Lithographs Vol by Cain Julien Marc Chagall Fernand (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Near fine to fine condition. First American edition. Folio (12 3/4 x 10"). 6 volumes, uniformly bound in beige/gray cloth with black lettering to spines and front covers. Each volume with a different dust jacket based on a Chagall image, and 4 of the 6 are original Chagall lithographs. Vol. I: 220, (2)pp. New York: George Brazillier. 1960. With 12 original lithographs. Vol. II: 208, (2)pp. Boston: Boston Book and Art Shop. 1963. With 12 original lithographs. Vol. III: 179, (3)pp. Boston: Boston Book and Art Shop. 1969. With 2 original lithographs. Vol. IV: 180, (4)pp. New York: Crown Publishers. 1974. With 2 original lithographs. Vol. V: 250, (2)pp. New York. Crown Publishers. 1984. Vol. VI: 224, (2)pp. New York. Crown Publishers. 1986. Published over a period of 26 years, this six-volume catalogue raisonné of Chagall's lithographs is richly illustrated with 28 original lithographs (all called for) and list hundreds of Chagall's other lithographs reproduced in color. Volumes I and II contain 24 of the original 28 lithographs published throughout the series; the dust jackets and frontispieces of Volumes III and IV account for the remaining four. Volume V was published near the end of Chagall's life, and Volume VI was published posthumously. For more information, see: Gauss, 391. Freitag 1914. See Cramer, 43, 56, 77, 94. The djs of four volumes (I, IV, V, VI) are protected with their original acetate overlays and Vol. IV is still in the publisher's thin cardboard slipcase. All the lithographic dust jackets are in near fine to fine condition with the exception of Volume III which has a small (1/4" x 1/2") chip at the head of the spine. "Chagall's emblematic irrationality shook off all outside influences: color governed his compositions, calling up chimerical processions of memory where reality and the imaginary are woven into a single legend, born in Vitebsk and dreamed in Paris" (Dictionary of Modern Art). For Chagall, the medium of lithography did not come easily. Printer Fernand Mourlot ran a lithography press where such greats as Braque, Matisse, Picasso, Miró and Chagall came to have their designs printed and to learn about this still nascent printmaking process. "For many long months Chagall came and worked tirelessly, and his dissatisfaction allowed him to have only a few of his first attempts printed" (Sorlier, 45).

Hardcover. Condition: Good+ to very good+ condition. First German edition. Folio. 220 [1]pp. Original lithographic dust-jacket over gray cloth with black lettering on cover and spine, in original mylar jacket. Foreword by Marc Chagall, notes and catalog by Fernand Mourlot and translated from the French by Maria Jolas. Striking first volume of what would eventually become a 6-volume catalogue raisonné of Chagall's lithographs. This catalogue is complete with its 12 original lithographs by the artist. This first volume of Chagall's collected lithographs was followed by five successive volumes in series. All volumes published simultaneously in English, French and German. This is Volume I of the English-language edition. Volumes I and II were also issued in a deluxe signed limited edition of only 100 and 150 copies. (Cramer, 43, 56, 77, 94. Gauss, 391. Freitag 1914. Sorlier, 229.) Text in English. Dustjacket with wear along edges, small chips. Original mylar with chips and tears at top of spine. Binding lightly sunned with light wear along edges. Minor stain in lower right corner of front cover.