were used for The Heritage
Press. The art files contain the work of over 100 artists including Miguel
Covarrubias, Maynard Dixon, André Derain, Roger Duvoisin, Robert Gibbings,
Bernard Lamotte, Reginald Marsh, and Edward A. Wilson. The collection includes
original watercolors; pen and ink, wash, and charcoal drawings; colored overlays;
proofs; original photographs; and photographic negatives.
Call Number:
Art Collection AR-00313
Language:
English
Access:
Open for research. A minimum of twenty-four hours is required to pull art materials
to the Reading Room.
George Macy (1900-1956) founded the Limited Editions Club in 1929 to publish fine
illustrated books, mostly classics, in limited numbers for member-subscribers.
Most
titles were limited to 1500 copies, were designed and illustrated by leading figures
in the graphic arts, and were printed on fine paper. New introductions were written
for many titles. From the base established by the Limited Editions Club, Macy
broadened his publishing activities with The Heritage Press, a series of unlimited,
less-expensively produced reprints of titles previously issued by the Limited
Editions Club. After Macy's death in 1956, his wife, Helen Macy, continued the
work
of the firm until 1968, when their son, Jonathan Macy, assumed leadership. In
1970,
the firms were sold to the Boise-Cascade Company, and Ziff-Davis Publishing acquired
the Limited Editions Club inventory. Cardavon Press later acquired both the
companies and the inventory. Cardavon sold off the Heritage Press and its
distributer, Heritage Club, to the Easton Press, and in 1979, sold the Limited
Editions Club to Sidney Shiff. Schiff died March 18, 2010, and ownership passed
to
his wife, Jeanne Shiff.
The archives of the George Macy Companies, including both the Limited Editions Club
and The Heritage Press, were purchased by the Ransom Center in 1970. These items
herein described comprise the original art works that were used in Limited Editions
Club publications; the few that were used for The Heritage Press are identified
as
such in the following list. The art files contain 6,731 items by over 100 artists,
and include original watercolors; pen and ink, wash, and charcoal drawings; colored
overlays; proofs; original photographs; and photographic negatives. Among the
artists represented in the collection are Miguel Covarrubias, Maynard Dixon,
André Derain, Roger Duvoisin, Robert Gibbings, Bernard Lamotte, Reginald
Marsh, and Edward A. Wilson. The following list is arranged alphabetically by
artist.
Related Material
The Ransom Center Art Collection also holds a separate Limited Editions Club
collection of portfolios of prints and one group of loose prints by various artists
which were published as illustrations for books issued by the club, 1988-2001.
Related holdings elsewhere in the Ransom Center include correspondence files and
pre-publication materials created by the firms, which are held in the Manuscripts
Collection, as well as a number of the published works in the Library.
Sources:
For further information, see:
Limited Editions Club. Bibliography of the fine books
published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929-1985. New York City:
Limited Editions Club, 1985.
