WEEGEE (ARTHUR FELLIG) | Weegee Portfolio (Portfolio of 45 Photographs)

(New York: The Weegee Collection, 1986, a projected edition of 20 numbered copies and 6 'hors series' sets), a portfolio of 45 photographs, each with a 'The Weegee Collection' blindstamp in the margin, numbered sequentially and with number '1' in an unidentified hand in pencil on the reverse, 1936-52, printed in 1982 by Sid Kaplan; together with the printed title/colophon, foreword by Louis Stettner, and plate list.  Folio, gray pictorial cloth clamshell box, no. one in a projected edition of 26

Amber Film & Photography Collective, Newcastle upon Tyne, circa 1982

The photographs are in generally excellent condition. Each gelatin silver print is gently rippled, although this is primarily restricted to the margins. There are a few faint, tiny yellow stains in the lower right margin corner of 'U. S. Hotel' and 'Performers at Sammy's-on-the-Bowery.' There are faint gray marks in the lower margin of 'Bagel Man' visible only under very close inspection. The gray cloth portfolio box is faintly stained in a few places.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

The Weegee photographs in this portfolio show the full negative of many images hitherto known only in cropped versions.  Weegee’s old friend and one-time assistant Louis Stettner, along with Weegee's longtime companion Wilma Wilcox, assembled the sets of prints into portfolios.  It is unknown how many complete portfolios were sold or survive today.  A handful of sets were damaged in a storage warehouse flood before Wilcox’s death in 1993, and individual plates were sometimes sold.