THE SMITHS WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING PROOF ARTWORK SLEEVE MORRISSEY

	£		102
	$		135

The Smiths.
"William It Was Really Nothing"
Paper "Proof" Sleeve. U.K Issue RT 166
Sleeves were issued by condor litho printers whom were Rough Trades Official printers of these proof sleeves.
Printed on gloss paper stock i.e. This is what you call the pre proof stage which is before the card proof stage. The paper measures  15" by 8" and shows the front and back of this iconic sleeve which features British actor Billie Whitelaw. The picture is a still from Charlie Bubbles, a movie directed by Albert Finney in 1967. Apparently Whitelaw was "more than happy" to appear on the cover..   
As far as i can make out this looks like the released version of the sleeve except there are differences being the image of Billie Whitelaw is sharper and the colours brighter in contrast to the released sleeve.
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.
 The song is popularly believed to have been written by Morrissey about his short-lived friendship with Billy Mackenzie, lead singer ofAssociates. The compilation Associates: Double Hipness released in Aug 2000 included the song "Stephen You're Really Something" recorded by Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine during the Associates reunion in 1993 as a tribute to "William, It Was Really Nothing". Morrissey himself has said of his song: What 'William It Was Really Nothing' is about is... it occurred to me that within popular music if ever there were any records that discussed marriage they were always from the female's standpoint - female singers singing to women: whenever there were any songs saying 'do not marry, stay single, self-preservation, etc'. I thought it was about time there was a male voice speaking directly to another male saying that marriage was a waste of time... that, in fact, it was 'absolutely nothing'.

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.