| |
|
|
 (Click for larger image) 
St. Martin, Georges & Nelson, Ronald C. (Editors) .
BOYS WILL BE BOYS! .
New York City, NY:
Book Horizons, Inc. /Book Adventures,
1966.
Hardcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
256 pages.
Fine/Fine.
Collection of black-and-white photographs on subject. The explicit sequel to "The Boy: A Photographic Essay", it is now very rare. The true First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. A handsome production by Book Adventures: Oversize-volume format. A very tall and thick book. Red cloth boards with gilt titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by various contributors. Edited with an Introduction by Georges St. Martin and Ronald C. Nelson. Printed in gravure on thick uncoated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with black titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents photographs taken all over the Western world (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and the United States) of boys at their most uninhibited and exhibitionistic. It is disingenuous to say that this is simply a celebration of boyhood, then or today. Yes it is, and much more: A voyeuristic recollection of such boyhood for adult consumption. Most of the photographs in the book show the boys outdoors, completely naked, swimming in the pond, camping, climbing mountains, playing games, and perhaps most disturbing today, simply posing for the camera. It is Will McBride-meets-Bruce Weber, especially the latter's "Bear Pond". In the carefree Sixties, this book and its predecessor, "The Boy: A Photographic Essay", were openly published, widely distributed, and very successfully sold. The writers/editors also felt confident enough to proclaim that: "Any parent, educator, social worker, anyone who enjoys boys and the fun of boys, will treasure these magnificently reproduced photographs, and will return to them again and again. For this haunting yet happy book is a permanent celebration not only of boyhood, but of the eternal springtime of the human spirit" (Georges St. Martin and Ronald C. Nelson). Can such voyeurism really be defended? The great cultural philosopher Roland Barthes thought so. He pointed out that looking arouses and ultimately suppresses, channels a human being's otherwise dangerous urges into viewing (instead of doing), making him a satisfied voyeur instead of a potential predator. The printing is rich gravure, the nudes are full-frontal, the boys are having fun, and the collection deserves to be enjoyed precisely because it may never be replicated for a long time to come. More than a mere curiosity yet not intended as art photography either (as Will McBride, Bruce Weber, Sally Mann, and Jock Sturges regard their work), this is a "must-have" title for photography book completists. This title has been out-of-print for more than thirty years even though it went into multiple subsequent printings. This is one of extremely few copies of the true First Edition still available online and is in unusually fine condition, one of the best (among the very few) we have ever seen: Clean, crisp, and bright, a beauty. All other copies online have major flaws yet command between $700 and $1500. A rare copy thus. Hundreds of gravure plates. Some of the world's most accomplished photographers. A fine collectible copy. . ISBN B000OREMI0. $1200.00 |
