Description
The Limited Editions Club (LEC) was a subscription only book club started in 1929 by George Macy. The editions were limited to 1500 copies in early years and 2000 copies in later years. LEC published 10-12 books per year at its peak. Many of the books were reprints of classics but were printed on high quality paper with illustrations, photographs, and images from well renowned illustrators and artists. Many of these artists, authors, publishers, and other people relevant to the book hand signed their work.
Poster
Curator
Claudia Covert
she/her
Contact:
2nd floor, 203
401-709-5927
Subjects: Artists' Books, Special Collections
Items on Exhibit
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland byCall Number: RISD SPECIAL PR4611 .A7 1932Publication Date: 1932Signed by Alice Hargreaves (perhaps the inspiration for the character Alice). This is copy number 61 of fifteen hundred copies. The illustrations are by John Tenniel, engraved on wood by Bruno Rollitz, and printed for the members of the Limited Editions Club by the Printing House of William Edwin Rudge, Mount Vernon, N.Y. Typography and binding by Frederic Warde. Gift of Richard Brown Baker.
- Through the looking-glass and what Alice found there byCall Number: RISD SPECIAL NC978.5 .T4 T47 1935Publication Date: 1935This is copy 1161 of fifteen hundred copies; the illustrations are by John Tenniel and re-engraved by Frederic Warde. Printed by the printing house of William Edwin Rudge, Mount Vernon, N.Y. This edition is graced with the signature of "the original Alice". Gift of Richard Brown Baker.
- The Caribbean poetry of Derek Walcott & the art of Romare BeardenCall Number: RISD Special Oversize NE539.B42 A4 1983Publication Date: 1983The poems were selected by the artist from various published collections of their work.
This is copy 212 of two thousand copies. Romare Bearden created eight original lithographs which were hand-printed on Rives paper. Each book contains one lithograph. Signed by the artist and the author. - Lysistrata byCall Number: RISD SPECIAL PA3877 .L8 1934Publication Date: 1934This copy is number 1161of fifteen hundred. Etchings and drawings were made exclusively for this edition by Pablo Picasso, who signed this copy. This edition has been designed by George Macy. Gift of Richard Brown Baker.
- The complete poems of Robert Frost with a preface by the author ; an appreciation by Louis Untermeyer ; and wood-engravings by Thomas W. NasonCall Number: RISD SPECIAL PS3511 .R94 1950 v.1 + 2Publication Date: 1950This is copy 99 of fifteen hundred printed under the direction of Bruce Rogers at the Marchbanks Press. The decorations were engraved in wood by Thomas W. Nason. It is signed by Robert Frost, Thomas Nason, and Bruce Rogers. Issued in a slipcase. Gift of Richard Brown Baker.
Items on Exhibit
- Hiroshima byCall Number: RISD Special Oversize D767.25.H6 H4 1983Publication Date: 1983Hiroshima originally appeared in the New Yorker in 1946. This is copy 1120 of the fifteen hundred copies that were printed by Bruce Chandler and Daniel Keleher at the Wild Carrot Letterpress in Hadley, Massachusetts. The book was designed by Ben Shiff. The text was hand set in Foundry Optima Medium at the Golgonooza Letter Foundry, Ashuelot Village, New Hampshire. The eight original silkscreens were printed in eleven colors at The Studio Heinrici Ltd., New York City. The book was full bound in black aniline leather at Robert Burlen & Son. Signed by John Hersey, Robert Penn Warren, and Jacob Lawrence.
- The notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge Rainer Maria Rilke ; translated by Stephen MitchellCall Number: RISD SPECIAL PT2635.I65 A8 1987Publication Date: 1987This edition is 132 of eight hundred copies printed at Staperia Valdonega in Verona, Italy. Designed by Benjamin Schiff and bound by Recalcati in Milan. Gift of John Cooke & Carol Mackin.
- The Limited Editions Club, Incorporated : your favorite books, the classics of the world's literature, illustrated by the foremost artists and made into volumes of beauty by the foremost designers of books, produced solely for members of the Limited EditiCall Number: RISD SPECIAL Z232.M57 A1 1929cPublication Date: 1929Prospectus and application for membership.
Printed by D. B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, Boston. Gift of Selma Ordewer, in memory of Daniel Berkeley Bianchi. - Ulysses byCall Number: RISD SPECIAL PA3877 .L8 1934Publication Date: 1935This copy is 1057 of fifteen hundred. The illustrative etchings and drawings were created especially for this edition by Henri Matisse; the edition was designed by George Macy and printed at The Printing-Office of The Limited Edition Club. Signed by Henri Matisse.Contains six drawings with several stages of each. Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth.