"BRIEF GLANCES OF VISUAL TENDERNESS"

DOISNEAU, Robert. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, (1955). Tall, slim quarto, original pink cloth, illustrated endpapers, original photographic dust jacket; ll. 13. $1200.

First American edition of this intriguing counting book, one of the few children’s books to use photographs as illustrations, with 12 rich full-page heliogravures.

Perhaps best-known for his documentation of working-class Paris (La Banlieue de Paris) and his high-society and fashion photography for Paris Vogue, Robert Doisneau was "one of France's most popular and prolific reportage photographers, known for his modest, playful, and ironic images in amusing juxtapositions, mingling social classes, and eccentrics in contemporary Paris streets and cafes. Influenced by the work of Kertesz, Atget, and Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau has presented a charming vision of human frailty and life as a series of quiet, incongruous moments" (Encyclopedia of Photography). This imaginative child's counting book demonstrates Doisneau's skill at producing those "playful images in amusing juxtapositions." Marc Riboud once called his pictures "brief glances of visual tenderness" (Frizot, 623). Verses by Arthur Gregor. A French edition was published earlier the same year. See Icons of Photography, 106; Roth, 132; Parr & Badger I:,201.

A few tiny spots to text. Slight rubbing to extremities of dust jacket. About-fine condition.