[LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB]. A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010.

THE FIRST COMPLETE RUN OF LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB PUBLICATIONS EVER OFFERED AT AUCTION.

589 works, comprising all of the primary publications listed in Limited Editions Club: A Collector’s Guide and Checklist 1929-2012 (Bill R. Majure, compiler). Various 8vo to folio sizes. Illustrated. Original publisher’s bindings; slipcases (some occasional light general wear).

LIMITED EDITIONS, most one of 1,500 copies, including:

TOLSTOY, Leo (1828-1910). Anna Karenina.1933. SIGNED BY NIKOLAI PISKARIOV. GEORGE MACY’S COPY WITH HIS INITIALS ON THE LIMITATION PAGE.

ARISTOPHANES (446 BCE-386 BCE). Lysistrata. 1934. SIGNED BY PABLO PICASSO. (No. 1,010)

JOYCE, James (1882-1941). Ulysses. 1935. SIGNED BY HENRI MATISSE. (No. 1,010)

DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge (“Lewis Carroll”) (1832-1898). Through the Looking Glass. 1935. SIGNED BY “THE ORIGINAL ALICE,” ALICE HARGREAVES. (No. 941)

The King James Version of the Holy Bible. 1936. 5 volumes. GEORGE MACY’S COPY WITH HIS INITIALS ON THE LIMITATION PAGE.

CLEMENS, Samuel Langhorne (“Mark Twain”) (1835-1910). Life on the Mississippi. 1944. SIGNED BY THOMAS HART BENTON. (No. 844)

FROST, Robert (1874-1963). The Complete Poems of Robert Frost. 1950. 2 volumes. SIGNED BY ROBERT FROST, THOMAS NASON, AND BRUCE ROGERS. (No. 824)

STOKER, Bram (1847-1912). Dracula. 1965. SIGNED BY FELIX HOFFMAN. (No. 1,354)

MARQUEZ, Gabriel Garcia (1927-2014). One Hundred Years of Solitude. 1983. SIGNED BY RAFAEL FERRER, GREGORY RABASSA, AND ALASTAIR REED. INCLUDES SEPARATE LITHOGRAPH BY FERRER. (No. 1,678)

PAZ, Octavio (1914-1998). Three Poems. 1988. SIGNED BY PAZ AND ROBERT MOTHERWELL. (No…)

O’HARA, Frank (1926-1966). Poems. 1988. SIGNED BY WILLEM DE KOONING. (No. 13)

The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis. 1989. SIGNED BY JACOB LAWRENCE. (No. 334)

CONRAD, Joseph (1857-1924). Heart of Darkness. 1992. SIGNED BY SEAN SCULLY. (No. 226)

HARRER, Heinrich (1912-2006). The White Spider. 1996. SIGNED BY HEINRICH HARRER. (No. 17)

HUGHES, Langston (1901-1967). Sunrise is Coming After While. 1988. SIGNED BY MAYA ANGELOU AND PHOEBE BEASLEY. (No. 261)

KING, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968). Letter from Birmingham City Jail. 2007. SIGNED BY FAITH RINGGOLD.

[With:] A large archive of supplemental materials related to the Limited Editions Club including a transcript of reminiscences given by Helen Macy to Columbia University Oral History Research Office in October 1978; an archive of letters exchanged between George and Helen Macy and Robert L. Dothard, designer and compiler of the first LEC bibliography Quarto-Millenary, as well as original drawings and punches used in its production and sample pages from various LEC publications reproduced within its pages.

[With:] A profusion of ephemera including pre-publication announcements, bibliographies, and original prospectuses which includes the very first ever printed, as well as the first application for membership with original return envelope.

