Book One (Complete Suite of 15 Signed Prints)

Bruce Conner: [San Francisco], 1970. Prints are in fine condition, each with the original tissue guard, in a fine portfolio folder in brown cloth with title in gilt; fabric tie. Though signed and unsigned individual plates from this set do show up at auction with some regularity, complete suites in the portfolio are rarely offered; this example in beautiful, as new condition.. Limited Edition. Quarto. Edition of 90. Suite of fifteen offset lithographs on Rives BFK paper, each one SIGNED, titled, and hand-numbered 1/90 by Conner. Printed a Kaiser Graphics; Typography by Grabhorn-Hoyem. This is one of 80 copies in a hand made portfolio by Schuberth Bindery. Sheet size 10-3/4 x 7-3/4 inches. The prints are each from one of Conner's meticulous maze-like drawings. Unhappy with his creative control in prior collaborations with the fine art presses Tamarind Lithograph Workshop (LA) and Collector's Press (SF), for Book One, Conner opted to work with a commercial lithography press, Kaiser Graphics; under the artist's direct supervision, he could achieve the exact results he desired. Though numbered, the print order is not meant to be sequential; originally, Book One was planned to be bound, with prints paired, but when production began Conner decided not to bind them. Though it is common to break-up portfolios and frame the individual unbound prints, Conner's decision to present the book pages unbound would suggest that a viewer should keep the set intact within the portfolio, reordering the prints with each viewing.