An Inventory of Its Collection at the Harry Ransom
Center
Creator:
Limited Editions Club
Title:
Limited Editions Club Collection
Dates:
1988-2001
Extent:
18 portfolios, 1 folder (124 prints)
Abstract:
The collection includes eighteen signed artists'
portfolios and one separate print, by seventeen different artists. Fourteen of
the
artists are American, including eight African Americans. Also included are
portfolios by the French artists Balthus and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and the Italian
artist Francesco Clemente.
Call Number:
Art Collection AR-00163
Language:
No linguistic material present
Access:
Open for research. A minimum of twenty-four hours is required to pull art materials
to the Reading Room.
The Limited Editions Club—founded in 1929 by George Macy (1900-1956)—published fine,
illustrated books in limited numbers for member subscribers. Designed and
illustrated on fine paper by leading figures in the graphic arts, most titles
were
classics, limited to 1500 copies. After Macy's death in 1956, his wife continued
the
work of the firm until 1968 when son Jonathan assumed leadership. The firm was
sold
to the Boise-Cascade Company in 1970. Sidney Shiff, the current owner, purchased
the
Limited Editions Club in 1979.
Shiff, whose background was in Wall Street investments, transformed the Limited
Editions Club by concentrating on livres d'artiste. He purposefully commissioned
renowned artists—including many African-Americans—and commissioned master printers
and fine presses to oversee a given book's design; artistic inspiration prevailed.
Targeting print connoisseurs and contemporary collectors, Shiff raised the overall
quality of the books and offered club members signed artists' portfolios. The
book
illustrations and signed artists' prints are one and the same.
Sources:
Grossman, Carol. "East Side Story: Two Faces of the
Limited Editions Club." Biblio 4, no. 3 (March 1999): 30-39.
Fleming, Margaret W. "Limited Editions Club." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 46: American Literary
Publishing Houses, 1900-1980: Trade and Paperback, ed. Peter Dzwonkoski.
Detroit: Gale Research, 1986.
Scope and Contents
The Limited Editions Club Collection comprises eighteen signed artists' portfolios
of
123 prints, and one separate print, by seventeen different artists. Fourteen of
the
artists are American, including eight African-Americans. The collection also has
portfolios by the French artists Balthus and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and the Italian
artist Francesco Clemente.
The works are listed alphabetically by artist. The descriptions include titles of
the
corresponding book, and for those books held in the Ransom Center's Library, the
call number is listed. The date of the prints is the same as the corresponding
book
unless otherwise noted.
Additional portfolios are expected.
Related Material
The Art Collection also holds the George Macy Companies Collection, including art
files of works by over 100 artists executed for the Limited Editions Club and
the
Heritage Press, circa 1930-1967. The Ransom Center has an additional five Limited
Editions Club signed artists' portfolios in the Photography Collection. The archives
of the George Macy Company are available in the Manuscripts Collection, as are
numerous related published works in the Library.
