Inscribed Copy of Man Ray's Alphabet for Adults, With Additional Inscribed Photo

Man Ray. ALPHABET FOR ADULTS. Beverly Hills: Copley Galleries, 1948. First edition. Limited edition; one of 500 copies printed by Lynton R. Kistler. Inscribed by the artist on the front free endpaper: "To Cornelia — / Some adults never grow up .... / you are one of my favorites. / Man Ray 1949." Original beige linen-backed illustrated boards; no dust jacket, as issued. Thin 4to; unpaginated, with title page, one text page, followed by (38) b&w illustrations by Man Ray.

Also included with the book is a small photograph (3 3/4 x 2 5/8 in.) depicting Man Ray in the foreground next to his metallic blue Graham-Paige Hollywood Supercharged sedan parked along the Pacific Coast Highway, with the Villa de Leon in the background, 1940s, inscribed on the verso: "many thanks for your kind / greetings - and the check / The picture on the back does / not remind me of your / place, but it is one of / the sights of Malibu. We'll / see you soon / Julie + Man."

11 3/8 x 8 3/4 in.

A Private North Carolina Collection

Man Ray moved to Los Angeles in 1940, going against the grain by choosing to work on the West Coast rather than go to New York like many other artists during WWII. It was here that he met and married Juliet. Soon after arriving in L.A. he found that "It was inconvenient, not having a car" and he decided to purchase one. He described his new car as "a low, closed body, four-seater, completely streamlined without any excess chrome trimmings, the finish, metallic blue, the interior blue, my favorite color. I could see myself in it with my bright blue tweed jacket livening up the color. The sign in the window gave technical details saying something about a built-in supercharger. I sensed the old excitement when I had acquired my first car." (Man Ray, Self Portrait, 1963, p. 333-334)

Man Ray designed Alphabet for Adults during his time in L.A., and this first edition was printed by the important California-based lithographer Lynton Richards Kistler.

Boards with only light wear including minor scuffing and grime, some sunning, corners bumped, and slight wear to spine ends; mild foxing on the interior of the upper board and an occasional spot on a couple of leaves; ghosting on free endpapers; leaves extremely clean. A single sheet dated "1947" and labeled "Julie and / Man Ray" taped to front free endpaper, with the photograph attached to the sheet with two pieces of tape at the upper edge subsequently impacting the image but not the inscription on the verso. A beautiful copy of the book; better than most, and easily very good.