Diary of a Century by Jacques Henri Lartigue, First Edition

Diary of a Century by Jacques Henri Lartigue

First Edition, First Printing, 1970

Exceptional Condition

This is a first edition, first printing of the classic photobook “Diary of a Century” published by The Viking Press, New York in 1970. Although Jacques Henri Lartigue is now considered one of the great photographers of the twentieth century, fame did not come until very late in life. His photographs were known only to family and friends until 1962 when some of the photographs were exhibited in Paris. Richard Avedon went through the thousands of pictures in Lartigue's 70-year photographic diary and selected those that best documented the visual changes of the 20th century. The results were exhibited in a show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1963 and the world came to realize the genius of Jacques Henri Lartigue.  Writing in “The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century” David Levi Strauss states, “Lartigue’s lively Diary of a Century, at once joyous and contemplative, remains one of the first, and still one of the most beloved, photographic journals… the boldly designed pages give new life to the belle époque of French history... [Lartigue] had the perfect temperament to be the chronicler of an optimistic age.”

Measuring approximately 13” x 11”, the book is bound in brown cloth covered boards with pictorial endpapers and has a gold foil printed dust jacket. The condition of the book is FINE in a Near Fine+ gold foil dust jacket that remains remarkably bright and without chips or tears. There are the some minor scratches to the foil but overall the dust jacket is in remarkable condition. The dust jacket is protected by a mylar covering that has some surface wear and has done its job extremely well.  This is easily the finest copy that I have handled. Overall, this is an exceptional copy of a title that is notoriously fragile and subject to numerous flaws.

Cited in both “The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century” and “The Open Book” by Andrew Roth.

Photographs of the front cover of the dust jacket (3 different shots) as well as photographs contained in the book appear below. Of all of the books that I have photographed, the cover to this dust jacket has been the most difficult to photograph. The combination of the mylar cover and the gold foil made this a real challenge. Although I did my best, the photographs really do not do justice to the condition.  Please note that although the photographs appear digitized as thumbnails, they are viewable in the photo viewer by running your mouse over the thumbnail. You can also click on the thumbnail to open a separate window where the pictures are viewable as a slideshow.