Facing East

New York: Maecenas Press / Random House, 1970. Special Limited Edition. Hardcover. As New/Near Fine. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Signed by Author. Limited Edition: no. 1019 of 2500 copies, signed by both author Michener and artist Levine, TWICE. Fine condition overall. Two folios (Parts One and Two) housed in a custom-built clamshell box made of beige-watered silk with a black leather strap and holder. Gilt lettering on spine of the box. Some very light soiling to and soiling of the outer cover along edges. Part One comprises unbound leaves and four full-color lithographic plates in a beige- watered silk folio with black leather strap and holder. Part Two comprises unbound leaves with facsimiles of sketches in black and white and color in an unlined black Morocco leather folder. Glassine leaves are laid in between each facsimile.Part One: xxxii (text) (4 (colophons)). Part Two: unpaginated, but 54 pp. Box measures 20” x 13 1/2.” Each folio measures 13” x 19 1/4.” The box and the folios and their leaves are very clean and intact.The following is the text from one of the colophons: “The 1500 De Luxe portfolios of this limited edition, numbered from 1 to 2500, were individually signed by the author and the artist. In addition, sixteen portfolios marked from A to P are the property of the author and the artist. Several portfolios marks H.C. were printed for the publishers and their collaborators. The four original lithographs, signed in the stone by the artist, were pulled on Rives paper. The text, hand-set in Caslon de Corps 24, and the original woodcuts, were printed on Arches paper. The original ‘Hors-Texte’ woodcut was pulled on Kawanaka Japanese vellum paper. The fifty-four watercolors, gouaches and drawings from the sketchbook by Jack Levine were printed by Phototype and Pochoir processes on Ingres paper. From two to forty colors were hand-brushed on each.” The leaves within the silk folio detail Levine’s travels to Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, San Francisco, and Hawaii.Produced with a pronounced degree of lavishness. Gift-quality inside and out.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.