A single asterisk (*) denotes that there is likely to be some variation in the sheet size of paper used. The size given is that of the print included in the retrospective exhibition for which this catalogue was made.

Two asterisks (**) indicate that more than one paper was used over the course of printing. The paper stock specified is that of the exhibited proof.

Three asterisks (***) signify that the edition number written on the proof may well be over-optimistic. This mainly refers to the'Reaper' series which was the subject of the first exhibition of Hamilton's prints and the first to be offered to the public. The possibility of sales required that an edition size be marked. It is unlikely that more than half of any of these editions were printed.

A few prints present difficulty insofar as the measurement of image size is concerned, occasionally margins are used for casual-seeming inflexions, sometimes boundaries between margin and image are so nebulous that a demarcation could only be arbitrary. Where this occurs an image size has been omitted.

The word 'stage' has been used throughout to refer to trial printings that precede the editioned state of a plate: the word state suggests a variation in an edition. This usage does not necessarily comply with art historical practice (nor even to the system used by Richard Field in Image and Process, a companion volume to this catalogue). 'State and 'stage occur in print literature as almost synonymous terms, 'state simply denoting some printed deviation in the appearance of a print which distinguishes it f rom the standard edition. If stage proofs of any significance exist they are listed in the catalogue.

It has sometimes been difficult to ascertain the precise number of stencils used in some of the screenprints. 'A portrait of the artist by Francis Bacon'(76) is a case in point; all the screenings were made with virtually one colour, so it is difficult to detect the contribution of any single screen: many stencils were made and several were printed more than once since the whole endeavour was directed at building up a detailed impasto dreaming of a black Christmas'(80) used a great many stencils but
more stencils than colours because there were often multiple screenings of one colour; simulations of white gouache, for example, required seven different stencils each printing only white pigment. In other prints there may be less stencils than colours because several small openings on the stencil were sufficiently far apart to permit several different colours to be printed from the same screen. We have included information wherever there is some justification in assuming its accuracy, but some approximations are inevitable.

Media are given in the order that they were applied. Where more than one craftsman or company is involved in the production of a print we have tried to list each contribution in the sequence it was made.

Prior to item 54 all prints were produced by the artist for his own gratification; 'artist's proofs', as such, were not added to an edition for, in a sense, all copies printed were the artist's. Nor does the term 'printer's proof until 52 because the artist was the printer. Subsequent to 54 (the first print that might truly be said to have been 'published'), numbers of artist's and printer's proofs are difficult to determine until 62 when a principle was adopted of fixing the total of artist's proofs to 1 0% of the edition and numbering them. Printers, publishers and other collaborators, usually have one proof, plus (where relevant) a bon å tire'. Departures from this general practice are noted in the entries. Before item 62 it is likely that artist's proofs would have been less than the later custom.

To prevent the bibliography from becoming too unwieldy it has been restricted in its selection. It is specifically a print bibliography. Even a major catalogue, that of the retrospective exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in 1973, is omitted since it excluded printed works. One of the criteria is that an item is listed if it contains a reproduction of a print. An unillustrated text is given only if it has some particular relevance. A museum or gallery name in bold type means that the bibliographic item is a catalogue for a one-man show.

Those productions usually classified as multiples rather than prints are not included in the listing.
Richard Hamilton
Northend
July 1984