Twentysix Gasoline Stations by Ruscha, First Edition (4 results)

Softcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition; First Printing. First edition. Copy 303 of 400 copies. Near fine in white printed wrappers with orange titles in original transulucent vellum wrapper. Original asking price of $2.50 penciled on front flap. (Spine lightly toned on vellum overlay. Small bump at bottom edge running through text. ) (48pp. ) (5 1/2" X 7") Ruscha's FIRST artist book. ; 5 1/2" x 7"; 48 pages.

RUSCHA, Edward (illustrator). Los Angeles]: Edward Ruscha, 1962 [ie 1967]. Second edition, one of 500 unnumbered copies. Self published and printed by The Cunningham Press, Alhambra, California. The first edition was an edition of 400 numbered copies printed in 1963. Small quarto (7 x 5 1/2 inches; 179 x 140 mm). 48 pp. With numerous black-and-white photographs. Publisher's full printed wrappers lettered in red. In the original glassine dust jacket. Wittenborn and Company sticker on rear inner wrapper. Overall a fine copy. With numerous photosgrapsh by Ruscha of gasoline stations throughout the American southwest, including California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. "Twentysix Gasoline Stations, a modest publication consisting of black and white photographs with captions, is an iconic artist book. The photographs are of petrol stations, along the highway between Ruscha's home in Los Angeles and his parent's house in Oklahoma City. Clive Phillpot, writer, curator and former Director of the Library at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, observes that the photographs are not reproduced in a linear sequence, with five photographs out of order. Taken from the highway and often including large areas of forecourt or road, the shots appear to be simply factual records of the petrol stations. Each opening of the book reveals one or two photographs in varying but repeated layouts, with the photographs set in relatively large areas of white space. The captions consist of the name of the petrol station and its location (for example, 'Texaco, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles' and 'Flying A, Kingman, Arizona'). The front cover has the title printed in red as three separate lines, the stark brightness of the design muted by the wrap around protective cover. The book is the first in a sequence of photographic artist books by Ruscha. Twentysix Gasoline Stations was first published in 1963 (although the title page states 1962) in an edition of 400 numbered copies. It was subsequently republished in two unnumbered editions. Ruscha's books, and this one in particular, are considered seminal in the history of artist books." (Tate Gallery). HBS 68916. $3,250.

Second edition. Signed by the author. Original white paper covers printed in red, with the original plain tissue wrapper. Housed in a bespoke quarter black morocco solander box. Illustrated with photographs in black and white throughout. A very near fine copy, the binding square and tight, the covers bright and fresh with just a thin strip if very mild toning to the lower extreme edge of the spine. The contents are clean and bright. The original glassine has a small chip to the lower edge and mild toning. A very attractive example. Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the dedication page "To Paquerette / love / [drawn arrow] / Ed Ruscha". Ruscha's first book, initiating his much-imitated cut back, literal aesthetic. Produced cheaply and accessibly, Ruscha's signature style is sympathetic to Warhol's Pop Art movement and made without use of heavy paper or glossy hard covers. The twenty six gasoline stations follow Route 66 from West to East; Los Angeles, where Ruscha lives to Oklahoma City, where he grew up. The final station, at Groom in Texas, marks the beginning of the return journey. The first printing was issued in an edition of 400 copies in 1963. This second edition was issued in an edition of 500 copies in 1967. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

Softcover. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Glossy printed plain white wraps with original glassine jacket. 5.55" x 7.05" An extraordinary copy of the first of Ruscha's iconic publications, in pristine condition. The glassine jacket is all original and virtually unscathed, with the exception being a Lilliputian hole along the spine edge between the top and middle lines of text. The jacket exhibits some minor age-toning and offsetting from where this book set within a pile of two other Ruscha books for some period of time as if in a display. From what can be pieced together, this book was part of a group which was likely sent to a New York Art Book store as part of a marketing campaign to sell the books, which originally did not sell well for Ruscha. This is a first edition. TWENTYSIX GASOLINE STATIONS is dated 1962 on the title-page, and is an unnumbered copy of 400 copies printed in April 1963 by The Cunningham Press. An extraordinary copy.