Photographs from the Collection of Gilman Paper Company; with plates by Richard Benson and foreword by Howard Gilman
Meriden, CT: White Oak Press, 1985. First Edition. Elephant folio, 18 x 15 1/4 inches (456 x 385 mm). Illustrated with 200 photo-offset lithographic and process color prints including an offset lithographic frontispiece taken from the original photographs, each tipped to an individual leaf and reproduced in original size. Half-bound in red calf with linen cloth over boards by the Legatoria Recalcanti, Milan. Matching linen cloth covered slipcase. Pages clean and bright; binding square and sound; spine and corners lightly scuffed. Slipcase lightly soiled.
LIMITED EDITION, printed in Verona Italy at the Stamperia Valdonega, set in Monotype Bembo for the text according to the design of Martino Mardersteig on Cartiere Fedrigoni paper for the White Oak Press. This is copy 406 of 1200 printed, as attested on the limitation page.
NOTE: Because of the massive size and weight of this book, extra shipping and packing charges will be required; the amount to be determined at the time of shipment.
A monumental production and one of the finest photography books of the late twentieth century, this lavish catalogue documents the legendary Gilman Paper Company Collection, assembled under the direction of Howard Gilman and widely regarded as one of the greatest private photography collections ever formed, totaling over 8,500 photographs. Curated by Pierre Apraxine and with a foreword by Howard Gilman, the volume traces the evolution of photography from its earliest experimental processes through the modernist era, encompassing works by many of the medium’s most celebrated practitioners, including work by Fenton, Kertész, Atget, Cameron, Nadar, Cartier-Bresson, Stieglitz, Atget, Capa, Evans, Man Ray, Strand, and Arbus.
The extraordinary tipped-in plates, printed under the supervision of master printer Richard Benson, are notable for their exceptional tonal richness and fidelity to the original photographs. Produced on an imposing elephant folio scale, the book was conceived as both a scholarly reference and a work of art in its own right. Long admired for the quality of its reproductions and elegant craftsmanship, this work remains a landmark publication in the history of photographic publishing and an essential reference for collectors, curators, and students of the medium. This book's excellence and importance was recognized in the landmark exhibition and publication "A Century for a Century, 1900-1999" by the Grolier Club of New York.
The Gilman Paper Company Collection of photographs was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005: "...an archive that includes hundreds of works from the medium's earliest years and that is widely considered to be the most important private photography collection in the world. The more than 8,500 photographs, some purchased by the Met and some donated by the foundation that owns them, will greatly strengthen the museum's photography holdings and make it, along with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, one of the world's pre-eminent institutions for 19th-century photographs." [New York Times, March 17, 2025].
Condition: Near fine.
Item number: 2178
Price: $4,800.00
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