PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY CARTIER-BRESSON: DECISIVE MOMENT, WITH BINDING AND DUST JACKET DESIGNED BY MATISSE

CARTIER-BRESSON, Henri. The Decisive Moment. New York: Simon and Schuster, (1952). Folio, original blue, green, black and cream pictorial boards, original matching dust jacket, both illustrated by Matisse. $10000.

First edition in English, published simultaneously with the French, featuring 126 photographs by “the Raphael of 20th-century photographers,” boldly inscribed, “To Ralph Graves in appreciation for your patience and wisdom, Henri.” Complete with separate caption pamphlet and matching dust jacket designed by Matisse.

"Cartier-Bresson has a special interest in photographing people and in capturing the essence of what has not previously been seen. He is famous for his theory of the 'decisive moment—that is seizing the split second when the subject stands revealed in its most significant aspect… Today he ranks as one of the most important and influential photographers of this century" (Blodgett, 96)—"the Raphael of 20th-century photographers" (Icons of Photography, 58). Decisive Moment is Cartier-Bresson's most famous work, containing his most comprehensive and important statement on the meaning, technique, and utility of photography. "The simultaneous publication [of this edition with Images à la sauvette] in New York in July 1952, with a cover by Matisse (who had just had his retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art) was a tremendous success" (Roth, 134). Ralph Graves, the recipient, was a writer, editorial director of publications at Time, Inc. and the last editor of Life as a weekly magazine.

Book with faint, inoffensive embrowning at margins, and expert restoratioon to ends of mildly toned spine. Dust jacket with expert restoration. A rare signed copy with a wonderful association.