BOX OF PIN-UPS

First edition of David Bailey's iconic collection of Swinging Sixties London portraits. Publisher's original card clamshell box, containing 36 loose photographic plates with biographical note of the sitters (by Francis Wyndham, who at the time was editor of 'Queen' magazine) on the verso. Complete with the often discarded brown plain paper square, but without the piece of corrugated cardboard, inserted on issue purely as packaging. The card box is in worn but entirely original condition with small splits to the corners. All of the photographic plates are present as called for, the David Hicks plate that has some pitting to the paper surface, particularly visible across the upper image, and there are a few foxing spots elsewhere, otherwise the contents are in excellent condition.

Issued in an unknown print-run, it was likely intended for the Box of Pin-Ups to be broken up and the prints individually framed, therefore few complete sets remain. Those that do are usually encountered with the original box defective or heavily repaired. The sitters included Mick Jagger, Terence Stamp, Brian Jones, Kasmin, Jean Shrimpton, John Lennon & Paul McCartney, Cecil Beaton, Rudolf Nureyev, Michael Caine, David Hockney, Lord Snowdon, the Krays and others. This remains the sole printing; Lord Snowdon's objection to the inclusion of the notorious Kray twins portrait has been cited as the reason that no second or American edition was produced.