Beyrouth.

presentation copy

Presentation copy, inscribed: 'Pour Jacquot, / un petit livre / typique des [...]... / Avec toute l'affection / de Sophie. / Le 28.04.84'. Whilst studying at the Sorbonne, Sophie Ristelhueber became interested in the Nouveau Roman writing of authors such as Alain Robbe-Grillet, whose descriptions of objects and surfaces became central elements in this new style. Since the 1980s, her work has engaged with the ambiguity of real and collective emotions surrounding wars and conflict. Interested in the traces of history, Ristelhueber addresses these cycles of destruction and the violence they inflict on the earth's surface, leaving wounds like scars on a body. Her books and exhibitions have explored these metaphoric landscapes in many conflict areas, including Beirut, Kuwait, former Yugoslavia, and Iraq. Beyrouth was issued to accompany an exhibition of these photographs of shell-damaged buildings at L'Institut français d'architecture, Paris (27 March - 14 April 1984), the exhibition announcement card for the preview is laid in to this copy.

First edition, presentation copy inscribed on the title-page; 8vo (210 x 141 mm, 8¼ x 5½ in); black-and-white photographs printed in offset, design by Dominique Carré; white photo-illustrated wrappers, text in black, minor soiling, gentle vertical bend, printed glassine dust-jacket, toned, minor wear to edges, short tear to rear, crease to front flap, exhibition announcement card laid in, very good; 67, [5]pp.