Kent RockwellABAA
931 résultats
1960WRCLIT69684Various Places 1960. Thirty-one 7.5" x 6" leatherette albums categorized and identified by spine labels captioned in ink in Kent's hand containing 1125 individual original matte and glossy black & white 7" x 5" gelatin silver prints. Slight surface variations characteristic of ferrotyping and some spotting scratches and other blemishes in the negatives are evident in the prints; some are printed slightly askew; some oxidation fading or other signs of the amateur processing is evident on occasion otherwise remarkably good. Until his death Rockwell Kent maintained this collection of thirty-one albums of prints of his own photographs as well as some photographs taken by others in his company on certain occasions all arranged identified and labeled according to locations and subjects. Apart from their categorization by placement in the notebooks some occasional prints are identified by Kent in ink or bear his stamp. Kent frequently recorded scenes people and settings via photographs during his voyages and travels many of which he utilized as reference material and are identifiable as such in the production of his illustrations prints and paintings made during and after his journeys. Kent made three trips to Greenland first in 1929 and then in 1931-2 and 1934-5 and photographs from these three trips constitute the largest single subject element in the archive. The subjects break down generally as follow: 1 Greenland. 16 albums including 549 images. 2 Asgaard. 8 albums including 293 images. 3 Alaska. 1 album including 46 images. 4 Monhegan Island. 2 albums including 84 images. 5 Arizona Colorado California. 1 album including 28 images. 6 Puerto Rico. 1 album including 51 images. 7 Denmark. 1 album including 43 images. 8 Hillsboro and Richmond. 1 album including 31 images. Although obviously best known for his book illustrations works on paper and paintings Kent was sufficiently renowned as a photographer during the 1930s that some of his photographs were reproduced in photogravure in a portfolio MODERN MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES 1 PICTORIALISTS published by the Galleon Press. While those photogravures turn up separately with some frequency - usually well outside of their original context in the portfolio - individual original prints from negatives of Kent's photographs are scarce. We note as reference the appearance of a single Greenland print also represented by a print in this archive and in the same format with Kent's ink rubber stamp on the verso: Swann Galleries 15 May 2008 Lot 341 $1300. Further details about the archive are available upon request. hardcover books
1930WRCAM56103Various locations in Oregon and Alaska 1930. Approximately 325 photographs twenty postcards and real photo postcards a linen- backed map of Alaska and a few assorted ephemeral items all housed in a contemporary leather satchel. Generally minor wear some chipping to about twenty photographs. Overall very good. A treasure house of silent cinema photography from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska featuring over 300 images from THE CHECHAHCOS and other films produced in the orbit of the film's director Lewis H. Moomaw all retained by one of his crewmen Guerney William Hays. <br> <br> THE CHECHAHCOS released in 1924 was the first feature film shot in Alaska. "Cheechako" is a native word referring to a "greenhorn" or someone newly arrived in the mining districts of Alaska or northwestern Canada. A melodramatic tale of the Klondike Gold Rush the was directed by Lewis H. Moomaw of the Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation. The story was based in part on the experiences of the film's producer Austin E. Lathrop known as "Alaska's first home-grown millionaire." The film has been preserved in the National Film Registry and can easily be viewed on the internet. Offered here is a large collection of photographs and other ephemera once belonging to a CHECHAHCOS crew member named Guerney William Hays 1880-1952 including film stills snapshots from the set and other images of Alaska scenery. Many of the images match up with scenes from the completed film. The subject matter includes all that might be expected from a film produced in and about Alaska: glaciers dogsleds saloons archvillains and damsels in distress along with shots of the crew and technology that made the film possible. <br> <br> The largest and most professionally-produced photographs in the collection are eighty 8-x- 10-inch prints almost all of them clearly from the CHECHAHCOS shoot with twenty-one stamped on the verso by the Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation and with either a printed or manuscript title written along with the stamp reading "The Chechakos" the spelling of which was later tweaked to its release title. One of the stills shows the entire company of the Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation about 150 people in the snow beside their Pullman cars; two banners for the film company hang outside the rail cars. A separate shot of the film company shows their train at the entrance to McKinley Park with a banner hanging on the train reading "Private Car Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation Entrance to McKinley Park on the Alaska Railroad." Other stills show scenes from the film shots of the cast and crew preparing to start scenes posed scenes clearly intended for use as publicity stills cast group pictures behind-the-scenes shots of the cameramen and other crew with various equipment photographs of empty interiors perhaps to be used for continuity a few featuring the dog sled teams and more. In addition to documenting the production these images also present a rare view of Alaska in the early-20th century. <br> <br> The remaining 240 images most of which measure approximately 3 x 5 inches were likely not formally produced by the film company for use as publicity but are in fact production photographs and still stand as valuable visual documentation of the early filmmaking process. While some of these photos are more of the vernacular sort the great majority of the images show a mixture of preproduction production and set-related photographs from the film company's time in Alaska shooting THE CHECHAHCOS and from other production's attached to the career of Lewis H. Moomaw the film's director. A great number of these images were likely produced as working production photographs - executed for the use of the company during the shooting process scouting for locations