Painting in the USA 1946 First Edition Alan Gruskin Doubleday Custom Bookplate

$50.00+ $7.99 shipping · total at checkout

• SizeOS
• ConditionGood

Size and condition above come from the listing. The description below is the seller’s own text.

Up for sale is a genuine, Stated First Edition (1946) copy of Painting in the U]],null,null,[],null,null,null,null,"",0]]--> by Alan D. Gruskin, published by Doubleday & Company, Inc. This massive mid-century folio provides an invaluable historic overview of post-WWII American art, containing 142 illustrations (63 in full color). It captures a pivotal moment in art history, featuring works from iconic mainstream contemporary masters of the era such as Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Sheeler, John Steuart Curry, Marsden Hartley, and Stuart Davis.This specific copy boasts fascinating, verified mid-century provenance and unique ephemera preserved inside, making it an extraordinary "association copy" that functions as a self-contained time capsule of a 1940s artist’s personal library. ****Provenance & Included Ephemera ****Custom Fine-Press Style Bookplate: Pasted to the inner front cover is the stunning, custom block-print personal bookplate of Elinor Whitehurst Edel (1911–1994). The artwork features a beautifully stylized prancing horse/unicorn inside a heavy border of grapevine leaves—an identical motif to the famous printer’s device used by San Francisco’s iconic mid-century publisher, The Colt Press. Period registries reveal that Elinor and her sister were actively involved in East Coast horse breeding, making this a highly personalized, custom piece of graphic art reflecting her life's passion.Poetic Handwritten Association Inscription: Woven seamlessly into the history of the bookplate is a neat, authentic ink gift inscription on the front free endpaper reading: "To Elin — for painting again, / Berne / July, 1949." This reveals that Elinor was not just a passive collector, but an active mid-century painter. The volume was gifted to her by a peer ("Berne") as an encouraging milestone to spark her return to the canvas three years after the book's publication.Archival Dust Jacket Flaps: Tucked safely inside the pages are two detached, vintage paper flaps saved by Elinor.The authentic front flap for this title, showing the vintage $7]],null,null,[],null,null,null,null,"",0]]--> by Harriet & Sidney Janis. The presence of this second flap proves Elinor was closely tracking, buying, and studying the major avant-garde and global modern art movements of the immediate post-war era.Condition DetailsSplit Grade: Fair/Good Binding / Very Good InteriorExterior Binding: The rough, oatmeal-colored linen boards show moderate-to-heavy surface dust tracking, edge fraying, and bumped corner tips consistent with its 80-year history. There is a prominent, vintage diagonal liquid stain line running across the front cover. The dark blue/black cloth spine is intact with standard age-darkening. The original paper dust jacket is missing. Interior Pages: Remarkably clean, bright, and tightly bound. The heavy woven paper stock shows light, natural age-toning along the margins but is completely free of severe foxing, tearing, or modern highlighting. Crucially, the inner hinges are solid and un-split, safely supporting this exceptionally heavy text block.

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Painting in the USA 1946 First Edition Alan Gruskin Doubleday Custom Bookplate $50.00

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