Rare books from Andrew Cahan: Bookseller, Ltd

[Tokyo]: Treville, 1994. First edition. Hardcover. Kenna, Michael. 4to., unpaged, 130 full-page b&w photos. A fine, as new copy in the photo-illustrated dust jacket. SIGNED by the photographer. Essay by Peter Bunnell and foreword by Ruth Bernhard; in English and Japanese. Stunning landscapes in the classical tradition.

London: W.H.Allen, 1963. First UK edition (simultaneous with US). Hardcover. Steichen, Edward. 4to., (284) pp., 249 photos, several in color. The lower tips are rubbed, else a very good copy in a edgeworn and spine chipped dust jacket. INSCRIBED. This, the first printing differs from the later printing by use of patterned endpapers and the inclusion of color plates. INSCRIBED "To Charles Hoffman (sic), with all good wishes. Edward Steichen, 1967." Charles Hofmann was the pianist for silent films at MoMA, as well as the author of SOUNDS FOR SILENTS.

NY: Double Elephant Editions, 1991. First edition. Fink, Larry. Folio, [1] p. text, plus 15 original gelatin silver prints 13 x 18 inches, archivally window-matted to 19 x 23 inches. All are housed in a cloth clamshell box. The box is bumped at the tips and fore edge, and the cloth is slightly rubbed; there is one small 1/2 inch abrasion on rear and slight soiling. Limited to 25 copies. Each photo SIGNED, titled, with the edition number on the blank verso of the print. The photographs and mounts are in fine, as new condition. Larry Fink studied at the New School of Social Research in New York, taking classes with Lisette Model and Alexey Brodovitch. He taught at the Parsons School of Design and the New School as well as Yale and Cooper Union. He describes his work as follows: "My photographs have been taken with intent to help the human revolution and to do it at the right moment in history. They will testify to the transformation. Such is my feeling. Such is my need." From the prospectus, which is… Read More

N.p.: The Jargon Society, 1974. First edition. Meatyard, Ralph Eugene. 4to., 84 pp., b&w photo-plates. Cloth with photo-illustrated dust jacket, fine and bright. The dust jacket has one small closed tear on the rear panel and a tiny crease at the base of the spine; otherwise, fine. 'The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater' is the best known body of Ralph Eugene Meatyard's work. At once comic and tragic, grotesque and beautiful, the series of 64 images features his wife, Madelyn, in a crone Halloween mask together with a different friend or relative in a transparent mask.

Paris: Librairie Stock, 1925. First edition. Man Ray. Folio, [22] leaves printed recto only, with photogravure frontispiece by Man Ray. Loose as issued in printed wrappers. The frontispiece has left a transfer on the colophon leaf as is usual. A fine, unopened copy. Housed in a newly made chemise of paper over boards with a morocco spine, titled in silver ink, housed in a matching paper over boards slipcase. For Cocteau, the Angel Heurtebise was both his guardian and a demon; written during a feverish period of seven days, this is one of his best known poems "...Your beauty, angel of white lead, caught in a photograph by an explosion of magnesium." (from an English translation). Jean Cocteau collaborated on many photographically illustrated editions, this was the first. This photogravure from a Rayogram, is one of Man Ray's most subtle and beautiful. Of a total edition of 300 numbered copies, 25 were printed on Whatman, 25 were printed on Hollande Van Gelder, and 250 were printed on Vélin… Read More

Original vintage silver gelatin photograph,image size 9 5/8 x 7 3/4 in. [24.4 x 19.7 cm.]. Matted to archival standards with a window over-mat, framed and glazed with uv protecting glass, in a pewter colored wooden frame 17 3/8 x 15 1/4 inches. There is a tiny crease to the upper left tip; else a fine print. Camilla Koffler, "Ylla", 1911 - 1955) was born in Vienna, attended boarding school in Budapest, and studied sculpture in Belgrade. When she discovered that her name, Camilla stood for "Camel" in Serbian, she changed it to Ylla. In 1931, she moved to Paris and worked as an assistant to photographer, Ergy Landau. In 1932, she began what would be her "calling": photographing animals. In 1940, MoMA was instrumental in obtaining an entry visa for her and she settled in the U.S. in 1941. She published several collections on dogs, cats, ducks and chimps. This photograph of a Spaniel chewing a bone on which is printed in pale blue crayon "Merry Xmas", and is SIGNED in pink crayon, "Ylla", is a vintage… Read More