documenting costumes set continuity set construction what might today be called craft services suggesting or documenting potential camera set-ups or as studies for potential publicity stills and more. While not created as traditional publicity products these images capture the early filmmaking process both in front of and behind the camera presenting a quite uncommon slice of film production history. The fact that they were produced during the production of a film in Alaska make them an even more valuable source of information on the filmmaking process in the 1920s in a most unusual place. Production stills are produced in very small quantities compared to publicity stills are often unique or close to unique records of a production have a much lower survival rate and are keenly sought after as historical records of the filmmaking process. <br> <br> One of the few captioned photographs shows four wives of the CHECHAHCOS cast and crew on a fishing expedition including Moomaw's wife and Mrs. Guerney Hays. A few other photographs show an actress posing with crude dummies that were apparently about to be sent to their doom in a canoe scene in the Alaskan wilderness. Other production photographs from Alaska feature scenes on glaciers one of which shows the exact spot from a moment in the opening minute of the film a young girl with a giant Alaskan crab who is also pictured in the larger professional images and is in the film film crews poised on icy ground dog sled teams identified locations in Skagway and more. <br> <br> One of the other films pictured here is likely CALL OF THE ROCKIES 1929. This western was filmed in Oregon the usual home of the filmmakers involved in the Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation with Moomaw as supervising producer. CALL OF THE ROCKIES was directed by Raymond K. Johnson one of the cinematographers on THE CHECHAHCOS and features two actors identified in pencil captions on the verso of photographs present here: Russell Simpson and Jim Mason. There are numerous photographs featuring a western wagon train and other images of the traditional western which either appeared in CALL OF THE ROCKIES or perhaps one of Moomaw's other films produced in Oregon in the 1920s - UNDER THE ROUGE 1925 or FLAMES 1926 the latter of which climaxed in a raging forest fire and featured an early screen appearance by Boris Karloff. <br> <br> All of the postcards feature Alaskan scenes or subjects and were most likely acquired while the film company was shooting in Alaska or produced for them while they were there. This is the case for at least one of the postcards - a Christmas greeting with the banner at bottom reading "Compliments of the Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation." The final item of note here is a folding linen- backed map of Alaska issued by the Alaska Steamship Company. The map measures about 21 x 30 inches and was issued in 1917. It was almost certainly taken along to Alaska by Hays for the filming of THE CHECHAHCOS linen- backed either before-hand or while in Alaska to prevent damage from over-use. The entire collection of photographs and ephemera is housed in a period leather satchel. <br> <br> These photographs were collected and retained by Guerney or Gernie William Hays 1880-1952 who spent a career in the early film industry mostly in Oregon. Some pieces of ephemera bear his name and some of the larger stills are annotated "Hays" on the verso. His 1918 draft registration lists him as a motion picture operator in Portland and his obituary lists him as a member of the International Alliance of Stage Employees. His only film credit in the Internet Movie Database is for THE CHECHAHCOS for which he is credited with "sets and lighting" and also an uncredited supporting role on screen. One of the larger-format photographs features a crew member in a cramped equipment room with dozens of lights and mounds of cables; this is almost certainly Hays himself or perhaps one of his assistants. One of the photo developer's envelopes bears the name of Hobart H. Brownell the cinematographer of THE CHECHAHCOS. Two of the photographs here are inscribed to Hays - one from the actor Bert Sprotte in 1919 and the other from banjo player Eddie Peabody who has inscribed his portrait to Hays writing that "No finer stage manager I ever worked with." Another photograph shows Peabody's elaborate stage show. <br> <br> THE CHECHAHCOS remains an important early film for its authentic depiction of Alaskan life. Movies about the great white north were popular with early film audiences but were usually filmed in California. When Lewis H. Moomaw proposed to shoot a film entirely in Alaska about the days of the Klondike Gold Rush in the territory locals in Alaska jumped at the chance to find him funding. Upon arrival in Anchorage fully half of the town showed up to greet the film company. The cast and crew would spend three months filming in and around Anchorage the small mining town of Girdwood on Childs Glacier Abercrombie Rapids and Eyak Lake. The film premiered in the Empress Theatre in Anchorage on December 11 1923 and played to packed houses across Alaska the next year. Sadly the film never found a large audience in the continental United States playing occasionally over the next two years before falling into obscurity. The film was essentially lost until the year 2000 when a print was restored by archivists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Three years later the film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. <br> <br> The Library of Congress's press release when they selected THE CHECHAHCOS to the National Film Registry describes the film as such: "This independent regional film was the first feature film produced in Alaska and is renowned for its spectacular location footage of the lonely and unfathomable Alaskan wilderness frenzied dogsled pursuits and life-and-death struggles on the glaciers." <br> <br> A wonderful collection of great historical interest for early film scholars and of the history of Alaskan cinema. hardcover books
