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What is the meaning of '1 st.' on a print ?
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 1st state (in Slovak). Bookplate by K.Felix (SK)
You can find this indication sometimes on bookplates (or other graphic art) which have been carried out in very laborious techniques, such as etchings, or in which a combination of techniques is used.
Because the artist can not achieve the desired result in one single step, he sometimes makes a proof between the two (or more) steps of the process for following up the result. These proofs are called 'states'. So '1 st.' means 'first state, '2 st.' means second state and so on. It sometimes regards very subtle details as in the bookplate shown alongside. |
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Ab Steenvoorden (NL)
opus 45, 1985. 1st state. |
Ab Steenvoorden (NL)
op. 45, 1985. Definite version. |
In other cases the states can be significantly different from the definite version.
Mostly there is only one print of each state or at most a couple of them. In this last case they often are numbered, for example '1st. state 1/2' or in Roman numerals. So they are very rare and they seldom leave the artist's studio. They also reveal a little bit of the artist's way of work. As they are very rare, they normally are more pricey than final version prints of the regular edition. |