This is the limited edition of this portfolio. It is signed & numbered by the artist on the envelope and has a fifth extra plate not in the general edition.
Four 11" x 14" color plates & one 11" x 14" black & white plate in a black & white illustrated envelope. Humidity has sealed the envelope flap shut.
Four watercolored pen & ink illustrations made especially for this portfolio.
Limited edition portfolios were a phenomenon of the 1970s and 80s. They grew out of a greater appreciation of comic and fantasy artists. Middle-Earth lead the way publishing a 1973 portfolio of Frank Frazetta drawings that quickly sold out its 500-copy print run. It was followed by Barry Smith's Tupenny Conan Portfolio in 1974 and another Frazetta portfolio, The Lord of the Rings, in 1975. This lead to a decade of large format, limited edition portfolios: a suite of new illustrations created without restrictions or censorship, with better printing on better paper, reproduced in a large size, to fully appreciate the artwork.