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Klein, Kelly (Editor) & Williams, Esther (Contributor).
POOLS.
New York City, NY:
Alfred A. Knopf,
1992.
Hardcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
208 pages.
Fine/Fine.
Collection on subject. One of the greatest photography books of the 20th century. The true First Edition. Precedes, is unmistakably superior to, and should not be confused with the 2007 Facsimile Reissued Edition. An instant classic, it cannot be improved upon and is now rare. A stunningly beautiful production by Kelly Klein and Sam Shahid: Oversize-volume format in wide oblong shape. The book weighs 7 pounds. Handsome khaki linen cloth boards with white titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by numerous contributors, a "Who's Who" of 20th-century photography. All of the images are meticulously selected, brilliantly sequenced, and carefully annotated by Kelly Klein. Printed on 100-pound Lithographic-Quality stock paper in the United States to absolutely the highest standards. At the time the book was first published, the retail price was $100 because of the paper Kelly Klein and Sam Shahid insisted upon that the great Rapaport Printing Company New York supplied the publisher. According to reputable printers, the book would be impossible to re-produce today exactly without costing about $300 in paper and printing costs alone. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents the most sumptuous, most sensuous, and most sensational collection of swimming pool photographs ever assembled. The photographs include works by Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, William Klein, Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, Steven Meisel, and Greg Gorman, among many others. Ed Ruscha turned his pool into a work of art, its design inspired by his great painting, "Name, Address, Phone". Bruce Weber created pools-within-ponds and turned ponds into pools. As a former supermodel, a designer in her own right, and a fashion/lifestyle trendsetter who was once married to the greatest living American fashion designer, Calvin Klein, Kelly Klein has produced four collections that now enjoy a cult following: "Pools" (1992), "Under World" (1995), "Cross" (2000), and "Emotion" (2005). "Pools" owes an immense debt to Slim Aarons' ground-breaking books, "A Wonderful Time" and "Once Upon A Time". Aarons showed many images of the reclusive elite relaxing by the pool. Their cumulative effect was such that the swimming pool became the concrete visual symbol of an affluence that was unprecedented in history and of American culture itself. Kelly Klein has taken the ultimate step by devoting a whole volume to nothing but pools (she devotes a magnificent eight-page foldout to Aarons' pool photographs). The swimming pool is indeed inexhaustible, and this is a book that you will pore over again and again. Many of us will probably never have a swimming pool in our own backyard: In her Note to the 2007 Edition, Esther Williams wrote that her famous pool, which cost her $50, 000 in 1952, a princely sum in those days, will set one back by $500, 000 in 2007, a staggering investment today. Oh my. Surely Klein deserves credit for transporting us to this world of beauty beyond compare. Whether they have pools or not, this is a "must-have" title for photography book collectors. This edition sold out shortly after publication, has been out-of-print for a long time, and has been highly collectible. Kelly Klein finally agreed to have it reissued in a New Edition in 2007 because she felt bad about telling enthusiasts (who wrote her thousands of letters and emails over the years) that the book was impossible to find. This is one of extremely few copies of the true First Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Many copies online have major flaws (because their former owners repeatedly used the book) yet command more than $1000. A rare copy thus. 187 plates. Some of the world's greatest photographers. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER KELLY KLEIN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679409130. $700.00 |
