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First Edition (NAP; University Of Washington Press= NAP). Signed and inscribed by Imogen Cunningham to artist and photographer Ann Parker (her work is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Getty Museum) and her husband the artist and writer, Avon Neal. There's also a separate signed letter to Ms. Parker on Ms. Cunningham's stationary (see photo). The letter of thanks is unusual. Reference video of Ms. Cunningham telling Johnny Carson that she had come on his show to 'thank those who I never answered, this is going to thank them and tell them that I'm not going to answer.' In the letter she writes: 'By now you will understand what kind of a responder I am-- deviled to death and I have not thanked you for the beautiful shot done in Mexico,' You can see the textured black & white covers in the photos. They're exceptionally clean. The black lettering on the spine is nicely bright. The cover edges and corners are in very solid shape, no rubbing. The page edges look very good. The book is square and the spine is straight. The binding is very solid from cover to cover with nicely tight pages throughout and nicely tight covers as well. The interior of the book is in excellent condition. The inside covers and end papers are a textured light gray. They look very good, no soiling. The pages are exceptionally clean. There are two tiny, light tan spots on the half-title page. There is one tiny gray spot off the middle edge of one page, far from her photograph. I didn't find any other soiling (if you would even call either of those soiling) on any of the other pages. The pages are also free of any conspicuous wear. I didn't find any turned-down corners or placeholder creases. There is a tiny (1/4 inch), light crinkle off the top edge of the first seven pages. There are no tears on any of the book's pages. There are no markings in the book. There are no attachments of any kind. And Imogen Cunningham's signed inscription represents the only writing be found anywhere. The photographs are all in excellent condition. Her talent is on display throughout. Here are some of her subjects: Cary Grant, Joseph Sheridan, the Bruton Sisters, Marian Simpson, Upton Sinclair, Rebecca Hume, Amedee Ozenfant, Helena Mayer, Herbert Hoover, Gertrude Stein, Shen Yao, Lyonell Feininger, Morris Graves, David Park, Merce Cunningham, Ruth Asawa, Theodore Roethke, Anna Freud, Man Ray, August Sander, John Roeder, and Wynn Bullock. The Introduction by the photographer and critic Margery Mann runs twenty pages. The dust jacket presents nicely. I've had it in a fitted protective cover for all the years that I have owned the book. There is some toning at some of the edges, particularly on the rear cover adjacent to the top edge and the spine. The spine itself does not appear to be toned. There are also a few darkish spots. two off the top edge of the rear cover. There is a small (3/8th") tear off the top edge of the spine and one other small, thin tear (1/4") off the rear top edge. The large flaps look pretty much perfect, no soiling, no wear of any kind. The jacket is NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all. From the dust jacket: 'This book, the first full-length treatment of Imogen Cunningham's work, presents ninety-four of her finest photographs, dating from 1901 to 1970. Although she has photographed a variety of subjects, she is best known for her studies of individual plants and for her portraits. A portrait photographer, as she says, must be 'hung up on people,' and Margery Mann's warm and uninhibited Introduction shows this gifted artist as a woman of tremendous charm and unquenchable spirits. With Edward Weston, Ansell Adams, Paul Strand, and other photographers living in the San Francisco area she helped to change the direction of West Coast photography. The famous f/64 Group, which they founded, was dedicated to the honest, sharply defined image, rejecting the furry, soft-focus 'pictorialism' then in vogue.'.
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