25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy is a privately printed, limited edition artist's book by the American artist Andy Warhol.
It was printed in 1954 by Seymour Berlin with Charles Lisanby credited as the author, as he suggested the title, yet there is no text in the book. The calligraphy for the book was done by Julia Warhola, Warhol's mother.
The lithographs were produced on Arches brand watermarked paper using Warhol's blotted line technique. The original edition was limited to 190 numbered copies (although there may have been under 150 produced). Each original was hand colored, using Dr. Martin's ink washes. Most of them were given by Warhol as gifts to clients and friends.
Warhol's mother left the letter "d" off of the word "Name" in the title and Warhol kept the error in, as he liked the random imperfections which appeared in his creations resulting from the techniques he used. Both Warhol and his mother had a passion for cats and they were all named Sam except for one called Hester. They had so many cats that friends remember them always giving away kittens.
25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy actually only contains 16 cats named Sam followed by one cat in blue titled One Blue Pussy.
Some of the copies were given as Christmas "keepsake" books. These were in the peak of popularity in the 1950s and a number of prominent American families would have a book privately printed to give to their friends. Some families known to follow this practice were the Vanderbilts, Harrimans, Copleys, Altschuls and others.
Three other self-published books by Warhol followed this first title:
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