Twentysix Gasoline Stations by Ruscha (12 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Price is net to all; promotional discounts do not apply. A collection of 16 artist's books by Ed Ruscha, plus additional books and ephemera. All titles first editions. 15 of 16 titles signed by Ruscha (all titles except Dutch Details). Three additional titles signed. ARTIST'S BOOKS: 1) Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Limited Edition [SIGNED and dated "1966"]. 1963. First limited edition of 400 numbered copies (this being #396/400), additionally signed and dated by the artist ("Edward Ruscha, 1966") in blue ink on the dedication page. Soft cover. White matt wrappers with title printed in red on cover and spine, with original glassine dust jacket. Photographs, artist's book concept and design by Ed Ruscha. Unpaginated (48 pp.), with 26 black and white illustrations, printed by The Cunningham Press, Alhambra, California. 7 1/16 x 5-1/2 inches. Very rare. [Cited in Andrew Roth, ed., The Open Book. (Göteborg, Sweden: Hasselblad Center in association with Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, Germany, 2004), and in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook: A History, Volume II. (London and New York: Phaidon, 2006).] CONDITION: Fine in Fine original glassine dust jacket. A very rare Near Mint copy with vintage signature. 2) Various Small Fires and Milk [SIGNED]. 1964. First edition of 400 unnumbered copies. Signed in black ink on the first page by Ruscha. Soft cover. White matte wrappers with title printed in black on cover and spine, with glassine dust jacket. Photographs, artist's book concept and design by Ed Ruscha. Unpaginated (48 pp.), with 15 yellow-toned plates, and one black and white plate, printed by Anderson, Ritchie & Simons, Los Angeles. 7 x 5-1/16 inches. A rare signed copy of the first edition. CONDITION: Fine (a bright, tight, mint copy in a Near Fine glassine dust jacket), in Near Fine original glassine dust jacket (1/16-inch chip missing from the heel of the spine, 1/8-inch closed tear along bottom edge of rear cover, and at bottom of front fold, else Fine). 3) Some Los Angeles Apartments [SIGNED]. 1965. First edition of 700 unnumbered copies. Signed in blue ink on the first page by Ruscha. Soft cover. White matte wrappers with title printed in lime green on cover and spine, with glassine dust jacket. Photographs, artist's book concept and design by Ed Ruscha. Unpaginated (48 pp.), with 34 black and white illustrations printed by Anderson, Ritchie & Simon, Los Angeles. 7 x 5-1/16 inches. [Cited in Andrew Roth, ed., The Open Book. (Göteborg, Sweden: Hasselblad Center in association with Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, Germany, 2004), and in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook: A History, Volume II. (London and New York: Phaidon, 2006).] CONDITION: Fine in Fine dust jacket. 4) Every Building on Sunset Strip [SIGNED]. 1966. First edition, first printing. Signed in black ink on the title page by Ruscha. Soft cover. White matte wrappers, with title printed in silver on cover and spine, no dust jacket as issued; with silver paper-covered cardstock slipcase and rare obi band. Photographs, artist's book concept and design by Ed Ruscha. Unpaginated accordion-fold, with numerous black and white panoramic plates printed as if one continuous photograph across the upper and lower sections of all of the pages. 7-1/16 x 5-5/8 inches (approximately 27 feet fully-extended). This first issue was limited to 1000 copies (with the extra 2-inch flap at the end of the last folded page, which was the result of the printer's miscalculation). [Cited in Andrew Roth, ed., The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century. (New York: PPP Editions in association with Roth Horowitz LLC, 2001), in Andrew Roth, ed., The Open Book. (Göteborg, Sweden: Hasselblad Center in association with Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, Germany, 2004), in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook: A History, Volume II. (London and New York: Phaidon, 2006).] CONDITION: Near Fine (glue residue from slipcase on front cover, vertical crease to spine which is endemic to the title), else Fine in Very Fine slipcase wth Fine rare obi/belly band. 5) Thirtyfour Parking Lots [SIGNED]. 1967. First edition, first printing. Signed in pencil on the first page by Ruscha. Soft cover. White matte wrappers with title printed in orange on cover and spine, with glassine dust jacket as issued. Concept and design by Ed Ruscha. Photographs by Art Alanis. Unpaginated (48 pp.), with 31 black and white plates. 10 x 8 inches. This first edition was limited to 2413 copies. CONDITION: Fine in Near Fine dust jacket (edgewear and yellowing to jacket). 6) Royal Road Test [SIGNED ASSOCIATION COPY from Mason Williams to Allan Blye; also SIGNED by Ed Ruscha]. 1967. First edition, first printing. Association copy, signed, dated the year of publication ("4 May 1967") and inscribed to Allan Blye (then producer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) in blue ink on the first page by Williams ("To Allan with ink, Mason Williams, 4 May 1967, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour"). [Also included with the book are 2 copies of Allan Blye's business card.] Signed in pencil on the title page by Ruscha. Soft cover. Pale yellow wrappers with title printed in black on cover; spiral-bound with white laminated coil. Photographs and text by Ed Ruscha in collaboration with Mason Williams and Patrick Blackwell. Unpaginated (64 pp.), with 36 black and white illustrations. 9-1/2 x 6-1/2 inches. This first edition was limited to 1000 copies. CONDITION: Fine. 7) Business Cards [SIGNED (by Bengston and Ruscha)]. 1968. First edition. Signed (as issued), in ink on front cover by Ruscha and Bengston (with his initials "B.A.B."). Soft cover. Faux wood-grain cardstock wrappers, bound with a leather thong knotted in front, with a black and white snapshot of the artists tipped-in with photo corners on the front cover (stamped "JAN 3 1968" on lower margin), no dust jacket as issued; with both artists' business cards stapled to last page, as issued (Bengston's business card is crumpled i.

