Orig'63 "Queens Litho" Test Print Cover of The Beatles "Meet the Beatles " Album

$

1,300

ORIGINAL 1963 TEST PRINT COVER PRINTED BY QUEENS LITHOGRAPHING CORP., LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK

THE BEATLES ~ MEET THE BEATLES! (1963)

 “QU LITHO IN U.S.A. T2047” CROP MARK PRINT ON THE EDGE OF THE FRONT COVER SLICK

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Possibly the only surviving example of the 1963 test print sleeve of The Beatles 1st album “Meet The Beatles!” released by Capitol Records in January, 1964. After the design of the “Meet The Beatles!” cover’s artwork was finished, Capitol Records placed an order for printing the covers to the Queens Litho printing company.  Queens Lithographing Corp. was established in 1950 in Long Island City, New York and is known for printing all of the early US Beatles LP covers. The typographic printing is a complicated technological process which could be called an art. The imperfection of the existing technology in the 1960s frequently led to printing errors. The currently listed sleeve was one of the first ones that appeared during the process of test printing. The test turned out to be unsuccessful as the paste over slick on the front cover was affixed incorrectly in relation to the back cover. The “QU LITHO IN U.S.A. T2047” crop mark credit which was supposed to be at the top right corner and cropped if the slick was affixed correctly, ended up being uncropped and is located at the bottom left corner of the front cover. As a rule, these covers were meant to be destroyed and it’s impressive that this example has survived. The currently listed test print cover should be in a museum installation dedicated to The Beatles on Capitol Records. It has all of the print characteristics that subsequently were recognized as the traits of the 1st print cover, including the dark brown “Beatles” title on the front and the absent “George Martin” producer credit on the back. All this time the cover was located in a collection and stored under perfect conditions. Just think about the fact that this test print cover was the first out of 5.8 million sold examples of the “Meet The Beatles!” album. The cover comes with an original Capitol Records royal blue inner sleeve the very early 1st version vinyl with the Capitol Records rainbow labels without the BMI or ASCAP credits on either side and was pressed in limited quantity. 1st US Mono issue thick glossy vinyl pressing with the stamped 1st matrix numbers in the trail-off vinyl: Side 1 - T1-2047-G4 IAM; Side 2 - T2-2047-F3#3 IAM.

★

This one of a kind test print cover is graded as Excellent Minus. It doesn't have any splits, missing, pieces, soiling, writing or ring wear. The paste over slick on the front has a light mark / scratch at the bottom center which can be seen on some of the photos along with some light small indentation marks in a couple of places. The back cover is in Near Mint Minus condition. The vinyl retains its beautiful factory gloss and is in strong Very Good Plus condition visually with its audio being Excellent only having a few very light and barely noticeable non-feelable surface scuffs from the original inner sleeve, which is in Near Mint Minus condition and doesn't have any splits or tears. (I'm sure a lot of sellers would grade this vinyl as Excellent visually) The very early 1st  print labels are very clean and in Near Mint Minus condition. They don't have any scuffs, wear or spindle marks, perhaps just only one on Side 2 next to the spindle hole but it looks more like a light factory crease. The vinyl plays fantastic having a great Mono sound.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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