Paris [WITH] Marseille

Paris: Librairie Plon, 1934. First edition. Hardcover. very good- to very good.. Octavo. Unpaginated (24 leaves each). Bound in half vellum over gilt-marbled boards with gilt lettering and ruling on red leather label of spine; retaining original, photo-illustrated stiff wraps. Red top edge. Tan endpapers. Both issues profusely illustrated with striking b/w photographs, reproduced in heliogravure and both issues with legends of the photographs at rear.

Kertesz' Paris: Original wraps (11 3/8 x 8 1/2"). Frontispiece. Photo-illustrated title page. 'The Kertesz images of Paris reveal clandestine or public dramas and bring this mass of stones, cement and iron to life. The are dominated by the anxieties of the past and, at the same time, foreshadow the advent of the new millennium.' (Mac-Orlan).

The famous work is an evocative photographic survey of Paris in black and white by renowned Hungarian photographer Andre Kertesz. The book assembles a collection of photographic reproductions after original b/w images taken by the photographer during his period in Paris starting in 1925, showing all facets of daily life in the city, in all its vitality and atmosphere. A more extended publication by J. J. Augustin Publisher in 1945 included photographs taken in 1935 with some images duplicated in the later edition. The the images are organized loosely in progression from morning to afternoon and then into the evening. These images evoked a sense of nostalgia for a lost era, as the book was published at the end of the war, at a time when the city had be hit hard by the Second World War. All images with descriptive captions.

Krull's Marseille: 1935. Original wraps. Frontispiece. Photo-illustrated title page. 'Marseille... the most ancient face of France and the gateway to the Orient... everything here revolves around the old port. It is the oldest in Marseille and most alive, still young, you always mingle with these people, a hundred time reborn. The only port located in the middle of the city, as in the days of Crete and Homer.' (Suarès).

Text in French. Marbled paper with one inch narrow chip at seem of cover, ales light wear along edges. Bookplate of E. L. Guyot pasted to inside front cover. Block very lightly age-toned, not affecting heliogravures. About the photographer: André Kertész (1894 - 1985), born Andor Kertész, was a Hungarian-born photographer distinguished by his photographic composition and by his early efforts in developing the photo essay. In the early years of his lengthy career, his then-unorthodox camera angles, and his unwillingness to compromise his personal photographic style, prevented his work from gaining wider recognition. Even towards the end of his life, Kertész did not feel he had gained worldwide recognition. The first photographer to have an exposition devoted to his work, he is recognized as one of the seminal figures of photojournalism, if not photography as a whole.

Roth 101, p. 114-115; Parr and Badger, Vol. I, p. 200.

Germaine Krull was a Polish-born photographer and political activist. Best known for her 1928 photo-illustrated portfolio "Métal." Krull was considered especially outspoken and was, by 1928, one of the best photographers in Paris, next to Kertesz and Man Ray. Her work is widely published.

Parr and Badger, 95.