Softcover. Condition: Fine. All First Editions. Glossy printed plain white wraps with original glassine jackets. 5.55" x 7.05" An extraordinary set of the first three of Ruscha's iconic publications, in pristine condition. The three glassine jackets are all original and virtually unscathed, with the exception being a Lilliputian hole along the spine edge between the top and middle lines of text. The jackets exhibit some age-toning and offsetting from where set on top of each other for some period of time as if in a display. The inside flaps of the glassine show very small folds at the front and back of TWENTYSIX GASOLINE STATIONS, and there is a tiny fold to the inside glassine jacket at the rear of SOME LOS ANGELES APARTMENTS. The superior condition of these three books cannot be overstated. From what can be pieced together, this group was likely sent to a New York Art Book store as part of a marketing campaign to sell the books, which originally did not sell well for Ruscha. These are all first editions. TWENTYSIX GASOLINE STATIONS is not signed, lending strength to the proposal that these were complimentary copies sent to try and drum up business. TWENTYSIX GASOLINE STATIONS is dated 1962 on the title-page, and is an unnumbered copy of 400 copies printed in April 1963 by The Cunningham Press. VARIOUS SMALL FIRES AND MILK is dated 1964 at the base of the title-page and is copyrighted 1964, and one of 400 copies printed by Anderson Ritchie & Simon, Los Angeles. SOME LOS ANGELES APARTMENTS is dated 1965 at the base of the title-page and is copyright 1965, and printed by Anderson Ritchie & Simon, Los Angeles. An extraordinary set.

Paperback. Condition: Good. 3rd edition, 1969, one of only 3000 copies. In original wraps, cover shows minor tanning and staining. Including a receipt from one of the pictured gas stations. Pages are mostly clean. This is the first artist's book by American pop artist Ed Ruscha and is often considered to the be first modern artist's book. It is a precurson and major influence on artist's book culture.

