-a brief description of the 12 editions printed between 1799 and 1937


Printed in 1799, Los Caprichos was the first work Goya produced for sale as a single set. In 1803 Goya relinquished the plates to Charles IV, in return for a pension for his son. The plates remain with the Calcografia Nacional and have been used for restrikes over the years.

THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON THE HARRIS CATALOGUE

1. FIRST Edition 1799 (edition of approximately 300 sets)
Made for Goya and first offered for sale in 1799.
Fine quality, soft but strong, laid paper.
The sheets measure 320 X 220 mm. Note: for some reason, some auction records give sheet sizes as large as 358 x 260 mm for prints purporting to be from this edition.
Warm, lightish sepia ink. (Some plates printed in slightly greyer ink)
The plates are not beveled and the plate marks are inclined to cut deeply into the paper.
The tone, thickness and body of the handmade paper used are inclined to vary slightly.

2. SECOND Edition ca 1855
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia, Madrid;
The sheets measure 320 x 215 mm.
Sepia or dark umber ink. The different papers and inks are often mixed m the same set. Frequently Pls. 1-24 or 25 are on cream paper in sepia ink and the remainder are on whiter paper in dark umber ink. Some sets on the whiter paper are weakly inked and the impressions are inclined to be grayish.
The plates are not beveled with the exception of the top and bottom edges of Pl. 1.
The edition appears to have been very small.
This edition is well printed and the plates still show relatively little wear. Without its covers this set is hard to distinguish from the third.

3. THIRD Edition 1868
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia.
Strong absorbent wove paper similar to the 2nd edition.
The plates are not beveled except for Pl. 1.
Dark umber ink
The sheets measure 310 x 230 mm. Note: auction records give sheet sizes as large as 315 x 227 mm and 320 x 235 mm for prints purporting to be from this edition.
Harris states: "This edition is well printed and the impressions are still generally good."

4. FOURTH Edition ca 1878
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia.
The same paper, ink and cover as used for the third edition
The plates are beveled. (Some sets include unbeveled impressions presumably left over from the third edition.)
The edition was limited to 65.
This edition is inferior to the third.
After this edition, the plates do not appear to show any further deterioration and it is therefore likely that they were steel-faced when they were beveled before making this edition.

5. FIFTH Edition 1881 to1886
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia between 1881 and 1886.
Thick, absorbent, wove paper.
The sheets measure:
365 x260 mm., in grey cover;
330 x240 mm., in cream cover;
425 X 300 mm., deluxe edition.
Sepia or very rich sepia and black inks.
The plates are beveled.
The edition was limited to 210.
This edition varies in quality. A few sets are very well printed in sepia ink; they are clean-wiped, and there is no attempt to conceal the wear of the plates by trick printing. The normal issue in rich sepia or black inks is poor, and a deluxe edition is badly printed in black ink. There is a marked contrast between the very worn plates and those that are still well preserved.

6. SIXTH Edition 1890 - 1900
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia between 1890 and 1900.
Edition of 230
Strong, absorbent, wove paper.
Dark umber ink
The sheets measure: 340 x 240 mm., ordinary edition;
395 x 270 mm., deluxe edition.

7. SEVENTH Edition 1903 - 1905
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia between 1903 and 1905.
Yellowish laid paper.
Blue ink.
The plates are beveled.

8. EIGHTH Edition 1905 - 1907
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia between 1905 and 1907.
Very fine, thin, smooth, wove paper.
The sheets measure 355 X 255 mm.
Sepia and black inks.
The plates are beveled.
The edition was limited to 180.
This edition is distinguishable by the paper.

9. NINTH Edition 1908 - 1912
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia between 1908 and 1912.
Thick, very stiff, absorbent, wove paper.
The sheets measure 345 x 240 mm.
Dark umber ink.
The plates are beveled.
This edition is well printed and is identifiable by the paper.

10. TENTH Edition 1918 - 1928
Made in the Calcografia Nacional for the Real Academia between 1918 and 1928.
Heavy laid paper with the watermark "Jose Guarro" and a portrait of Goya wearing a cap.
Pale, umber ink similar in tone to the1st edition.
The sheets measure 365 x 260 mm.
170 sets were made. This edition is well printed and is the best after the 4th.

11. ELEVENTH Edition 1929
Made in the Calcografia of the Escuela Nacional de Artes Grafica for the Seville Exhibition.
Two types of paper; some paper left over from the previous edition of 1918-28, and laid paper with the watermark Guarro.
The sheets with Guarro watermark measure 340 x 255 mm.
Sepia ink.
The plates are beveled.
The edition was limited to 100.
This edition is well printed and is similar to the tenth.

12. TWELFTH Edition 1937
Made by Ruperez in the Calcografia for the Ministerio de Instruccion Publica in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.
Three different types of paper: Old Japan, Imperial Japan, and laid paper with the watermark Arches.
The sheets measure 380 x 285 mm.
Inks varying from rich sepia to dark umber.
The plates are beveled.

Five sets numbered 1-5, on Old Japan paper, were issued in a fine parchment portfolio: three were dedicated in print to Stalin, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and the Republican President, Azaiia, and two sets are unaccounted for.

Fifteen sets numbered 6-20, on Imperial Japan paper, were to be issued in a parchment portfolio.

The sets on Arches paper were limited to 130, to be numbered 21-150 and issued in a pasteboard portfolio, but few were actually printed.

Some sets have an embossed stamp in the lower right margins: the initials "CN" surmounted by a crest, are surrounded by a border which reads "Calcografia Nacional. Ministerio de Instruccion Publica'.
This edition is very well printed and is equal to the tenth. The impressions are richly inked and clean-wiped.


Harris's assessment of the relative merits of the editions:
Impressions of all the eighty plates are only perfect in the early impressions of the first edition (1799).
The second, third and fourth editions are still quite good.
The fifth and sixth editions are inferior to the tenth and twelfth.
The twelfth edition is the finest after the fourth.
Plates 1, 11, 32, 43, 58 wear particularly badly.
Plates 5,13,16, 54, 64 wear particularly well.