Peter Max Poster Book

New York: Crown Publishers, Inc, 1970. Limited First Edition. Second Printing before Publication, so stated on colophon page. Hardcover. Decorated cloth. Very Good Plus. For all those who can remember the Sixties, and thus weren't there, in Robin Williams' witty aphorism, here is your Express train to visit those hedonistic, if tumultuous, years! No. 127 of 150 in limitation, signed by Max and hardbound. With fantastical, flamboyantly colored cloth cover, with a disc-shaped flying saucer hovering over mountains and Saturn in the background, an image whose bright colors alone can't but pull one's gaze to it like a magnet! The cover is entirely different (truncated) from trade and later editions. Folio, 41.5 by 30 cm. Unpaginated, 28 glossy leaves, 14 of Max's memorable posters are presented as full-page color plates. Facing pages, mostly blank, provide short captions or quotations, which we are told are Max's verbal reactions to the posters. These often can also be treated as ersatz titles to the posters. Following the posters there is a two-page conversation, or interview, with Max in which he explains his art, his way of life, and his view of the younger generation. The last page has an arresting image of Saturn set in a blue circle patterned with stars. Max was a true orginal. He, probably more than anyone else, brought the psychedelic to art, as his art has come to represent and capture the pscyhedelic. And as the Sixties passed and the aesthetic associated with it lost some of its currency, Max's reputation certainly suffered. But that said, we are struck by the versatility on display in this small representation of his work from the late sixties. For here one can see how he also exploited collage, and did so in innovative and unexpected, even subtle, ways, and also, one can see the similarities, and probable influences, of earlier masters of the poster such as Alphonse Mucha. Condition: both the front and rear cover have been cracked along a diagonal line near the lower corner. The crack is more evident on the front cover, where it takes the form primarily of a long blister. On both the inside endpapers the crack is also visible. Yet there is no limpness to the cover and the defect is mainly visual. At that it isn't too conspicuous and we believe few will be greatly bothered by it. The cover also has a light film of soiling -- more like a dusting -- most of which can be erased if one makes the effort, but this is an issue one might easily not even notice. Title page with a few trivial spots and one short line of what might have been a small internal tear, now repaired. Light age toning apparent along edges of leaves. All this said, the copy is easily Very Good, and we think, without the cover crack, one coud grade it a Fine copy. (Inventory #: 008132)