Condition: Near fine. Third edition. Third edition of the first of Ruscha's sixteen books and an iconic early artist's book. Inspired by the look and feel of the books he encountered at the bouquiniste stands on the Left Bank during a 1961 trip to Paris, as well as his own work as a typesetter and printers devil, Ruscha self-published TWENTYSIX GAS STATIONS with an aesthetic reminiscent of iconic Editions Gallimard paperbacks. Conceiving first of the title, Ruscha took photographs to fill the requisite number on a road trip from Los Angeles to visit his mother in his hometown of Oklahoma City. The photographs, labeled with the station name and location, together form a dotted line between LA and Oklahoma, creating out of these stoically framed images of banal locations a deep emotional resonance. [Phillpot, CATALOGUE RAISONNE, 60]. Wraps. 8vo. Publisher's wraps in original glassine. SIGNED by Ruscha at inside front cover. Mild toning and chipping to glassine with price sticker at front flap and some creasing to flaps. Distributor sticker at final page. Trivial touches of wear to wraps at edges. Interior bright and clean. Near fine.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Second edition, 1967, one of 500 unnumbered copies. Glassine wrapper shows minor wear, tear, and tanning. Cover with a few very minor spots of wear. Pages are clean.

AUTOGRAPHED COPY IN NEAR PERFECT CONDITION. THIRD EDITION. REPLACED GLASSINE JACKET A BIT BROWNED BUT NOT AFFECTING THE PRISTINE WHITE COVER.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Third Edition. Third edition. One of 3000 copies printed. Fine copy lacking the unprinted glassine overlay. (48pp. ) (5 1/4" x 7") 26 b&w photo images. (B); 5 1/4" x 7".

Softcover artist book with glassine dustwrapper; 48 pages; very good condition; tiny brown stain to rear cover at bottom edge; binding is tight; glassine is yellowed at spine but untorn; clean and crisp; no internal marks. Wittenborn distributor sticker to inside rear cover.

Wraps. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Third Edition. One of 3,000 printed in the third edition. Unpaginated. There are a few faint spots on the stiff paper wraps. A name and date are written in green ink on the title page. The rest of the interior is clean and unmarked. Photos upon request. Postage fees will be waived.

Third edition. Small softcover. Printed in an edition of 3000 copies. Ruscha's first artist book which was originally published in 1962. A collection of black and white photographs of gasoline stations along the roads between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. A clean near fine copy in printed wrappers with some very minute wear in a very good plus example of the original glassine with some slight soiling to the front panel and a few tears and creases to the top of the rear panel. Still, a nice copy of this important debut. (Parr & Badger v2, 140).

Third Ed. long case. Third printing of 1969. Very good copy with very good tissue cover.

In 1963, when Ed Ruscha published Twentysix Gasoline Stations, his first book, he sent two copies to the U.S. Copyright Office, one to establish copyright, the other destined for the collection of the Library of Congress. Great! Recognition for the young artist. As you might imagine, LC receives a great deal of copyright material that it cannot store forever: commercial catalogues, advertising material, and many self-published books, among others. Jennings Wood, Chief, Exchange and Gift Division, sent Ed a very polite letter on October 2, 1963, as follows: "Dear Mr. Ruscha: I am, herewith, returning this copy of Twentysix Gasoline Stations, which the Library of Congress does not wish to add to its collection. We are, nevertheless, deeply grateful for your thoughtful consideration of our interests." What a blow! Ed turned this seeming setback into one of the wittiest pieces ever to appear in Artforum: a five-inch display ad on p. 55 of the March 1964 issue (volume 2, number 9). The following text accompanies a photograph of a hand holding the book: "REJECTED Oct. 2, 1963 by the Library of Congress Washington 25, D.C. copies available @ $3.00, National Excelsior 2351-1/2 Vestal Avenue Los Angeles 26, Calif. Wittenborn & Company 1018 Madison Avenue New York 21, New York." A facsimile copy of this letter accompanies the issue. This is item M6 in Edward Ruscha: editions 1959-1989 (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1999). LC still does not own a copy of any edition of Twentysix Gasoline Stations, by the way. Later, Ruscha did layout and design work for Artforum, including the superbly inventive cover for the Surrealism issue, September 1966, volume 5, number 1 (see separate listing). Several pristine copies available of this rare, March 1964 issue of Artforum. Richly illustrated (no color this early). 60 pp. 27 x 26.5 cm (about 11 inches square). Cover by Larry Rivers. Includes articles on recent American ceramic art (Voulkos, etc.), Shiko Munakata, Pop Art in Canada, and, most notably, John Coplans on Wallace Berman. **Free domestic shipping with direct order.