Andy Warhol: Seven Illustrated Books (1952–1959) XXL Taschen Book

This is a collection and unique reissue of Andy Warhol's 1950s hand-drawn books, created during his pre-fame years. This portfolio contains meticulous reprints of all seven of his books, reproduced as closely as possible to the original and presented in an accordion case. Complete with an XL-sized guidebook contextualizing Warhol’s life alongside his unique creations, this edition offers an unparalleled glimpse of Warhol’s budding genius.

The seven books make play with styles and genres as much as with design, materials and formats. The lithograph portfolio A Is for Alphabet devotes a page to each letter of the alphabet, with illustrations complemented by stumbling three-line verses that tell of strange encounters between man and animal. In the Bottom of My Garden is both a Warhol twist on a children’s book and a covert celebration of gay love. Wild Raspberries, meanwhile, is a spoof cookbook with a cornucopia of adventurous recipes on 19 portrait-format pages of instructions and illustrations.

This colorful portfolio is supplemented by an XL-sized, 56-page guidebook introducing each of Warhol’s illustrations. Complete with rarely seen photographs of the artist, inspirational ephemera and commercial assignments, it contextualizes Warhol’s 1950s art, offering a glimpse into his early creative process as well as his endearing, playful character.

The editor

Reuel Golden is the former editor of the British Journal of Photography and the Photography editor at TASCHEN.

The contributing author

Nina Schleif is a German art historian, Americanist and curator. In 2013, she initiated and curated the first exhibition anywhere on Andy Warhol’s oeuvre in books at Museum Brandhorst in Munich. She also edited and co-authored the exhibition catalog Reading Andy Warhol. Backed by a recent Smithsonian fellowship, she has written a monograph on Warhol’s 1950s drawings that will be published in 2017. 

Hardcover, 13.6 x 18.7 in., 284 pages.

Includes 56-page supplementary booklet, in cardboard box with handle.