Analphabet (1947)

[Man Ray]


Man Ray's drawings of the letters A-Z, published here for the first time. The drawings were created in 1947 whilst Man Ray was in California and a year before the publication of his Alphabet for Adults, Copley Galleries, 1948. Each letter of the alphabet is given a three-dimensional form, differing from the word and illustration format in Alphabet for Adults. Analphabet was possibly a spring-board for the 1948 work. This copy is inscribed by the book's editor and publisher Timothy Baum - 'Alan's Copy / That's All / Alan's Copy / Thanks / The Editor / (London, July '74)'. Baum is a noted scholar and specialist in Surrealist and Dada art.


Man Ray. Edited by Timothy Baum. Nadada Editions. New York. 1974. Limited to 600 copies. Created in 1947 and first published here in 1974. Paperback, 12mo; illustrated silver wrappers. [c.60 pages.] 26 line drawings reproduced on rectos only; silver leaf at each end. English. 155 x 107mm. 0.1kg. . Very good; slight shelf wear, slight toning to pages.