Jaipur, The Information Bureau, Government of Jaipur, 1948
Henri Cartier-Bresson's scarcest book, printed by The Times of India Press in Bombay as part of a marketing drive promoting India's new status as an independent nation within the British Commonwealth, preceded only by a catalogue for his exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (4 Feb – 6 Apr 1947).
In 1947, Cartier-Bresson co-founded Magnum Photos with Robert Capa, David Seymour (Chim), William Vandivert, and George Rodger. Initially, each photographer was to be responsible for a specific region. For Cartier-Bresson, it was to be the Far East. Later that year, he visited India for the first time, and in January 1948, he famously photographed Gandhi shortly before his assassination. In May 1948, Cartier-Bresson came to Jaipur accompanied by his first wife Ratna, a Javanese dancer known to most as Eli, short for Caroline, the French version of her name. They came to attend the marriage of Princess Premkumari Sahiba and stayed for a fortnight, during which Cartier-Bresson made the photographs presented here. It was Cartier-Bresson who suggested that Max J. Olivier contribute a text, which includes an introduction followed by three 'pen-sketches' which illustrate 'vivid impressions' of: 'The Teej Festival', Visit to Galta', and 'The Climbto Amber'.
First edition; 8vo (244 mm x 163 mm, 9½ x 6½ in); author's portrait and 64 black-and-white photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, printed in offset, occasional light marking to margins; original red cloth-covered boards, titles and design stamped in black on front, light wear, head, foot, and corners bumped, publisher's printed dust-jacket, toned, wear to spine and edges, chip to head, scrape to front panel; 75, [1]pp.
In 1947, Cartier-Bresson co-founded Magnum Photos with Robert Capa, David Seymour (Chim), William Vandivert, and George Rodger. Initially, each photographer was to be responsible for a specific region. For Cartier-Bresson, it was to be the Far East. Later that year, he visited India for the first time, and in January 1948, he famously photographed Gandhi shortly before his assassination. In May 1948, Cartier-Bresson came to Jaipur accompanied by his first wife Ratna, a Javanese dancer known to most as Eli, short for Caroline, the French version of her name. They came to attend the marriage of Princess Premkumari Sahiba and stayed for a fortnight, during which Cartier-Bresson made the photographs presented here. It was Cartier-Bresson who suggested that Max J. Olivier contribute a text, which includes an introduction followed by three 'pen-sketches' which illustrate 'vivid impressions' of: 'The Teej Festival', Visit to Galta', and 'The Climbto Amber'.
First edition; 8vo (244 mm x 163 mm, 9½ x 6½ in); author's portrait and 64 black-and-white photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, printed in offset, occasional light marking to margins; original red cloth-covered boards, titles and design stamped in black on front, light wear, head, foot, and corners bumped, publisher's printed dust-jacket, toned, wear to spine and edges, chip to head, scrape to front panel; 75, [1]pp.
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