“LIKE PERFECT LITTLE POEMS” (WALKER EVANS): FIRST EDITION OF SOUTHERN PHOTOGRAPHS, SIGNED BY CHRISTENBERRY WITH LAID-IN GALLERY CARD ALSO SIGNED BY THE PHOTOGRAPHER

CHRISTENBERRY, William. Southern Photographs. (New York): Aperture, (1983). Oblong quarto, original russet cloth, original photographic dust jacket. WITH: Laid-in card (measures 5 by 7 inches), signed on the recto. $400.

First trade edition of this breakthrough photobook by Christenberry, a “pioneer among the first generation of color photographers” (New York Times), signed by him on the title page, with a laid-in card from the prestigious Pace/MacGill Gallery, also signed by Christenberry, containing 72 striking full-color photogravures, in scarce dust jacket.

To Walker Evans, William Christenberry’s evocative pictures of the American South “are like perfect little poems.” Born in 1936, less than 20 miles from the migrant farmers photographed by Evans for Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), Christenberry is widely “known as a pioneer among the first generation of color photographers” (New York Times). Issued the same year as a signed limited edition with a signed print (100 copies). Featuring an introduction by R.H. Cravens. With 72 full-color photogravure plates, ten in-text black-and white images. With laid-in card from New York’s Pace/MacGill Gallery, which showcased the photographer’s work in a 1992 exhibit: displaying with two full-color images displayed above Christenberry’s signature on the recto.

Images fresh and bright, lightest edge-wear to original cloth; light edge-wear with tiny closed margin tears to scarce dust jacket. A groundbreaking photobook in about-fine condition, scarce signed.