THE SMITHS LOUDER THAN BOMBS RELEASED 12' PROOF ARTWORK SLEEVE

	£		82
	$		109

The Smiths.
"Louder Than Bombs"
Cardboard Inner Gatefold "Proof" Sleeve. U.K Issue Rough 255
Sleeves were issued by condor litho printers whom were Rough Trades Official printers of these proof sleeves.
Printed on card stock i.e what a normal 12" from the 80's would have been printed on and the card measures 25" by 13" and shows the front and back of this iconic sleeve which features Shelagh Delaney, photo from the Saturday Evening Post, 21 October 1961. Plus sleeve feature all the lyrics to the songs on the lp.


The sleeve is a totally different colour to the releases U.K. sleeve and if you remember this sleeve was released in a brown and not orange plus the image of Shelagh Delaney is sharper and the colours brighter in contrast to the released sleeve.
I suppose you could look at the copies on ebay to see the differences.     Only 4 of these were printed. 
The condition of the sleeve is near mint as i have kept them in professional storage boxes in a cool,dark and damp free environment. Also an added bonus is all my items come from a smoke and pet free home. 
Up for auction is a proof sleeve for the above release for the sole purpose of seeing what the sleeve would look like aesthetically before they went to print. These mock sleeves were printed up for Joe Slee who was the art co-ordinator for Rough Trade Records. I came across these pieces of historic art around 1998 and was just bold over by the history of it all its not everyday you come across items like these and there so stunning to look at and hopefully my pictures will try to allay this to you.
I purchased these items from a person who i cannot name but they did work at Rough trade up and till they closed in the 1990's. These pieces of art pop history are genuine, not re-worked prints i can and will 100% guarantee this and anything else i will be selling.
Hopefully these items will appeal to you as much as they did to me over a decade ago and i think there's something here for every kind of enthusiast and every type of collector from the completest to the occasional collector but i must stress that these individual proofs are very rare and were not made in the 100's they were very limited mostly to only 6 or 7 of each and others that i own are less than that number as they were only made so that Caryn Gough,Joe slee and Morrissey could view them to see if they had the finished product they all liked or to view alternate versions of sleeve. These are very rare items indeed and it's unusual to find any bands proof sleeves never mind The Smiths proof sleeves. Here's a chance to be the envy of the Smiths collecting world.
I have been an avid Smiths and Morrissey collector for over 20 years and enjoyed every minute of collecting you know that searching for an item, the smell the feel and the satisfaction you feel when you find the one or see and hear new things its a great buzz.  I hadn't planned to sell any of my collection until my world was turned upside down as my wife was diagnosed with "cancer" and now i want to start selling my collection to raise some money so i can take her away to New York a place she has always wanted to go. I will be posting items up over several weeks until its gone. So if you like the items I'm posting up on here make sure you keep coming back weekly.
Louder Than Bombs is a compilation album by The Smiths. It was released as a double album in March 1987 by their Americanrecord company, Sire Records. Its highest chart position was number 63. Popular demand prompted their British record company,Rough Trade, to issue the album domestically as well. Upon its release in the UK in May 1987, it reached number 38 on the Britishcharts. In 2003, the album was ranked number 365 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1990.
The sleeve for Louder Than Bombs, designed by Morrissey, features British playwright Shelagh Delaney of Salford, Greater Manchester. The photograph was originally published in the Saturday Evening Post after Delaney, at the age of 19, had made a striking literary debut with her play A Taste of Honey. The play inspired many early lyrics written by Morrissey, and the song "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" (included here) is based on the plight of the play's heroine, Jo, an unwed mother. The artwork proof sleeves will be posted flat and posters will be sent out in plastic tubes all carefully packaged to help prevent damage.
I will also combine postage costs to multiple winners where possible and i welcome bids from all over the world as i will ship items worldwide.
 All items and/or multiple items over the value of £40 will be sent recorded mail. Sorry no exceptions can be made as then we are all covered if things get damaged or lost GOD FORBID that would be tragic.
If i have missed something out that you need to know however large or small please email via ebay and i will get back to you as soon as i can with an answer.
Please note the auction starts at 99p i've only done this so everybody gets a fair chance of owning one of these spectacular pieces of pop Smiths Rough Trade history.
*******As for the postage and packaging prices quoted they are rough prices so please wait for me to send you an invoice after the auctions end with an exact price, possibly the NEXT DAY.  I can assure you it will be at cost. Its only the insurance that will have to be factored in.You never know it could be less than quoted********
Thanks to all who read this and good luck to you all in collecting and life.