Paris, Henri Jonquières, Èditeur, 1930
This is the first monograph devoted to Atget's work, issued simultaneously in French, American, and German editions of 1000 copies each. Atget lived on rue Campagne-Première in Montparnasse, the same street in Paris where Man Ray had his studio. He sold his photographs to various painters, sculptors, set designers, architects, and town planners, with a sign above his door reading 'Documents pour Artistes'. Man Ray got to know Atget and began purchasing photographs from him. Through Man Ray, Atget became known in Surrealist circles, and several of his photographs were published anonymously in La Révolution surréaliste (1926).
Berenice Abbott first met Atget in 1925 while working as an assistant to Man Ray. Atget's photographs had a lasting effect on her, and she bought prints from him when she could. Abbott later wrote, 'Their impact was immediate and tremendous. There was a sudden flash of recognition - the shock of realism unadorned. The subjects were not sensational, but nevertheless shocking in their familiarity.'
After Atget died in 1927, Abbott purchased a substantial part of his archive with financial assistance from Julien Levy. Comprising some 5000 vintage prints and over 1000 glass plate negatives, it represents the largest and most significant collection of Atget's work. On hearing of Abbott's plan to produce Atget, photographe de Paris, Julien Levy persuaded the Wehye Gallery in New York to mount an exhibition of Atget's photographs (24 November - 6 December 1930) and to publish an American edition of the book. Levy also presented a small selection of Abbott's studio photographs from Paris alongside the Atget exhibition. For nearly four decades following this, Abbott remained an ardent champion and promoter of Atget's work, and in 1968, she placed the archive with the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
First edition; 4to (272 x 205 mm, 10¾ x 8 in); frontispiece portrait of Atget by Berenice Abbott and 96 black-and-white photographs printed in collotype, plates attached to linen strips as issued, top edge dyed yellow, minor offsetting from frontispiece, occasional minor spotting, rear joint cracked, captions printed in a six-page gathering folded at rear pastedown; burgundy cloth-covered boards, titles stamped to spine and front in gold, lightly marked and worn, a very good copy; [viii], 23, [1], [192], [2]pp.
The Photobook: A History, I p127; The Book of 101 Books pp60-1; The Open Book pp90-1; 802 Books from the Auer Collection p154; Errata Editions: Books on Books #1; Eyes on Paris pp88-93.
Berenice Abbott first met Atget in 1925 while working as an assistant to Man Ray. Atget's photographs had a lasting effect on her, and she bought prints from him when she could. Abbott later wrote, 'Their impact was immediate and tremendous. There was a sudden flash of recognition - the shock of realism unadorned. The subjects were not sensational, but nevertheless shocking in their familiarity.'
After Atget died in 1927, Abbott purchased a substantial part of his archive with financial assistance from Julien Levy. Comprising some 5000 vintage prints and over 1000 glass plate negatives, it represents the largest and most significant collection of Atget's work. On hearing of Abbott's plan to produce Atget, photographe de Paris, Julien Levy persuaded the Wehye Gallery in New York to mount an exhibition of Atget's photographs (24 November - 6 December 1930) and to publish an American edition of the book. Levy also presented a small selection of Abbott's studio photographs from Paris alongside the Atget exhibition. For nearly four decades following this, Abbott remained an ardent champion and promoter of Atget's work, and in 1968, she placed the archive with the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
First edition; 4to (272 x 205 mm, 10¾ x 8 in); frontispiece portrait of Atget by Berenice Abbott and 96 black-and-white photographs printed in collotype, plates attached to linen strips as issued, top edge dyed yellow, minor offsetting from frontispiece, occasional minor spotting, rear joint cracked, captions printed in a six-page gathering folded at rear pastedown; burgundy cloth-covered boards, titles stamped to spine and front in gold, lightly marked and worn, a very good copy; [viii], 23, [1], [192], [2]pp.
The Photobook: A History, I p127; The Book of 101 Books pp60-1; The Open Book pp90-1; 802 Books from the Auer Collection p154; Errata Editions: Books on Books #1; Eyes on Paris pp88-93.
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