Ballet in the Dirt - First Edition - Signed - Neil Leifer - Bauman Rare Books

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Bauman Rare Books

Ballet in the Dirt

Neil LEIFER

Item#: 111903 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Ballet in the Dirt

Ballet in the Dirt

Ballet in the Dirt

Ballet in the Dirt

ONE OF 200 ARTIST'S PROOF COPIES

LEIFER, Neil. Ballet in the Dirt: The Golden Age of Baseball. Cologne: Taschen, 2007. Oblong folio (13-1/2 by 16 inches), original half cloth with photographic boards, original slipcase, original shipping box.

Signed limited first edition, number 96 of only 200 artist's proof copies (out of a total limited edition of 1200) signed by Leifer on the limitation page, with over 300 of Leifer's stunning photographs.

"Professional baseball of the 1960s and 1970s belongs to Neil Leifer, the premier sports photographer of his generation. In 1960, at age 17, Neil had the human drive to match his new Nikon motor drive and he was on his way. With gumption and an eye for the decisive moment, the baby-faced kid from Manhattan's Lower East Side was soon selling his photos to Sports Illustrated. This superb collection of images reflects the total access Neil had to the players on the field, in the dugout, and in the locker room. All the pathos, elation, disappointment, and celebration are etched upon the faces of the players and their mercurial fans. From the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and the Pirates—decided in the 9th inning of the 7th game by a Bill Mazeroski home run—to the 1977 World Series between the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Neil Leifer never stopped shooting. He was up in the nosebleed section of the grandstands in Yankee Stadium, in the rafters of the Astrodome in Houston, or a helicopter high above. Who won the games wasn't important, only how the game was played—the blood, sweat, and grace. It's all about the game, and Leifer's photographs create a topographical map to the very heart and soul of baseball" (Taschen).

A fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
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Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
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Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
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