19151530San Francisco: Waters Company 1915. Very good. 393 silver gelatin photographs each 8 x 10 inches. Each image annotated in pencil on verso corresponding to numbered index sheet. Formerly mounted with remnants of glue on verso. Images generally clean with minor wear and soiling. Several images lightly creased. An extensive photographic archive from the R.J. Waters Company of San Francisco depicting nearly 400 ships from the turn of the century. Vessels range from 19th century clipper ships to the seven-masted behemoths of the early 20th century together with a few schooners whaling barks and the odd steamer or two. Many are British with a good representation of American-built vessels as well as ships from France Germany Australia Sweden and other nations. The ships are sorted here alphabetically and correspond to a numbered print issued by the Waters Company and present here which is titled "Collection over 500 Photographs of Sailing Ships." A further note asks that you "Kindly Order by Number" as each ship is noted with a number next to its name. The images themselves are notated accordingly with name and index number with ships occasionally having more than one view. Ships currently under sail are denoted with an "X". Many of the ships are sailing vessels from the 1880s and 1890s and provide historic detail about the wide variety of ships coming in and out of San Francisco's busy harbor. The views have been taken from various vantages resulting in views of the San Francisco harbor and shoreline as well as at least one shot of Alcatraz in the distance. Many of the vessels have secondary "biographical" information with them adding to the research value of the archive.<br /><br />R.J. Waters 1856-1927 was a California native who first opened a photo studio in Virginia City Nevada in 1886. He opened a commercial photography studio on Sutter Street in San Francisco in 1892 and ten years later added a business partner and changed the name to R.J. Waters and Company. The firm claimed to "photograph anything and anywhere" and as a result had a wide array of images on offer including handsome panoramic views of San Francisco both before and after the Great Earthquake. Maritime photography seemed to have been a matter of opportunity and Waters seems to have spent time both aboard ships and down at the docks making an effort to photograph every substantial vessel which entered San Francisco Bay. There was certainly a market for images of sailing vessels as evidenced by the present archive and its index card and the present archive may have been a shop file used for ordering prints. Altogether an interesting study of maritime history emphasizing San Francisco's importance as a port of call for international trade. Waters Company books
1919875901919. PHOTOGRAPHY- JAPAN. HOSHITA Eishô photographer. SCENES ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAYS ZEN SHIBERI TESTUDÔ SHASHIN-CHÔ. Urajio Vladivostok Taishô 8 1919 Contemporary oblong folio rebacked. Album of 250 photo illustrations of the Japanese Imperial Army in the Allied Siberian Expedition 1918-1922 ranging in size from 3 5/8" x 5 1/8" to 8 3/4 x 11 1/2". Includes a panoramic bird's eye view of Vladovostok measuring 7 3/8' x 41 7/8/" and a fold out map of the route of the expedition measuring 14" x 29 3/4". Three-quarter leather stamped in gilt rebacked. The cloth and leather corner pieces are worn and rubbed. Captions in Japanese English and Russian with text in Japanese. title is taken from cover. Includes a number of pictures of partisan sabotage of railway between Chita and Krasnoyarsk. Hoshita Eishô produced at least two such albums of the warfare in the Russian Far East. Very unusual and important record of a "lost war unknown books
1920List419Montana 1920. Sixty-three postcards measuring 4 x 6 inches mixed media images some with graphite and watercolor over photographic exposures. Typewritten captions to versos. Christian F. Schuster was a lumber man boy scout and amateur archaeologist from Holyoke Massachusetts who spent a series of seventeen summers living with the Piegan Blackfeet beginning in 1923. He was given the name Aainiakoi Plitaa or Morning Eagle by the Piegan chief Curly Bear in an adoption ceremony. The collection here documents his adoption by the Piegan tribe. Composed of sixty-three photographs is one of the most striking visual records we have encountered of American Indian life from this period due to the sympathetic eye of the photographer and visually arresting hybrid technique of watercolor pencil and photographic exposure at work in the images. <br /> <br /> We cannot confirm the identity of the artist further but it is possible that it was Lone Wolf or Hart Merriam Schultz the son of James Willard Schultz who was a prolific artist and illustrator during this period. Lone Wolf would later operate a guest house called the Lone Wolf Guest Ranch and Club and we have found another account of a white adoptee purchasing some artwork from Lone Wolf in the early 1930s. The hybrid technique at work here was also used by De Lancey Gill the prominent BAE photographer taught to him by William Henry Holmes. Schuster himself took at least some of the photographs as noted in the captions. <br /> <br /> The images show life among the Blackfeet several decades after the last buffalo hunts had failed in 1882 in a period when this and government policy had made reservation life difficult. Akipuni or James Willard Schultz is featured in several of the images along with Curly Bear Stabs-by-Mistake Red-Boy who Schuster would later advocate for following a wrongful conviction and many others. The images show candid scenes of Piegan life during the period in many aspects: religious<br /> ceremonies hunting singing etc. The transition to reservation life is apparent in both the scenes and the captioning with the Piegan leading a semi-nomadic life limited by the absence of the buffalo and indifferent government policy. Schuster's role as an advocate is on display with one caption reading "My tepee at the flatheads/ they had the poles all set up / the big council was a success / we hired a lawyer / killed the stealing of timber." Another narrates a trip to visit another tribe possibly Crow: "We were on making plans / of our visit to the old time / enemies who lived beyond / the backbones Rocky Mts. We would talk at the great council / about the wrongs to the Indian. We rolled many of our belongings in <br /> bundles and threw them out. We joined the paraders in this song. WE WERE STRIPPED!"<br /> <br /> Schuster's visits to the Blackfeet were reciprocated with a number of Blackfeet visiting Schuster in his Western Massachusetts home and setting up a camp on the banks of the Connecticut River. He would eventually amass a collection of several thousand artifacts which he eventually sold to the Museum of the American Indian. The circumstances of Schuster's adoption are murky. It is possible that it was done as part of a contest as we found record of the Blackfoot author and adoptee James Willard Schultz or Apikuni sponsoring adoption contests through the magazine American Boy. We find records of some other adoption ceremonies during the period. Schuster would later do advocacy work on behalf of the Blackfeet assisting in the eventual pardon of a wrongly-convicted young man named Red-Boy or Peter Stabs-by-Mistake in the 1920s. Later Schuster was also <br /> adopted by the Apinakwi Pits tribe. <br /> <br /> Overall a moving and visually striking account of Piegan life in the 1920s uncommon in its insight and exceptional in its visual appeal. Postcards are well preserved in very good to excellent condition with some light normal wear and some tanning to versos. <br /> <br /> Offered in collaboration with Daniel / Oliver Gallery. unknown books
