Hello and thank you for looking. For your consideration is an unbelievably rare original copy of Frank Lloyd Wrights, Wasmuth Portofolio. This portfolio needs little introduction as it is often hailed as the most important collection of architectural design work of the last 200 years. This particular Wasmuth, is incomplete, as many are. The complete Wasmuth comes in 2 volumes, with a total of 72 plates, containing 100 lithographs. This Wasmuth includes one of the volumes, however it contains 52 plates, with plates from both Volumes. Many of the plates have a tissue paper overlay with additional images and structures. Each plate bears the telltale embossed Frank Lloyd Wright square logo and name. In addition to the 52 plates, the portfolio has many pages of texts written on thin Tissue paper, in German, without English translation (the later Wasmuths contain English translation). The text includes a complete Table of Contents listing the Plates (Tafels). The lack of translation dates this to 1910, the year the Wasmuth was published, or very near. As you can see, this Wasmuth has suffered some water damage. The water has created some deterioration of the front cover (the back cover is fine), and a good number of the plates do have some water staining. I have included a number of pictures of the plates to illustrate the range of staining. Many plates have almost no staining at all. The reason that such a small number of Wasmuth folios remain, is most were consumed in the fire at Taliesin. It has been suggested to me that this copy may have survived this fire, which would account for the water damage. This particular Wasmuth belonged to a fellow of Taliesin, and student/friend of Frank Lloyd Wrights, and a very skilled architect in his own right. While completeness and condition certainly influence the value of this piece, the extreme scarcity of the Wasmuth results in incomplete and damaged copies that still retain substantial value. This is at the extreme low range of the estimate I received from Swann Galleries. Individual plates generally sell from several hundred to several thousand dollars. Below is a list of the plate numbers (Tafels) included in this Portfolio. Thank you and best of luck. The item “Original Wasmuth Portfolio Frank Lloyd Wright 1910, 1 Of Only 30 Remaining” is in sale since Saturday, August 18, 2018. This item is in the category “Books\Antiquarian & Collectible”. The seller is “bassplayer1979″ and is located in Chandler, Arizona. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Original/Facsimile: Original