Rare books from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts

England, 1783.. Album. 50 x 35 cm. Gray cardboard. Book of twenty-one (including title page) chiaroscuro prints mounted on pages borders drawn in pen and ink in book-form. Inscribed with dedication by the artist, and dated 1783. Bookplate of the Edward Cheney Collection. Folio. Very rare.

Santa Monica, CA.: ca. 1960s.. Watercolor painting. 15.5 x 40 inches. Design for the building at 1621 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA. Subsequently Continental Shop/ Nawab of India.Adam Arenson: "a delicately curving building at 1619-1621 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. The color logo tiles and the terrazzo floors being the best hints at this building’s Mid-Century Modern past — given that the inside spaces were long since gutted. Note also the alley-side view in the picture above: for a building not on a prominent corner, the marble siding stopped when the facade did.1957, photo 2012 The tile logo letters show an attempt, contemporaneous to the Home Savings work, to find a quick, recognizable way to mark the business with a colorful, artistic icon — closer to the style of abstracted corporate icons for franchise recognizability."

Detroit, Mich., 1962.. Gouache painting. 24 x 63.5 inches. (61 x 160 cm.). On illustration board mounted on a larger board with pencil notations relative to the future mural on the margins of the mount. Undulating due to past moisture. Literature: Millard Sheets. One-Man Renaissance by Janice Lovoos and Edmund Penney, pp. 73-74. Mural reproduced on p. 73. The commission resulted from Sheets winning the 1962 New York National Academy of Design's Edward Austin Abbey Competition. Some of the text beneath the images is different than in the final mural. For example, in the painting, a text by Nietzsche is at the far right and this is replaced by a text from Whitman in the actual mural. From the estate of Millard Sheets. Authenticated by Tony Sheets, the artist's son, on the verso. Better image available. Exhibited at: A Tapestry of Life. The World of Millard Sheets. The Millard Sheets Center for the Arts at Fairplex, Pomona, California. September 2007.

ca. 1960s.. Lyle Galloway (1930-1984). Pen and ink on board. 11 x 14 inches. Signed in ink.

Paris: Ambroise Vollard, 1939. Original edition.. Folio. 45.5 x 34.5 cm. Sheets loose as issued in custom made chemise and slipcase. One of 245 numbered copies on Montval paper. With 17 original color etchings hors texte and 82 wood-engravings in the text. Chapon, Le livre des livres de Rouault, pp. 162-185; Chapon, Oeuvre Gravé, pp 166-205, nos. 257-273; Rauch, Les Peintres et le Livre, 1867-1957, no. 155; Garvey, The Artist and the Book,1860-1960 no. 272.

Paris: Aubert & Cie. 1845-1848.. A suite of 38 lithographs on wove paper without verso text. Delteil, 1337-1374. Images: 9 1/2 by 7 1/2 in. (24.1 by 19.1 cm.) Uniformly framed. This collection includes the 37 published ones in the series and the unpublished one Delteil 1362, no. 26. From the collection of the celebrated Wall Street attorney Robert S. Pirie. The illustration shows the lithographs on the staircase in situ at his Greenwich Village townhouse. Pirie was a member of the family who owned the famous namesake Chicago department store chain and was educated at Harvard. He was also the foremost collector of 17th Century English literature.

Paris: Ambroise Vollard, 1931.. 13 original etchings unbound as issued in a sleeve inside the bound book. One of 65 deluxe copies (no. 10) on Imperial Japan paper, signed by Picasso and Vollard. (Only the deluxe copies on Japan paper were signed on the colophon by the artist and publisher.) This copy without the second suite on Rives. Housed in a custom clamshell case encased throughout in three leathers by the celebrated binder Alexandr Mosalov. References : Cramer, Pablo Picasso, les livres illustrés, n° 20 ;Bloch: 82-94; Livre no, 19. Un des précieux exemplaires sur Japon sans la suite.In-4 (228 x 250 mm). En feuilles, sous chemise rempliée illustrée. Quelques défauts à la couverture (dos et bords inférieurs du premier plat légèrement passés, accident à la coiffe supérieure, quelques taches), coin inférieur du premier feuillet blanc coupé, bords des planches de la suite très légèrement maculées, sans atteinte aux gravures.13 eaux fortes originales hors texte (dont la table… Read More

