A Gold Book.

(New York).: (By the artist)., (1957).. Original publisher's gold paper-covered boards, front cover with collage decoupé lithograph of a hand clasping a flower in black on gold paper.. Small folio. (370 x 282 mm).. Half-leaf with title recto and justification verso and 19 leaves with 13 offset lithograph plates printed in black on gold paper and six printed in black on cream paper, each with additional colouring by the artist by hand. A unique example of the most beautiful of Warhol's pre-Pop books with a variant cover.From the edition limited to 100 copies, signed by Andy Warhol in ink on the half-leaf justification and with the text: 'Dedicated to / Boys / Filles / friuts [sic] / And / flowers / Shoes and t[ed] c[arey] and e[d]. W[allowitch]. / Book designed by / Miss Georgie Duffee'.The cover for this copy features Warhol's line drawing of a hand clasping a flower (see F & S IV.115), the whole image cut out and pasted to the gold paper-covered front board. Printed in black on gold paper, this example represents a unique variant, not described in Feldman & Schellman's catalogue raisonné of Warhol's prints, which gives details of the version printed on white paper only.At the end of 1957 Warhol had his third, and final, exhibition at the Bodley Gallery in New York- A Show of Golden Pictures by Andy Warhol - which ran from December 2nd - 24th, 1957. The same year, he produced this book, A Gold Book. Many of the drawings in the book were based on photographs by Edward Wallowitch.Sketches of Anna Mae Wallowitch, Edward's sister, were included in 'A Gold Book' and she also worked, at some point, as Warhol's agent. Wallowitch was to go on to photograph many of the Campbell Soup Cans for Warhol in the 60s.'A Gold Book ... is the most elaborate of Warhol's editions. He also printed thirteen of the plates on gold paper - inspired, according to Charles Lisanby, by the gold-leaf furniture lacquered with black designs they had seen on their trip to Bangkok.' (F & S pg. 321).[F & S IV.106 - 124].