Additions To Editions
You should know there are a few other additions to
the edition series. First you have what are called Artists
Proofs (noted as A/P). These work as an adjunct to the
edition and are essentially a way for the artist to produce
several extra prints. In times gone by when artists were
working with a print shop, a number of these prints would
be set aside, first-off-the-press, for the artist to check the
liveliness of the colors, to see the impact of the picture as a
reproduction and to determine if this was something they
would put their name on. These set aside proof-pieces
became what is called `artists' proofs'. Some artists will
charge a premium for these artists' proofs and may choose
to add a unique embellishment to them and enhance their
value.
Nowadays because technologies allow for very good
reproductions the first time over, artists' proofs are not
needed by the artist and are mostly sold as an adjunct to
the edition series. These proofs should not be more than
10% of the total edition size. Thus, if an artist does 100
pieces in the edition, you can expect there will be 8 or 10
artists' proofs. If the number of proofs is much higher than
10%, you should become suspicious about the integrity of
those behind the piece and make some strong inquiries
There is another adjunct type to the edition, which is
called Printer's Proofs (notes as: P/P). These essentially
work the same way as the artists' proofs and in the old days
they would be used by the printers themselves to check
colors and so on and so forth, but today they are basically
used as another addition to the edition itself, and again
should be no more than approximately 10% of the edition
size.