1970006935Dusseldorf: Art-Press Verlag 1970. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First edition of this seminal photographic work selected by Andrew Roth et al in the Book of 101 Books. Influential German photographers' first book. A fine copy in blue cloth in fine unclipped dustwrapper with minimal wear to edges. An exceptional copy. Parr / Badger selection as well. <br/><br/> Art-Press Verlag hardcover books
1958D3695San Francisco and Honolulu 1958-1962. Fine. A Collection of 7 Typed Signed Letters from Ansel Adams to Nick Dean presented in three custom boxes as follows: Group of 5 Typed Letters Signed by Ansel Adams in custom box. Hawaii and California 1958. Five typed letters all of them signed by Ansel Adams with his handwritten corrections and asides. And too charming not to mention: Where letters have punch-holes for a 3-ring binder Adams doodles faces around the holes. Most are one page with text on both sides two are one page with text on the recto only. Dated 4 February 1958 to 7 July 1958 some are typed on Memos from Honolulu others on Adams' personal stationery imprinted with his San Francisco address. Adams covers the gamut -- from the personal to the professional from the highly technical to the more philosophical. He remarks on his readings Dylan Thomas and also writes "I am terribly worried about photography and my/our place in it. The MMA business under Steichen is a very depressing and destructive situation" but he also talks excitedly about film different types of cameras and darkroom chemistry and techniques. Includes an interesting list compiled by Adams for Dean of his nominations for an upcoming photography exhibition -- it offers 28 photographers 18 of which have little checkmarks in red ink next to them. Marginalia reveals the checkmarks to mean "AA choice -- Shhh!" Adams' passion for photography as well as the landscape are revealed again and again throughout. One aside: "All Washington is trembling with abject fear! I sent off a telegram in the form of a blast to the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce and to the Director of the NPS on the Tenaya Lake desecration. The battle is joined! I could not take any more of it. Tell Rosy to get the locals ready for a big fight!" / Typed Letter Signed by Ansel Adams. San Francisco 1961. Three pages typed on the rectos only the first on Adams' personal stationery imprinted with his name San Francisco address and phone number and the last two on plain white paper. Signed by Adams with a few handwritten asides and corrections. A dense wonderful letter addressed "Dear Nick and Zabette." Adams talks about the construction of his house in Carmel "road entrance about 1500 feet down the road from Edward Weston's place." and his rough year "I have been low in imagination and only medium in health" but the tone is overwhelmingly introspective philosophical serious and kind. Adams discusses the state of Modern Photography and Art at length what he feels his early influences and "breaks" were and how to make a living at creative photography while staying enthusiastic and true to oneself. Compelling and touching. In fine condition housed in a lavish custom box cloth backed in green morocco with gilt-stamped lettering on spine. / Typed letter signed by Ansel Adams. California 1962. Two full pages typed letter signed "Ansel" with his handwritten corrections and asides dated March 17 1962. On Adams' personal stationery imprinted with his name address 24th Avenue San Francisco and phone number. Addressed "Dear Nick" Adams congratulates him on an upcoming exhibit discusses a Polaroid book cameras Type 49 Type 55 P/N the completion of his house in Carmel health and injuries or lack thereof a De Cordova exhibit and Nick's critique of it and then goes on to examine the state of photography "commercial photography is getting worse." and other photographers including Minor "Jerry" and Don Worth. Perhaps best of all Adams' thoughts on Art are interspersed throughout including but certainly not limited to "I am beginning to think that the trouble with Art is when it becomes Art!" A wonderful letter revealing both the personal and professional sides of a renowned American photographer. In fine condition housed in a blue cloth chemise with gilt-stamped leather spine label. / Overall a spectacular collection -- all letters are in fine condition housed in 3 lavish custom boxes one for each year 1958 1961 1962. For further details please send us an inquiry. <br/><br/> hardcover books
1910180618004Racine WI: W.D. Harney Photogravure Publisher 1910. Hardcover. Very Good. Edition de luxe single-volume probable first edition issued around the time of a nine-volume wrappered issue also "de luxe" according to the publisher with the slightly different title Art Work of Seattle and Western Washington but with the same photos. 77 leaves of photogravures with tissue guards plus leaves of text printed on rectos only with illustration on title page and photo on first page of text. Full leather with four raised spine bands ruled and lettered in gilt. About Very Good with leather rubbed along edges chipped at foot exposed tips with small corner tear to bottom front corner hinges a little taxed by heavy pages but holding a few tissue-guards torn and creased. An oversize volume featuring many beautiful Pacific Northwest photographs by Asahel Curtis brother of Edward Curtis. OCLC currently notes ten institutional copies of the two editions of this work stating this particular edition de luxe has "108 photogravures-- 83 credited to Asahel Curtis 4 credited to Walter Averett 1 each credited to Brent Gifford Grant Humes and A.H. Barnes and 10 uncredited. The photogravures are printed in various hues from sepia to grey and many have tints of blue and grey." Scarce in this format. W.D. Harney, Photogravure Publisher hardcover books