The Limited Editions Club was founded in 1929 by George Macy, its purpose being to offer beautifully produced works of world literature with accompanying illustrations by some of the finest artists of the day. Each title was issued in numbers of 1,500 exactly and was sold to club members for an annual subscription fee of $10.00 (roughly $150.00 today). Throughout its early years, Macy commissioned original art by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Lynd Ward, Thomas Hart Benton, and Valenti Angelo, among others. Following Macy’s death in 1956 his wife Helen took over operations, and upon her retirement in 1968 handed the business over to their son Jonathan. Less than a decade later the company was sold to Sidney Schiff, whose love of modern art and literature breathed new life into Limited Editions Club publications. Works published during the Schiff era tended to focus more on modern authors and artists, with Schiff putting his own stamp on Macy's tradition of commissioning original artwork for LEC works by showcasing the works of Faith Ringgold, Robert Motherwell, Phoebe Beasley, Balthus, and others.

To request further details about this lot, please email [email protected]

Please contact the Auction Specialist for details.

Gretchen Hause

SVP, Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts, Chicago

[email protected]312.334.4229

Gretchen Hause joined the Books and Manuscripts Department at Hindman Auctions in 2017, after working for nearly 8 years as a specialist in the Books and Manuscripts Department at Christie’s in New York. During her tenure at Hindman, Gretchen has handled numerous books and maps for record prices, including the superb Mellon-Garden copy of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, sold in 2019 for the world auction record price of $564,500. She also secured and sold a rare copy of Palmatary’s 1857 pre-fire view of Chicago (the only copy in private hands) for nearly $200,000, and secured and auctioned a copy of Ratzer’s fine Plan of the City of New York for a world auction record $162,500.

In 2023, Gretchen secured the Fine Literature from the Collection of Richard C. McKenzie. The white-glove sale was 100% sold by lot, realizing nearly double the high estimate. In that same year, she served as head of sale for the Private Collection of Secretary Madeleine K. Albright, another white-glove sale which realized more than three times the low estimate. In 2019, Gretchen was responsible for the sale of the Library of a Midwestern Collector. The 86-lot sale achieved a record total for any sale for the department, setting the world auction record for Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and bringing strong prices for several scientific works, works on computing, and other notable high spots. In 2018, she secured and handled the Fine Cartographic and Printed Americana Collection of Eric and Evelyn Newman, which was 97% sold by lot, achieving the highest sale total at the time for a single-session auction in department history, and bringing several record prices. She also organized the successful sale of The Adventure & Exploration Library of Steve Fossett. The two-session sale realized a department record sold total at the time, and achieved a 100% sell through rate.

Prior to joining Hindman Auctions, Gretchen spent nearly 8 years in the Books and Manuscripts department at Christie’s in New York. While at Christie’s, she contributed to the successful sales of several collections, including the Dorothy Shea collection of fore-edge paintings (96% sold by lot) and duplicates from the Warren H. Corning Library of the Holden Arboretum, which were 95% sold by lot in 2013 to benefit the acquisitions fund. She also helped catalogue the Cornelius J. Hauck Private Botanical Library (92% sold by lot in 2016), and the American Literature collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, which was 95% sold by lot. She had the opportunity to work on a number of landmark single-owner sales, including those of the collections of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan and Huguette Clark, and the libraries of Kenneth Nebenzahl (exploration and maps), Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow (the art of book illustration), and Jean Perrette (travel and exploration), as well as the sale of the iconic Kelmscott printing press.

Gretchen has attended introductory and advanced bibliography and history of bookbinding courses at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, and holds a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature. She studied primarily British literature, with emphases in medieval and modern literature. Gretchen is a member of the Grolier Club, the Caxton Club, the Washington Map Society, and the Chicago Map Society. She currently serves on the board as Treasurer for the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies. She is an auctioneer, and has nearly 15 years of experience working with rare books and manuscripts. In addition to her commitment to the bibliophilic community, Gretchen is committed to public service as well, and is currently serving a 6-year term as a publicly-elected Commissioner for the Berwyn Park District in her hometown.

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[LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB]. A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010.

Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana

[LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB]. A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010.

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