e-List #31:
The Artist's Books of Edward Ruscha

[Los Angeles]: [Self Published], 1970. First edition. Signed by Edward Ruscha on the first blank page. In original baby-blue paper wraps with green flocked lettering, bound with a pink ribbon. Near Fine, with mild toning and mild wear along the top edge. Contains images of one baby, followed by numerous cakes, with weights for the baby and cakes listed below each. One of 1,200 copies in the first edition, uncommon signed. Item #140939344

 $7,500

Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968. First Edition. Publisher's sandpaper covers bound with nuts and bolts with no pink ribbon marker; acetate covers over sandpaper. Light edge wear, toning to acetate. Previous owner mark at title page. A catalog designed by Edward Ruscha for an exhibit of Billy Al Bengston's work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, with the installation designed by Frank Gehry. A nice copy. Item #140938426

 $650

Hollywood, CA: Heavy Industry Publications, 1969. First edition, first printing. Signed by Edward Ruscha on the front free endpaper. Bound in publisher's drab heavy card wraps, with white dust jacket printed in red. Near Fine, with some toning. In a Near Fine dust jacket, with lettering faded on spine and lightly faded to orange on the front panel, light toning, light shelf wear. A lovely copy, signed by the photographer. Item #140937400

$1,600

Deventer, The Netherlands: Octopus Foundation within the Framework of Sonsbeek 71, 1971. First edition. From an edition of three-thousand copies, of which approximately only 200 are extant, making this one of the most elusive titles in Ruscha's oeuvre. Bound in original wide rectangle white card covers printed in black, measuring approximately 15" x 4, with top-bound pages with lateral gatefolds opening to create pages 30" in length. Text in Dutch and English. Near Fine with title and author name handwritten on spine in ink, light toning, light soiling and light rubbing. Published in conjunction with the Sonsbeek 71 exhibition in The Netherlands, Ruscha took these images only from bridges, presenting them in a panoramic style reminiscent of his Every Building on the Sunset Strip. Although this book was supposed to have an open edition, available via mail-order, sales were slow and the printer removed and disposed of extra copies from its warehouse. Item #140939343

 $14,500

Lyon: Musee Saint-Pierre Art Contemporain, 1985. First edition. Signed by Ed Ruscha on front free endpaper. Black wraps with white lettering, French flaps. Near Fine with light shelf wear, in torn and chipped acetate wraps. A catalogue of a French exhibition of Ruscha's works with color photos (some fold-out pages), text mostly in French: an interview, the essay "Ed Ruscha: Traffic and Laughter" by Peter Schjeldahl in French and English, a bibliography, and a chronology. Item #140938970

 $400

Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1972. First Edition. Very Good. Light rubbing and slight uneven sunning to front cover. Three small nicks to front joint near crown, light edge wear. Pages toned. Front inner hinge cracked (as is common with this title), though rear hinge is unopened. Lacking business cards. One of an edition of 2,000 copies published to accompany Ruscha's 1972 exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, designed by the artist to look like a Big Little Book. Item #180623004

 $1,650

Los Angeles: Edward Ruscha, 1966. First edition, first issue with the extra flap at the last fold. Signed by Ed Ruscha on the title page in ink. Very Good with creasing to spine, with wear at spine ends and light creasing and light edge wear to cover. In a Very Good silver Mylar-covered card slipcase, with tape holding on silver Mylar dried at inside opening, shot splits at two seams; rubbing and light bubbling to Mylar. One of 1,000 copies originally printed. Item #140939342

 $8,500

Los Angeles: Edward Ruscha, 1966 [1970]. First edition, second printing lacking the extra flap at the last fold. Signed by Ed Ruscha in pencil on the verso of the front cover. Near Fine, with several tiny spots to wraps, and light creasing to the spine, in a Fine silver Mylar-covered card slipcase. A stunning copy, signed by the author, and housed in a custom made clamshell case. Item #160517001

 $5,000

Beverly Hills / New York: Gagosian Gallery, 1998. First edition, first printing. Signed by Edward Ruscha during the New York exhibition, inscribed "For the library at Casa McGrath" and dated Feb. 2, '99. Publisher's black cloth over boards with titles in blind. Near Fine with light shelf wear and a scuff to the front cover. An exhibition catalog featuring Ruscha's work at the Gagosian Gallery, with a shows in Beverly Hills and New York. Scarce with the artist's signature. Item #140937458

 $850

Los Angeles: Edward Ruscha, 1976. Second edition, one of 2000 printed. Signed by Ed Ruscha on the front free endpaper. Near Fine with light soiling and light toning to wraps. A lovely copy, signed by the photographer. Item #140938654

 $1,650

Los Angeles: Edward Ruscha, 1970. First Edition. Near Fine with a bit of foxing to the top edge of the page block. In glassine dust jacket, which shows toning, waviness, a small light stain, and light chipping at the spine ends. Item #170121014

$950

Los Angeles: [Self Published], 1967. First edition. Signed by Edward Ruscha on the first blank page. Cream colored wraps in spiral binding. About Fine, with two top spirals indented and minor shelf wear to covers. A collaboration between Ed Ruscha, Mason Williams and Patrick Blackwell, in which they painstakingly document dropping a standard office-model Royal typewriter from a speeding Buick in the desert. One of 1,000 copies originally printed. Item #140939345

 $4,500

Los Angeles: Edward Ruscha, 1965. First edition. Signed by Edward Ruscha on the first blank page. One of 700 copies, bound in publisher's printed white printed wrappers, Near Fine, with light toning at edges, light scuff to rear cover. In glassine wrapper, which is trimmed slightly short, toned and lightly chipped, and with an area of soiling. Uncommon. Item #140939346

 $9,500

Los Angeles: [Self Published], 1967. First edition. Signed by Edward Ruscha on the first blank page. One of 2,413 copies, bound in publisher's printed white printed wrappers, in glassine. Near Fine with light toning , light soiling and light wear to covers. Glassine toned,with a small chip at the foot and a larger chip at the head of the spine affecting the adjacent panels. Ruscha hired a local aerial photographer, Art Alanis, to capture the oddities of Los Angeles parking lots from above. Item #140939341

 $3,500

Los Angeles: Edward Ruscha, 1970. Second Edition. Fine, in Near Fine glassine wrapper with minute chipping at spine ends, light edge wear, faint toning, and a small circular sticker and a small price sticker to the rear panel. A very fresh copy, and one of 3,000 copies in the second edition. Item #170626001

 $750