192516469Scranton PA ca. 1925. 675 gelatin silver photographs measuring 3.25” x 4” approx. depicting lace samples against a black background item numbers pinned to lace. Some curling else generally fine. Plus 140 lace sample cyanotypes measuring 4.75” x 3” approx. Generally very good. Plus 31 additional images in black-and-white: eight 15” x 12” approx. others various smaller sizes. With: faux-leather album measuring 13” x 11” approx. and titled “THE SCRANTON LACE COMPANY / Corner Glenn Street and Meylert Avenue” on paper label to front cover. Interior marked “curtains/table coverings book no. 3.” Contains 273 images of various sizes cyanotype and gelatin silver mounted on black paper some captioned with names of product lines. Plus: two invoices for yarn and other textiles. Joints and edges worn several pages detached. Contents generally fine. <br/><br/>A sizable archive of over 1150 images from the Scranton Lace Company a major manufacturer that operated from 1890 to 2002 consisting of samples used in home decor — primarily window treatments and table linens -— likely photographed for internal purposes. Composed mainly of product sample photographs including images of intricate lace patterns against a dark background and with inventory numbers pinned to the sample. Several enlargements of full table cloths and settings also included with those mounted in the album cut — with striking effect — to create the illusion of a three-dimensional perspective. More than 200 of the images are cyanotypes which are notoriously fugitive to light and are here uncommonly well-preserved. The company was a leading producer of decorative lace throughout the 1900s. Notably the invoices and marginalia indicate at least some of these styles were made from Rayon which had only debuted commercially in the U.S. in 1924. Also noteworthy firm designer Hugh Rodham likely responsible for many of the patterns pictured here is the grandfather of Hillary Clinton. The bulk of the company’s extant archives are held by two regional museums: Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage and The Waverly Community House. A comprehensive representation of period lace styles ranging from traditional to contemporary and art-deco patterns all rendered in exquisite detail. We will note for purely self-serving reasons that two small lots of about 50 photos — both of a similar nature and from the same company — made more than $1000 each at the 2015 Swann vernacular photo auction. hardcover books
193019955Leicester UK: Cascelloid ca. 1930s. Very good . Oblong 4to. album. Blue leather-covered boards. Contains 29 color photographs all 9" by 6.5" approx. mounted on rectos one each of light-gray cardboard leaves. About very good plus overall. Moderate rubbing and edgewear to boards. Several pages display mild soiling and offsetting from photos. Prints just a bit yellowed but remain sharp vivid and clean. <br/><br/>Beautifully-produced trade catalogue from the Cascelloid "Palitoy" company displaying a wide range of baby dolls and other toys. Several uncomfortable designs of black children with pitch-dark skin date this catalogue at roughly the 1930s when the Cascelloid company was dubbed the "House of Constant Progress" by the industry press for its material innovations with the plastics Bexoid and Plastex. One page features a celluoid model by the noted designer Mary Lucie Attwell a doll named "Diddums." The catalogue also displays the company's offerings of animal dolls die-cast trucks pool toys golf and ping-pong sets rattles pinwheels and more. Needless to say color photography was not the norm at this time and this catalogue comprises a beautiful set of vivid and sharp photographic prints. A truly exceptional example unlike anything we've seen: simultaneously surreal and nostalgic. [Cascelloid] hardcover books
198010368Tokyo: Seven Sha 1980. First edition. Paperback. Fine. First edition. A controversial volume of photographs taken with a special "night" camera to document noncturnal sexual activities in Tokyo's Document Park. A lovely fine copy in photo-illustrated wrappers and with fine red printed obi. Scarce title in condition and with the first issue obi. Seven Sha paperback books
197230429Tokyo: Yugensha 1972. First edition. Cloth. Fine. Tall linen quarto in slipcase. Thick stapled printed pamphlet with text in Japanese laid in. Terrific retrospective on Frank's work. 118 pp. A spectacularly beautiful redesign of the softbound Lustrum Press edition. Designed by Kohei Sugiura. Original black cloth lettered in white. A gorgeous fine copy in cloth slipcase with the photogreaph "New York City 1948" mounted on the slipcase cover. Well documented and important photobook noted in Vol. One of Parr and Badger The Photobook. Yugensha unknown books
195424812Orgeval France: Not Published 1954. The letters give much background to the creative process of Strand and were written to the designer-artist couple William Golden & Cipe Pineles here addressed as 'Bill & Cipe' who were friends and professional colleagues extending back to their collaborations as participants in the Group Theater in New York in the 1930s. Paul Strand 1890 -1976 American photo-artist Strand and his fellow-photographer wife Hazel Kingsbury took up residence in Orgeval France after moving to Europe in 1950 "driven into self-exile Strand later would suggest by the repressive anti-Communist climate in America after publishing La France de Profil 1952 a portrait of postwar small-town French lifeStrand would spend the rest of his life assembling and completing similar book portraits celebrating primarily rural cultures" as Un Paese & others "Many established photographers from Walker Evans to Eliot Porter have admitted to having been strongly influenced by Strand's impeccably rich and detailed prints concern for formal relationships respect for his subjects and ability to distill the essence of his subjects. However through much of the 1950s and 1960s his reputation fell into eclipse. His dedication to view cameras and fine printing his largely frontal compositions and his devotion to creating politically motivated celebrations of traditional largely rural cultures did not fit an artistic world fascinated with the hand camera and the constant change of contemporary life. By the late 1960s however Strand received renewed acclaim first through European exhibitions and then by means of a retrospective exhibition sponsored by the Philadelphia Museum of Art 1971." John B. Rohrbach in the ANB Cipe