Robert Frank's scarcest book. Robert Frank's scarcest book, published between Les Americains (1958) and The Americans (1959). Frank supported himself at this time with sporadic commercial work for supportive art directors, including Cipe Pineles at Charm magazine, Alexey Brodovitch at Harper's Bazaar, and Lou Silverstein at The New York Times.

New York Is gathers a series of print advertisements featuring photographs by Robert Frank for a campaign run by The New York Times to target and attract prospective advertisers. Frank's photographs are paired with advertising copy extolling the city's virtues, each ending with the line 'New York is The New York Times. New Yorkers live by it. It serves them with the most news. It sells them with the most advertising.'

When Lou Silverstein died in 2011, Robert Frank sent a note to his memorial service saying, 'He gave me moral support as well as financial – and this made my life in New York City possible.'

First edition; 4to (285 x 209 mm, 11¼ x 8¼ in); black-and-white photographs, introduction by Gilbert Millstein, light cockling to pages, with foxing to preliminary and end leaves, a couple of spreads over-opened; printed paper-covered boards, white, titles in black, soiled with wear to edges and spine, black front and red rear endpapers, without the laid in letter from the advertising director, a good copy in a custom black cloth dropback box; [56]pp.