Welcome

The books described here are only a tiny fraction of an estimated 30,000 books and exhibition catalogues currently in stock. The great majority are on modern and contemporary art and artists--Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Cobra, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Fluxus and so on. You also will find photography and unusual books in other areas.

Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America

Hungarian caricatures, 1933. For a unique album from Budapest of brilliant, original caricatures worthy of publication and exhibition, please click here.

An additional 40,000 art periodicals include the world's largest holdings of Artforum, Art in America, and High Performance, plus many others.

Shipping is free for most items to US addresses and for some items to international addresses. Please see individual descriptions.

Two free, on-line indexes, to the early years of Artforum and to High Performance (partial), are open to all.

Visitors are welcome by appointment at my nearly invisible offices in central La Jolla, where good restaurants abound and cultural treasures include three other antiquarian dealers within a hundred yards, the Athenaeum (a music and art library), San Diego's Museum of Contemporary Art, several first-rate galleries, and a remarkable private map museum. Nearby are the Salk Institute, the University of California with its splendid special collections, the La Jolla Playhouse, and of course our beaches. Or simply send an email with your inquiries.

We have been members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers since 1971.

Featured Items

FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **Wien: Galerie Grünangergasse 12, 1972. White on green. About 59 x 42 cm. Folded in 4 (about 29.5 x 21 cm). Some wrinkling.

Dieter Rot. Poster
Roth, Dieter
FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **Wien: Galerie Grünangergasse 12, 1972. White on green. About 59 x 42.. more
Price: $200.00

FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **Vancouver: University of British Columbia, Fine Arts Gallery, 1968. 32 illustrations on 15 plates + [40] pp. Decorated front cover & pasteboard rear cover, bound with brass fasteners. 27.9 x 21.5 cm. The first part of the publication reproduces correspondence between Rockman and the curator Alvin Balkind, including various health crises. The rest is descriptions by the artists of the works illustrated. A quotation by John Constable provides part of the rationale for this early conceptual exhibition of randomly selected and randomly displayed contemporary artifiacts: "My limited and abstracted art is to be found under every hedge and in every lane, and therefore nobody thinks it worth picking up." Light stain on front cover; corners bumped.

Random sample, N=42
Rockman, Arnold, ed.
FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **Vancouver: University of British Columbia, Fine Arts Gallery, 1968. 32 illustrations on.. more
Price: $150.00

FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **New York: Roaring Fork Press, 1965-1971 (numbers 8 & 10 published by Aspen Communications). 10 .5volumes. This imaginative publication includes work by and about Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Samuel Beckett, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Marcel Duchamp, Marshall McLuhan, Susan Sontag, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, and Gary Snyder, among many, many others. Each issue comes in a box or envelope containing many parts. There are 11 sound recordings and a reel of film in the set. It includes both the very rare 6A and its even rarer progenitor, Manipulations (NY: Judson Publications, 1967; 500 copies). Both consist of loose sheets in envelopes designed by Ralph Ortiz. Manipulations contains 12 colorful sections from the "12 Evenings of Manipulations" at the Judson Church Gallery printed on legal-size mimeograph paper folded in half (each section has a varied number of pages), and all but the Kaprow (as issued) contain an offset photographic image from the performance plus objects and other supplementary material. Participants include Allan Kaprow, Al Hansen, Kate Millet, and Nam June Paik. The interim issue No. 6A printed only the unillustrated program notes. Condition: all pieces present except as noted: No. 1, 1965 -- The black box; near fine, with two light creases in the cover of the box and a split on the front edge; a skinned spot (black) on the front of the box. No. 2, 1966 -- The white box; some wear to box and light soil; cover joint cracked. No. 3, December 1966 -- Pop Art issue with light cover wear and one small tear in front edge of box. No. 4, Spring 1967 -- the McLuhan issue; spine joints cracked 1 cm at top & 1 break in the usual place in the front edge of the box; a few light spots. Nos. 5+6. Fall-Winter 1967 -- Minimalism issue; complete except for Aspen renewal form; light wear to box. No. 6A, 1968/69 -- fine contents in expertly mended envelope. Manipulations, 1966 -- fine contents in expertly mended envelope. No. 7, Spring-Summer 1968/70 -- The British issue; complete in 14 parts (not 15, per table of contents); lightweight folded box deformed as usual, with repairs and tears at the ends of the cover hinge; in original mailing wrapper to Wittenborn; a few short tears and a crease at the left edge of the flap. No. 8, Fall-Winter 1970-1971 -- Art/Information/Science issue. No. 9, Winter-Spring, 1970 -- "Dream Weapon" psychedelic issue; lacks subscription form; fold rubbed and top end of fold torn. No. 10, 1971 -- the Asia issue; incomplete copy with 7 of 15 items; no case; this atypical issue devoted to classic Japanese screen paintings and other similar works has little connection with the prior issues. For a (nearly) complete list with pictures of the contents of all issues, please visit http://www.ubu.com and click on "Aspen." A marked set of these sheets accompanies each issue.

Aspen: the magazine in a box. Numbers 1-9, including the rare 6A and the rarer Manipulations. Also contains a partial copy of number 10, the Asian issue. Edited by Phyllis Johnson
Johnson, Phyllis
FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **New York: Roaring Fork Press, 1965-1971 (numbers 8 & 10 published by.. more
Price: $12,000.00

FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **Los Angeles: Gemini G.E.L., 1976. A combined prospectus and catalogue of a suite of prints in the form of a paper scroll 8 inches tall by 8 feet long. 3 photographs and 8 reproductions of lithographs (the originals are 67-1/2 x 40-1/2 inches). Made of two lengths of paper joined together and housed in a small tube with plastic caps and bearing an address label and postage. A removable title band secures the roll. Oldenburg's native wit and pure drawing skill transcend the limitations of Pop Art (in this writer's opinion). "Because of the pejorative verbal implications of the word 'screw,' Oldenburg has found it nearly impossible for his large-scale, public proposals regarding the Screw to be seriously considered." Very fine. Another copy is available at $125 in the tube but lacking the plastic caps and the removable title band.

Claes Oldenburg: the soft screw. Essay by Melinda Wortz, with added comments by the artist
Oldenburg, Claes
FREE domestic or international shipping with direct order. **Los Angeles: Gemini G.E.L., 1976. A combined prospectus and catalogue of a.. more
Price: $175.00

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