Abbey Road by Iain Macmillan

An ultra-rare large format Beatles limited edition: in an edition of 1.

Iain Macmillan took the famous cover photograph of The Beatles crossing Abbey Road on 8 August 1969. 

Back in the early 2000s, when Iain Macmillan first offered signed limited editions of his work on the collectors market, the standard format was a 20 x 24 inch paper size with an approximate 17 x 17 inch image, in an edition of 25, each one signed and numbered on the front in the black margin in silver ink.  These proved extremely popular and all sold out very quickly. For each of the session photographs, Iain also created a large format version, in an exclusive edition of just one print. These large versions had an approximate 27 x 27 inch image size, and were signed and numbered 1/1.

Given the size of the edition, we come across these large-format 1/1s very infrequently these days. The owners are generally sitting tight. This doesn’t surprise me. Something happens at the larger scale, which makes these large-format versions really pop. The image area is 2.5 times larger than on the standard size examples, and that difference makes a striking visual statement.  

I’ve checked our records and the last time we had the chance to sell one of these rare large-format 1/1 editions was over ten years ago. 

We now have an example available, framed with low glare u/v filtered art glass and ready to hang. Framed dimensions are 38 x 38.5 inches. You can see it in the photograph above. It is the third frame in the sequence of six photographs taken by Iain Macmillan that day, and is signed and numbered 1/1 by Iain Macmillan on the front under the image area. In frame 3 The Beatles are walking in the same direction as the cover photograph, but with some typical London traffic in the background, including a London bus and a black cab. You can read about the shoot here.

This rare signed and numbered limited edition is in inventory, framed and ready to deliver. A complete gem. Please get in touch if you are interested in acquiring this important photograph.