Moscow: 1926.. Original color lithograph poster from the collection of Alma Law. Repaired by Sasha Mosolov and mounted on a support sheet. No losses. 102 x 71.5 cm. The best and rarest of the Stenberg posters. From CineMaterial:The Stenberg brothers Vladimir (1899-1982) and Georgii (1900-1933) were Soviet artists and designers. While born in Moscow, both remained Swedish citizens until 1933 because their father was a Swede.The innovative visual aspects of their posters included a distortion of perspective, elements from Dada photomontage, an exaggerated scale, a sense of movement, and a dynamic use of color and typography. Their artwork was frequently based on stills from the films.Radical even today, the posters by the brothers working together were realized within the nine-year period from 1924 to 1933, the year Georgii died at age 33. His motorcycle hit a truck, a few months after the brothers had become Russian citizens. Vladimir continued to work on film posters and organized the… Read More

Berlin: Circa 1917.. Etching on Old Japanese Paper. 30 x 23 cm. on sheet size 40 x 32 cm.Light foxing and folds in the margins.Signed in pencil by Büttner lower right and by Einstein lower left. Indistinct pencil annotations above Einstein’s’ signature.Provenance: A Berkeley academic family.Porträt von Albert Einstein. Radierung auf Bütten. Rechts unten von Erich Büttner, links unten von Albert Einstein signiert.At the beginning of the years Einstein suffers from various illnesses (among other things from a liver disease and a stomach ulcer). His cousin Elsa takes care of him. It will last several years until he recovers completely. He writes a work on cosmology with the cosmologic term which shall guarantee a limited universe. He will refer to this cosmologic term later as his “biggest idiocy”. He takes over the management of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics on October 1.

Paris : Arthus Bertrand, [1845]. Folio. 31 of 34 livraisons of the Atlas volumes in the original wrappers; the others without wrappers. 51 x 34 cm. 180 of the 200 plates called for; some with marginal stains and tears. Includes the rare large format map.OCLC Number:49084946180 planches in-folio et une carte issues des 34 livraisons de l’Atlas, la plupart sous leurs couvertures d’origine.Cet ensemble incomplet de vingt planches (180/200) se compose de 14 planches d’archéologie (14/14), une de géologie (1/1),3 planches doubles de reliefs (3/3),101 planches en noir de botanique (101/103),29 planches d’ethnologie (29/39) la plupart coloriées et gommées représentant des paysages, costumes, portraits , armes… 32 planches coloriées et gommées de zoologie (32/40) et une grande carte de l’Abyssinie ( souvent manquante). Plusieurs planches avec défauts tels que mouillures, taches, rousseurs.Premier ouvrage scientifique sur cette partie de l'Afrique, le Voyage en Abyssinie de… Read More

Paris : Impr. de Monsieur, 1782-1787.. Folio. 4 tomes in 2 volumes (538 x 343 mm). 19th Century half calf with gilt and blind stamping.and restored spine. Some foxing. Complete with 264 sepia aquatint plates. Very large and heavy volumes. References: OCLC Number: 715413072; The Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection, French Books, n° 80; Brunet II, 350; Cohen, n° 500.Somptueuse publication par le peintre-graveur Jean-Pierre Houël, pensionnaire à l'Académie de Rome de 1768 à 1772. Elle est le fruit de deux voyages. Le premier, effectué en 1769 dans l'entourage du marquis d'Havringcourt, mena l'artiste à Naples et en Sicile. Il lui inspira des centaines de dessins qui suscitèrent l'admiration de ses contemporains, et notamment de Catherine II de Russie qui lui racheta plus de 500 dessins originaux.Description of the illustrations: Analyse: Illustrations (aquatinte, 18e s.).- Cartes: Cuming, Gozo, Lipari, Malte, Sicile ; coupe (volcan).- Plans: amphithéâthre, bain, écurie,… Read More