New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Wilson-Western Sporting Goods Company, 1930. First edition. Two volumes. 8vo. The wrappers are illustrated with Rogers Hornsby in batting stance on the front cover. There are some marginal tears and general wear and soiling, especially to the Made -To-Measure catalogue; else in very good condition. Housed in a custom-made clamshell box of cloth with inlays of wood and leather. These two companion catalogues illustrate off-the-rack and tailor-made uniforms in a variety of price ranges. They contain original wool flannel samples, a drawing of the complete uniform, full description and price. The READY-TO-WEAR catalogue is sixteen pages (plus covers), fully illustrated and contains thirty-two uniform samples in a variety of colors and pinstripes. The MADE-TO-MEASURE catalogue is thirteen pages (plus covers), contains illustrations and sixty uniform samples in a variety of colors and pinstripes. Additionally, there are endorsements for mitts (with photo portraits) by… Read More

NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1938. First edition. Evans, Walker. Small 4to., 200 pp., 87 photographic plates, errata slip. Original cloth with printed spine label. There is moderate wear at the spine ends and three of the tips, with a tiny chip to the cloth covering the spine. Still a handsome, and internally, very good and bright copy, lacking the printed dust jacket. SIGNED. SIGNED on the first free endpaper in pencil in Evan's, small, but precise hand.

London: Henry Greenwood & Co, 1963. First editions. 12mos.; variable paginations; many containing original illustrations from a variety of photographic processes. 60 volumes as follows: 1870, 1893 - 1895, 1899, 1901 - 1902. 1910 - 1963. Most volumes are bound in the publisher's original cloth, style varied over time, and several volumes have been recently repaired. Largely acquired from the Camera Club of New York, with their stamps. The British Journal Photographic Almanac is the oldest photographic yearbook in the world and was first published as a wall calendar for the year 1860, and given away as a supplement to the 15 December 1859 issue of The British Journal of Photography. In 1861, it became a separate publication and the editorship closely mirrored that of the Journal. Each volume contained a calendar noting photographic events and society meetings, a summary of the years technical developments, formulas, and articles on various processes and aesthetic considerations. There are numerous… Read More

London: Horne, Thornthwaite and Wood, 1845. Second edition, enlarged. 8vo., 5 - 62 pp., 3 engraved plates. Lacking preliminary leaves through the title page and the catalogue of photographic supplies, p. 63 - 72. Removed from a bound volume, this has added contemporary leaves of manuscript formulas by Dr. Hugh Welch Diamond. Very good. Housed in a paper over boards folder and slipcase with printed paper label. This is the second edition, enlarged, of one of the earliest British manuals which includes Talbot's calotype process, multiple other paper processes, as well as the latest advances in the daguerreian process. Although lacking the title page and the catalogue of photographic apparatus and supplies, this copy was owned by Dr. Hugh Welch Diamond and contains his marginal notes and corrections to the text as well as 14 pages of manuscript formulas and an index leaf. Hugh Welch Diamond (1809 - 1886) entered the field of medicine first at the Royal College of Surgeons beginning in 1824. He opened a… Read More

