THE SMITHS THE QUEEN IS DEAD UNRELEASED INNER PROOF ARTWORK SLEEVE MORRISSEY

	£		88
	$		117

"The Queen Is Dead"
Cardboard "Inner Gatefold Proof" Sleeve. U.K Issue Rough 96
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 LP from the 80's would have been printed on and the card measures 25" by 13" and shows The inner gatefold artwork of this iconic sleeve which features The band outside the now legendary The Salford Lads club which is in Salford Manchester.  Only 6 of these were printed in this work in progress stage. The picture was taken by Stephen Wright who was Morrissey's favorite photographer at the time.
The sleeve is different to the finished released inner sleeve gatefold because of the following;
The green where the lyrics are printed is a darker green and the pink writing is darker in colour too AND MOST IMPORTANTLY the fact that the band photo has the Pink credits written across it. The final released version these credits were placed on the inner bag sleeve. The released sleeve photo doesn't have any credits printed across it. plus the image of the band is sharper and the colours darker in contrast to the released sleeve. 

 I suppose you could look at the copies on ebay to see the differences. 
Only 6 of these were printed 
A rare chance to own an un released/un issued piece of Smiths   memorabilia
The condition of the sleeve is excellent 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.These were for the sole purpose of seeing what the sleeve would look like aesthetically before they went to print and or to make changes to the design. These work in progress 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 Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band The Smiths. It was released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records and released in the United States on 23 June 1986 through Sire Records. The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart, maintaining a chart residency for 22 weeks, number 70 on the Billboard 200, and was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 1990. It has sold consistently well ever since. The album cover, designed by Morrissey, features Alain Delon from the 1964 film L'Insoumis. The album peaked at number 2 in the U.K chart.
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.