Pineles 1908 - 1991 Austrian-born American graphic designer & art director associated with Conde Nast Vogue & others; William Golden 1911 - 1959 American graphic designer especially noted for his work at CBS. Letter 1: Four handwritten pages with very good content throughout; dated May 10 1954 just prior to the publishing of "Un Paese" the Italian-produced photograph & text collaboration between photographer Paul Strand and neo-realist screenwriter Cesare Zavattini. Written in blue ink on airmail paper: "just back from Milan with very good news. The book is finished and accepted by Einaudi one of the best and biggest publishers in Italy. Zavattini has written a fine and moving text very direct very simplethis outcome after months of nothing happening made us both feel pretty good. Printing is going to be done by Pizzi in Milanone of the best around for gravure. We had one conference and find that the nephew of the boss speaks English and seems both intelligent and cooperative. Won't be any problem of putting my finger in the pie I think. We have to be back in Milan on the 20th with the negatives and Pizzi offered to make a few quick tests for us to see. Einaudi is being very flexible as to size and format cover etc. They seem to want to do a good job and one that doesn't look like the present rash of photo book. I mentioned that my good friend Golden might take a crack at the cover and they were only too pleased. We decided on a slightly larger page size than La France de Profil both to get away from the standard thinking and also to give more space for text. Size we chose was 23 x 29 cms. Naturally the cover will be a little larger. I would say add about 3mm for the cover size length & width. The title so far chosen is "Un Paese." In Italian this has the double meaning of a village and the whole country. This is Zavattini's title and we think it is good - Simple and excites curiosity by not being too explicit. As for other printing on the cover - Cesare Zavattini and Paul Strand. He is a big name in Italy and I have the feeling that both names can be larger and more effective than in "La France de Profil." Lastly this publisher usually puts his own name Einaudi on the cover not too conspicuously. Now as to the photographs for the cover. The publishers are favorable to one of people and there are two which attracts them. One you have. It is the photograph of a family the mother in the doorway and five sons. For me it is one of the most important photographs and one that many people respond to. That is a horizontal. The other is a vertical portrait of a little girl which I will print this week and mail to you before we go back to Milan. I have the feeling that the impact of the cover should not rely entirely on the photograph itself but rather on a total layout in which the whole page is eye compelling. In short not like the French book. What do you think Last of all we thought the photograph of the white wall with all the iron things- sides etc. might do well for the back cover - no type. The photograph you mentioned of the people in front of the café is good but perhaps too sad - for most of those folks are from the old people's home across the street. Einaudi are not interested in bleed pages. If I wanted some they would agree. If you were around maybe there would be some. On my own I think to have none at least at this stage. But that doesn't mean I guess that the cover photos can't be bled if you see it that way on one or more sides. Guess that about covers the news. I think we will go to Scotland in June at least to have a look around and perhaps work if it looks good. It's awfully damn kind of you think about the cover of the new book and to let us have your ideas.As always signed Paul." The cover photograph discussed was used as planned on the finished "Un Paese" photo-volume; the Scotland trip mentioned eventually led to the publication of Strand's "Tir a'mhurain Outer Hebrides." Letter 2: Dated June 13 1955; three pages handwritten and also sent to Cipe Bill and Tom their son Golden. Strand inquires as to Bill Golden's opinion on the final version of 'Un Paese': "for I just received the first letters from America from very enthusiastic people. Everyone comments on the beauty of the cover such words as 'superb.' We think it is swell and a real 'Golden' job. The general feeling is that although the Swiss printing is a bit better that as a whole this is a better book more warm and human. I think that is so because it was much more planned and concentratedhoping there may be an edition in French and one American publisher has expressed interest. If this develops I may have to call on you Bill again for we must keep the cover intact" Also about half the letter is concerned with the purchase redesign and descriptions of the property & gardens of their home in Orgeval France which was eventually a subject of another Strand photo-book and was the haven from which much work originated. The letter signed by Paul and Hazel. The letter-sheets approx. 8 1/4" x 10 1/4" size; old fold lines little bit of edge-wrinkling; in very good condition. . Manuscript. Not Bound. Very Good. Not Published paperback books
198643837New York: St. Martin's Press 1986. First Edition. First Printing. Square quarto 29.25cm; full black cloth with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; 14914pp; illus. Inscribed by Mapplethorpe on the front endpaper to model Ken Moody: "For Ken - one of my favorite models - Thank you Robert Mapplethorpe '87." Some trivial wear along lower board edges else Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped priced $40.00 with some mild wear and a single closed tear along lower edge of front panel; Near Fine. Distinguished copy of one of Mapplethorpe's most astonishing and controversial works a full-length photographic study of black male nudes - an erotic fixation Mapplethorpe developed later in his life. Black Book is comprised of 91 images of male models many of whom he had intimate personal relationships with including his lover Jack Walls. Ken Moody the recipient of this copy was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and fitness instructor at a gay-owned gym in New York when he was connected with Mapplethorpe through a mutual friend. "I met him at his studio at 24 Bond Street and we started shooting immediately. He asked me to take off my shirt and I sat in front of the camera. It was then that he produced one of the most perfect photographs that we ever took together.When we met nothing struck me as odd or terribly different or