Melun: Imprimerie Administratice, 1893. Nouvelle edition. Small 4to., lxxxiv, 148 pp., frontispiece, illustrated and charts in text. [bound with] IDENTIFICATION ANTHROPOMÉTRIQUE. INSTRUCTIONS SIGNALÉTIQUES. ALBUM: PREMIÈRE PARTIE. PLANCHES RELATIVES AUX OBSERVATIONS ANTHROPOMÉTRIQUES. [and] DEUXIÈME PARTIE. PLANCHES RELATIVES AUX RENSEIGNEMENTS DESCRIPTIFS. [and] TROISIÈME PARTIE. PLANCHES RELATIVES AU RELEVÉ DES MARQUES PARTICULIÈRES. Melun: Imprimerie Administratice, 1893. 84 plates, 3 folding charts of which one is a color printed display of the nuances of the human iris. Contemporary quarter morocco and marbled paper over boards. Slight cracking to the hinges at the top and bottom of the spine. Ex-copy of the Charleroi Bar, with their name in gilt on the bottom of the spine, simple location stamps on the half-title page, and a paper card holder affixed to the front pastedown. The text is toned as usual, and 8 of the color printed irises on the folding chart are partially damaged from… Read More

London: Ackermann & Co, 1841. First state. Bodmer, Karl. Tableaux 31 from TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA DURING THE YEARS 1834,1835, & 1836. ... Hand-colored aquatint, stipple and engraving; sheet measures 16 1/8 x 21 1/8 inches, with the image measuring 11 15/16 x 17 5/16 inches. Date not stated; with the blindstamp of "C. Bodmer" below the imprint. Conforms to the description of the First State of the print as listed in KARL BODMER'S NORTH AMERICAN PRINTS, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, 2004.

1920. Ulmann, Doris. Original platinum photograph, image size 8 x 6 in, [ 20.3 x 15.2] ] tipped to board, with archival window overmat, 16 x 20 inches. SIGNED in pencil on the board below the photograph by Doris Ulmann. The Rev. H.M. Wharton was the compiler and editor of the popular War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, 1861 - 1865, to which he added his reminiscences of serving as a private in Lee's army. This print appears as Plate 20, page 185, in Jacobs', THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF DORIS ULMANN. Doris Ulmann (1882-1934), although prolific, the majority of her photographs are unique prints, and of these, most are left unsigned. As was her practice, Doris Ulmann only SIGNED those photographs she exhibited or intended to exhibit. She is particularly well known for her portraiture, having published several portfolios in magazines as well as three books of portraits.

NY: E. Weyhe, 1932. First edition. Weston, Edward. Folio, frontis portrait of Edward Weston by Brett Weston, and 39 full-page b&w photos. Quarter white paper and glossy black paper over beveled boards. Fine, but for toning to the white paper which forms the spine and portion of the covers, darkening where it is exposed from the slipcase. Housed in the publisher's slipcase which is worn and edge-chipped. The first full monograph on Weston, and one of the first on any American photographer. With a foreword by Charles Sheeler, an appreciation by Lincoln Steffens, a prophecy by Arthur Miller, an estimate by Jean Charlot, and a statement by Edward Weston. The book was designed by Merle Armitage and limited to 550 SIGNED copies, of which this is number 380.

Babylone [Paris]: n. p., 1760. First edition. 16mo., [Part I] [2], 176 pp; [Part II] [2], 174 pp. Contemporary full mottled calf, with the spine in six gilt-decorated compartments; slight cracking of the joints at the spine ends, holding firmly; rubbing at the edges and chipping at the corners. Moderate foxing or soiling. A near very good copy. "In 1760 the French writer Charles François Tiphaigne de la Roche wrote a novel that today would be considered science fiction. Titled Giphantie, an anagram of his name, it describes his imaginary travels... He was lifted into the air and transported half unconscious, to a beautiful garden in a strange land. There he met a Spirit who said, 'I am the Prefect of this island which is called Giphantie.' With the Prefect as guide, Tiphaigne explored the wonders of 'the island.'" In GIPHANTIA, Chapter XVII, Part I, The author prophecies the fixing of transient images of nature by the action of light. "Thou knowest that the rays of light, reflected from different… Read More