About this Item
Portfolio of 52 lithographs, plus a blank "cover" page, title page, dedication page, table of contents, and colophon, housed as issued in a green lacquered wood box, with hand-blown glass inset over the title and the names of the author and artist printed on a mirror. Printed on ivory laid handmade paper, watermarked with the author and artist's names. Sheets measure 18 1/2 inches x 24 1/8 inches (46.99 cm. x 61.28 cm.), box is 20 5/8 x 23 5/8 x 5 inches (525 x 602 x 128 mm). Total edition of 35 copies, plus 2 sets of trial proofs. Each lithograph is pencil-signed and numbered by Southern, signed and dated by Rivers. Box with minor scuffs, else in fine condition. Southern's childrens' story, originally written in 1958 for the children at the U.N. nursery school in Geneva where his wife taught. "Ever since 'Stones' [1960, with Frank O'Hara], Mrs Grosman [ULAE proprietor] had been looking for another well-known poet to collaborate on a book with Larry Rivers. Rivers had reservations about 'illustrating' a text, but he was intrigued with the idea of doing a fairy tale that was a parody of fairy tales [and Terry Southern was his close friend]. The publication was the most difficult and expensive publication ever undertaken by ULAE, consuming enormous quantities of paper, labor, and time. By June 1976, 105 stones, with a total of 126 printings, had been used for the images; 82 plates, with a total of 310 printings, had been used for the text," "In the ten years of its production, it became impossible to compute the reams of paper, the number of printers, typographers, and other technicians, or the cost," Sparks, Universal Limited Art Editions, Catalogue 59-115.
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