HOCKNEY, David (b. 1937). Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. London: Petersburg Press, 1970.

Limited "Edition B," no. 76/100, signed by Hockney. With his international reputation burgeoning by the end of the 1960s, and with more people wanting his paintings than there were paintings, Hockney found much commercial success in the sale of his prints and decided to take up a project dedicated exclusively to printmaking—illustrating fairy tales. After reading over 200 of the Grimm Brothers’ works, Hockney personally selected six tales, which were newly translated for the project by Heiner Bastian, based on the creative opportunities that came to his mind. Hockney was insistent that the book should be bound rather than issued loose as an “art” book, that it may be read as a storybook with the images preceding their respective text. The work was preceded by a miniature version, present here, produced by the Oxford University Press, and remains a major work in Hockney’s ever-expanding oeuvre. (Sykes, Biography, 1937-1975, pp. 220-224).

Folio (454x309mm). Bound volume only, without the suite of six loose etchings. Frontispiece etching and aquatint followed by 38 etched plates most with aquatint and some with drypoint. Signed below limitation statement in pencil: “David Hockey Ed B 76/100”. Original blue leather, black lettering to spine (corners bumped, some marks to boards). WITH: Miniature edition (103x73mm). (Some pencil marks internally.) Original blue leather stamped in silver.