even exceptional about Robert. He just seemed like a nice white man although he was very quiet. He was very very professional and I believe that's probably because I fell outside the category of man that he was attracted to. I knew what his tastes were and I also knew that I was not that.Robert and I shot together over three years - 1983 '84 and '85. I reckon we did it 12 times in each of those years maybe a bit less. I remember reading on the internet that I was his most-photographed subject.I didn't think it was exceptional at the time I had no idea. I just assumed that when a photographer found a subject that they liked they would work with them a lot. I knew that there was chemistry between us. I knew that from the first day. I could always tell when I have chemistry with a photographer and with Robert I knew immediately that he was going to produce incredible photographs" Stansfield Ted. "Being Mapplethorpe's Muse." Another Man. October 27 2017. Moody appears in Black Book on pp.84-91 more than any other model; the photographs of him are among the most celebrated examples of Mapplethorpe's work. The volume contains a brief moving foreword by the late poet Ntozake Shange along with the full text of her poem "irrepressibly bronze beautiful & mine. St. Martin's Press unknown books
198722190Atlanta: Nexus Press 1987. First edition. Hardcover. Fine. First edition. Folio. One of only one hundred unnumbered copies with original SIGNED Gelatin Silver Print and with certificate of authenticity also SIGNED by Burke. A fine copy protected with fine clear acetate cover. This book has been cited in Andrew Roth The Open Book and in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's The Photobook: A History Volume II. Part artist book part travelogue I Want To Take Picture seems destined to be one of the most desirable not to mention disturbing photobooks of the 20th century. <br/><br/> Nexus Press hardcover books
197114969Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky 1971. First edition. Cloth. Very Good/very good. Square quarto. 96 pp of text followed by a suite of black and white photographs. A very good example in oatmeal cloth binding with some light soiling to covers. The original printed price on the inside front flap has been neatly scratched away otherwise a very good example of the dustwrapper with crease to front panel. What makes this a standout copy is the fact that it has been briefly INSCRIBED by Meatyard. The first example of the photographer's signature that we have seen in over a decade. This copy has also been SIGNED by Wendell Berry who provides the text. Only one other example of a book signed by Meatyard currently exists in the secondary market. The University Press of Kentucky unknown books
196630535Los Angeles: Self Published 1966. First Edition. Paperback. Very Good. First edition first state with extra paper fold at end of volume. Accordian fold-out book. A very good copy of this highly sought after artist book. Darkening to spine and with a spine crease. Comes in a handsome example of the fragile silver paper covered slipcase. Listed in Roth et al's Book of 101 Photography Books. Printed in an edition of one thousand copies. Self Published paperback books
196815318New York 1968. Near fine. Eight Kodak color transparency slides. 2" square with image area 1 3/8" x 15/16" approx. Date-stamped "MAR 68" to border of verso. No- tated in ink outside of image area with names numbers. Clean well preserved. Near fine. High-resolution jpgs of all images provided. <br/><br/>A collection of exceptional but presumably unpublished images of Jimi Hendrix performing at New York City's Hunter College on March 2 1968. Seven capture the guitar hero on stage: with his signature Stratocaster kneeling before a giant stack of amplifiers playing with his teeth etc. The eighth is a candid portrait likely snapped backstage. Though we've been unable to determine the photographer the photos are of clear professional caliber and bear a certain re- semblance to the work of legendary rock-and-roll photographer El- liott Landy. An iconic selection of original vintage slides capturing the signature style of a rock legend. unknown books
1979721091979. A collection of approximately 1000 color snapshots taken by an unknown photographer at a New York nude beach in August and September 1979 and June and July 1980. The 5" x 3 1/2" photos are printed on Kodak paper and include the date imprinted on the verso. This collection of images has a voyeuristic quality. The photographer captures personal moments such as a series showing a young woman shyly disrobing. Another group of images appear to show a bikini clad woman publicly fondling her nude male partner's penis. Several others appear to show a man sliding his hand between his nude female partner's thighs. There are numerous close ups of vaginas and the photographer captures shots of several women from the rear when they are bending over. The vast majority of the images are of women sunbathing applying suntan lotion playing in the waves tossing a frisbee and talking with friends. One grouping has a more familiar quality between subject and photographer. The women in these images who appear to be lesbians showing affection for one another pose for numerous photos. This beach appears to be Jacob Riis Beach in Queens New York City's unofficial nude beach as well as a legendary LGBTQ-friendly gathering place. In one image the bath house with its twin art deco spires can be seen in the background. The sand is populated by hundreds of people of all ages who are openly nude. A few photos show a police officer on horseback patrolling the beach. According to a New York Daily News report from August 26 1980 police made 107 arrests on charges of public lewdness at the beach since May 26. "The arrests this summer include charges of public masturbation sodomy and manipulation of private parts by those who sunbathe in the nude" the newspaper reported. According to a 1979 report from the New York Times about nude beaches the acceptance and proclivity of them seems to be in a state of flux tolerated in some communities and outlawed in others. At this time California had the greatest concentration of nude beaches while New York's cities and towns set out their own local rules. Police officials at Fire Island in New York wrote tickets to nude sunbathers along the Islip portion of the beach but not in Brookhaven Town where nude sunbathing was legal. Overall the photographs carry a light musty smell as if stored in a damp space. A handful have old photo corners attached suggesting they were once housed in an album; otherwise the images are in very good condition and help to illustrate the changing social mores related to publicly nudity. unknown books