Berlin: Wasmuth, 1910. Folio. 40.5 x 64 cm; 16 x 25 inches sheet sizes.2 vols., text vol.: 30pp. unbound as issued. Folio: 72 lithograph plates on thick wove paper (1 printed in gold) and 28 plates on translucent paper (with a total of 100 different plates), each with the blindstamp of Frank Lloyd Wright. The leaves loosely inserted in 2 original printed board portfolios with cloth ties.Plates are very good to fine since this set was sold by Wasmuth and never made it to Taliesin, where most were water damaged or destroyed..... Provenance: From the Collection of the important Dutch architect Jan Wils,who was a member of the modernist De Stijl movement. His bookplates on the inside covers of the 2 portfolios. Wils became an admirer and great advocate in the Netherlands of Wright's work and wrote about the master.See: Jan Wils, Frank Lloyd Wright e De Stijl by Ezio Godoli. Calenzano : Modulo, 1980. In 1916, Wils established his own architectural firm in The Hague.The Papaverhof is a… Read More

Frankfurt : Theordoro de Bry, 1596 [1617]. 2 volumes in one. Folio. 24 x 34.4 cm. Old vellum binding, spotted. Part V: Engraved title and frontispiece, map of New Spain, portrait of Christopher Columbus, and 22 half-page engravings. Collation: Engraved title page, 92pp., repeated title page, XXII plates, double page folding map of Hispaniae Novae... , blank. Part VI: Engraved title and frontispiece, folding plan of Cusco, Peru and 28 half-page engravings; lacking the map in the 6th part . Collation: 108pp. incl. engraved title page, engraved double page bird's eye view of Cusco, repeated title page with change to cartouche, 28 engraved plates.... Waterstaining to the upper corner of most text pages in Part V, but not affecting the plates; light waterstaining to the plates in the top margin of Part VI, not affecting the text pages...Engraved heraldic bookplate with lions, dragon and metal helmuts...Title within engraved ornamental border; initials; headpieces and tailpieces.Roman numeral… Read More

London, F.G. Moon, 1842.. 2 vols. Folio. 62 x 46.5 cm. Black half-morocco; spine with raised bands; title, author and printed in gold letters on the spine; green percaline cloth delimited by a double gold fillet. Elegant French binding with the plates mounted on hinges (sur onglets) with fresh paper guards for each plate....Volume 1 : 1 portrait, 1 title frontispiece and 43 tinted lithographs including 21 hors texteVolume 2 : 1 title frontispiece and 43 tinted lithographs including 21 hors texte.Table of plates for the three volumes in volume 1....Original edition of the first two volumes concerning the Holy Land (without the 3 following ones announced in the title). They appeared in issues between 1842 and 1845. Copy with the tinted lithographs mounted on strong paper. According to Abbey (Travel, 385), this set constitutes one of the most important publishing ventures of this kind in the 19th century, and the apotheosis of tinted lithography. The illustrations by David Roberts (1796-1864),… Read More

Pisa: Co’ Caratteri de’ FF. Amoretti, Presso Niccoló Capurro, 1817- [1839]. 4 folio volumes, 31 x 44.4 cm. Large paper copy. 19th Century half green morocco with marbled boards. Some pages with stains and foxing. but most very fresh. The plates were printed in colors which was then much more expensive and always more elegant than handcoloring black inked printed pages. With 155 color stipple engravings. The plates are not numbered but some copies have as many as 163 plates....The Italian artists are : Giuseppe CAROCCI, Alessandro CONTARDI, Francesco CORSI, Paolo FUMAGALLI, Luigi GARIBBO, Luigi GIARRE, Carlo LASINIO, Tomaso NASI, Giuseppe PERA, Stefano RINALDI, Bernardino ROSASPINA, Antonio SERANTONI, Antonio VERICO…engraved after A. BASOLI, Giuseppe BAZOLI, Luigi BISI, Carolina & Isabella BOZZOLINI, Giuseppe BUCHERELLI, D. DELPINO, Pellina Piuma GALLESIO, Sofia GIORDANO, Ferdinando MORI, Domenico del PINO, Daniele DEL Ré, Antonio SERANTONI, M. VERNERO…OCLC Number / Unique… Read More