Leonard Baskin (1922-2000). "Drawings for the Iliad" (Delphic Arts, New York City, 1962) including 60 lithographs after drawings by Baskin. Accompanied by 6 original etchings (2 impressions each of "Hephaistos", "Ares", and "Homer") hand-signed in pencil by Baskin, 3 numbered XLII/LX (42 of 60) in pencil + page from edition XLII (42) of a deluxe portfolio of 150 lithographs after Baskin's pen and ink wash drawings published by Delphic Arts in New York that same year (also with the title "Drawings for the Illiad") that reads in part, "150 copies … have been published … The paper throughout is Fabriano … text … printed at the Gehenna Press … quotations are Lattimore’s translation … The edition has been arranged as follows. Copies number one through ninety are accompanied by three original etchings by Leonard Baskin. Copies numbred I-LX have an extra suite of etchings …" All is protected in an original 1962 Delphic Arts portfolio cover. Size (portfolio): 26.875" L x 20.625" W (68.3 cm x 52.4 cm)

According to Princeton University Special Collections, Firestone Library, Graphic Arts Collection (where all the variations of publications reproducing Baskin's drawings have been collected): " Richard Lattimore's now-classic translation of Homer's The Iliad was first published by the University of Chicago Press in 1951. A decade later, the Press invited the artist Leonard Baskin (1922-2000) to produce drawings for a lavish illustrated edition, which came out in 1962. That same year a deluxe portfolio of 150 lithographs [seen at the top] after Baskin’s pen and ink wash drawings was published by Delphic Arts in New York, with the title Drawings for the Iliad. The first 90 copies included an additional three etchings, which were also distributed separately (two copies of each etchings) under the same title. If that isn't complicated enough, an exhibition of Baskin's drawings traveled to multiple venues in 1962 and an exhibition catalogue published under the same title.

Leonard Baskin was a 20th century "Renaissance Man" - a highly respected sculptor, printmaker, writer, and watercolorist. His prints included mythological, classical, and biblical scenes as well as portraits and floral studies. Baskin studied at Yale University from 1941 to 1943 and received his B.A. at the New School for Social Research in 1949. He also founded Gehenna Press which specialized in fine book production and taught printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts as well as Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts from 1953 until 1974. Baskin's artworks are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Vatican Museum, the Smithsonian Institute, the Tate Gallery in London, and other elite institutions. His noted public sculptural commissions include pieces for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial as well as the Holocaust Memorial in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Baskin also received many prestigious honors, such as a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Jewish Cultural Achievement Award. He was also honored with numerous retrospective exhibitions at institutions including the Smithsonian Museum, the Albertina Museum, and the Library of Congress.

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#174757

6 original etchings (2 impressions each of "Hephaistos", "Ares", and "Homer") are hand-signed in pencil by Baskin, 3 numbered XLII/LX (42 of 60) in pencil. Impressions are strong. Portfolio is in very good condition - just a few stray marks/stains and abrasions - with nice leather ties. Pages show slight age wear. Very nice overall.