1930CAT209New York and Environs 1930. Excellent. We find scant information on Henry Reister a professional photographer operating throughout the New York metropolitan region in the early part of the century. His studio moved several times from the Bronx to Bridgewater New Jersey then to Woodlawn New York. This interesting and varied collection from his estate shows the type of work available to a professional photographer operating in New York during the period - architectural shoots product photography events and some portraiture. The opulent wealth of New York's upper classes during the 1920s is on display in Reister's architectural work which makes up a large portion of this collection. The burgeoning commercial age is also shown in his product photographs most notably a series of photographs of Remington typewriters a series of photographs of the newly created New York Telephone Directory two photographs of automobiles and a series of brightly-lit interior grocery store displays.<br /> <br /> Contents as follows:<br /> <br /> Seven images advertising typewriters with five showing a young woman posed with a Remington typewriter; five images of the New York Telephone Directory; five images of brightly lit grocery store interiors most focusing on elaborate lighting on a dairy display; two images of automobiles one showing a man in fine dress posed alongside an automobile the other showing a close-up of a license plate; thirteen varied product images including proto-modernist images of radiators an image of the Cory Smoke Telegraph Indicator three floral still lives and an opulently presented bowl of ice cream; forty-six architectural photographs including a rather stark series of institutional interiors including lavatories extravagant gardens the interiors of a bank on Broadway and high end domestic interiors; six photographs of the Yorkville Social Center Baby Parade of 1916; seven portraits including one of a worker holding two bolts several military portraits and an outdoor portrait of a couple in a garden; Eight scenes from Reister's personal life most relating to an automobile trip made with his wife in 1930.<br /> <br /> Overall a strong representation of pre-Depression New York with many iconic aspects of the city and its environs represented. Despite his low profile Reister was a proficient professional photographer and the images remain quite attractive and in generally very good to fine condition with a few showing small tears at edges. unknown books
196420800Santa Barbara: El Mochuelo Gallery 1964. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. First edition of this early monograph. Offsetting to endpapers as on all copies we have seen else a lovely fine copy in black boards with bright and unflaked silver lettering to front panel and spine. Comes in a fine slipcase. This copy SIGNED by Callahan and very scarce thus. A Roth 101 selection. A large and heavy volume. <br/><br/> El Mochuelo Gallery hardcover books
1963007455Japan 1963. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. First edition of this remarkable photobook. Something of a documentary of heroin and other narcotic use in Japanese society in the early 1960's. Predates Larry Clark's Tulsa by many years. A scarce book and highly recommended. Near fine clothbound copy in very good dustwrapper. Comes in cardboard slipcase which shows wear to edges and decorated label. <br/><br/> hardcover books
195626936London: Photography Magazine 1956. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good /good. 4to. First edition. The first book of four that Klein would produce celebrating a particular city. Unpaginated. No text - simply filled with gorgeous black and white gravure photographs of New York and its denizens. A handsome very good plus copy in simple black boards stamped in gilt at spine and base of front panel. The mock tourist brochure is still attached to the book by a short cord. The price-clipped dustwrapper has several chips at edges two closed tears and some substantial paper loss near the bottom of the rear panel. Still this copy presents very well. This copy has been SIGNED by Klein on the title page and is uncommon thus. Cited in virtually every major reference work on the best of 20th century photography books including Parr and Badger The Open Book Roth's Book of 101 Photobooks etc. Photography Magazine hardcover books
198320033Providence: Silver Bullet Gallery 1983. First edition. Loose Sheets. Fine. Double elephant folio. A collection of original photographs some in color some in b/w by these twelve photographers. Most of the participants closely associated with the Rhode Island School of Design RISD. Selected by Alan D. Metnick Director of the Silver Bullet Gallery in Providence. One of only 100 portfolios produced for this project. With introductory text by William E. Parker Professor of Art and History of Photography School of Fine Arts Department of Art The University of Connecticut Storrs. All elements in beautiful fine condition. Mat Boards: Exeter Conservation Board - 2 ply and 4 ply. Housed in a navy cloth covered clamshell box with silver lettering. SIGNED by most of the contributors including Silverthorne. Photographs vary in size somewhat but most are approximately 8 1/2 x 12". Includes Silverthorne's The Dance of Eurydice. Silver Bullet Gallery unknown books
199922209South Dennis MA: Leo & Wolfe 1999. First edition. Cloth. Fine. Folios. Limited to 200 SIGNED and numbered copies with 15 bound hand-pulled photogravures. 13 3/4 x 15 1/4". Housed in embossed cloth-covered portfolio box and contained in the original cardboard shipping container. From the publisher's prospectus included as well " Volume II extends the metaphysical themes of the first volume and brings together the work of 13 modern masters of the photographic arts. It contains original essays by France's leading novelist Michel Tournier philosopher Frederick Turner award-winning photographic historian Lee Fontanella novelist and playwright Elizabeth Dewberry and novelist Josh Russell. All elements in fine condition. Includes 15 exquisite hand-pulled photogravures and 45 tritone plates all custom bound in Morroccan goatskin and embossed Japanese silk and encased in a matching embossed basswood portfilio box." Sold at publisher's original price. Extremely large and heavy item. Leo & Wolfe unknown books
