CLASSIC SERIES
Songs of Innocence and Experience
Joel-Peter Witkin

21st was very successful with their two Platinum Series books on the work of Joel-Peter Witkin and William Blake. They found, however, that there was an interest in the work from individuals who could not afford the Platinum books...the birth of the Classic Series:

Classic Series (Ltd. Ed. of 915):  The new Songs of Innocence and Experience book combines the two texts and 22 of the classic images that appeared in the platinum versions. These images are accompanied by 40 never before published images of Witkin's most recent work (including color plates) all printed in a new 10 color, ultra high resolution offset process on 100% cotton Arches paper.

There are very few books of English poetry that exist in more editions than these Songs, but no edition before now has ever attempted to resee Blake's actual Vision in the fabric of a later time. Witkin's Blake is as important a contribution to art as it is to mystical thought. The words of the greatest Western visionary of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have now been translated into visual images by the greatest Western visionary of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, yet the timeless content of their work is the same.

Photographs by Joel-Peter Witkin; Poetry by William Blake; Text John Wood; Design by Carolyn Eckert; 10 color printing and binding by Yon Art; Arches 100% cotton rag paper

Price Classic Series:
EUR 330 (incl. 7% VAT for EU residents)
US$ 460 (Non-European Union residents)

Classic Reserve Series (Ltd. Ed. of 70): sold out
There is also a second version of the signed, boxed book that includes a signed, free-standing platinum print of EVE KNIGHTING DAGUERRE (the image on the cover of the book). This is limited to only 70 copies and will escalate in price soon. The image is an oval (see left), it measures 11x14" on 16x20" paper.