The Book of 101 Books : Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century [Catalogue Raisonne, Catalog Raisonnà , Complete Works, Life and Work, Raisonnee]

The history of the photographic book goes back well more than a century; the medium of photography and the book format were understood very early on to relate to each other on both technical and aesthetic levels. The examples of truly great combinations of photographic image and text, great design and typography bound together as books are numerous, and make up an impressive artistic, social, and documentary statement of the 20th century. Writer and rare book expert Andrew Roth has selected for this volume a group of 101 of the best photography books ever published: books that bring all of the elements of great bookmaking together to create, ultimately, a thing of beauty, a work of art. Mostly made up of publications in which the photographs were meant to be seen in book form, as opposed to the book being merely a repository of images, this list includes many artists and titles that will be familiar to the collector, but also not a few surprises. Chronologically, the first book is Volume One of Edward Curtis's seminal 1907 "The North American Indian", the last is David LaChapelle's "LaChapelle Land" from 1996, and in between are books by Walker Evans and Berenice Abbott, Atget and Brassai, Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand, and many other seminal photographers from all over the world. Each book in the catalogue will receive a double page spread which will include publication information, several image spreads, and a short text about it. "The Book of 101 Books", however, is far more than simply an annotated and illustrated catalogue. Six important new essays on a variety of related topics from respected scholars, critics, and artists are included as well: here you will find Richard Benson on the history of printing techniques, Shelley Rice on the societal significance of photography books, May Castleberry on reprints, exhibitions, and keeping books alive for the public; Daido Moriyama on his personal memories of making his classic "Bye Bye Photography, Dear", Neville Wakefield on the particular attributes of one of the most recent books in this group: Richard Prince's 1995 "Adult Comedy Action Drama, and Jeffrey Fraenkel on the myriad perils of publishing photography books. The catalogue entries themselves are written by the well known critics Vince Aletti and David Levi Strauss. Taken together, the depth and beauty of these essays and images will make "The Book of 101 Books" both an essential reference and an aesthetically compelling object. The classics in this book include: 1907, "Curtis, Edward: The North American Indian, Volume One"; 1909, Coburn, Alvin Langdon: London; 1911, Stieglitz, Alfred: "Camera Work, Number XXXVI"; 1917, Strand, Paul: "Camera Work, Number XLIX, Number L"; 1925, Moholy-Nagy, Lászlà : "Malerei Fotografie Film"; 1927, Krull, Germaine:" Mà tal"l; 1928, Blossfeldt, Karl: "Urformen der Kunst"; Renger-Patzsch, Albert: "Die Welt ist Schà n"; 1929, Sander, August: "Antlitz der Zeit"; Steichen, Edward and Carl Sandburg: "Steichen The Photographer"; 1930, Adams, Ansel: "Taos Pueblo"; Atget, Eugà ne: "Atget Photographe de Paris"; Cahun, Claude: "Aveux non Avenus"; Drtikol, Frantisüek: "Zena ve Svetle"; 1931, Ernst, Max and Renà Crevel: "Mr. Knife Miss Fork"; Lerski, Helmar: "Kà pfe des Alltags Moà Ver Paris"; Salomon, Erich: "Berühmte Zeitgenossen"; 1933, Brassaà : "Paris de Nuit"; Ullman, Doris and Julia Peterkin: "Roll, Jordan, Roll"; 1934, Man Ray and James Thrall Soby: "Man Ray Photographs 1920-1934"; 1935, Lissitzky, El: "Industriia sotsializma"; Man Ray and Paul Ãluard: "Facile"; 1936, Bellmer, Hans: "La Poupà e"; Brandt, Bill: "The English at Home"; Hugnet, Georges: "La Septià me Face du Dà "; 1937, Bourke-White, Margaret and Erskine Caldwell: "You Have Seen Their Faces"; Riefenstahl, Leni: "Schà nheit im Olympischen Kampf"; 1938, Evans, Walker: "American Photographs"; 1939, Abbott, Berenice: "Changing New York"; Lange, Dorothea and Paul Schuster Taylor: "An American Exodus"; 1941, Evans, Walker and.…