"This book explores the historical background of the multiple, examining its relationship to the jeu d'esprit of the artist's studio, the readymade, constructivism, the store and the everyday. It looks at the work of Marcel Duchamp, George Maciunas, Joseph Beuys, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres as well as contemporary practice, such as 'The Multiple Store'." "An illustrated and chronologically arranged catalogue of over 800 multiples produced between 1935 and 2000 provides a wide selection of different approaches by artists to the medium. A chronology, glossary and detailed bibliography are also included."--BOOK JACKET.