Sekai Shashin Nenkan Kessaku-shū 1938 [World Photo Almanac Masterpiece Collection], Vol 1 世界写真年鑑傑作集 アルス

Item #91065

Sekai Shashin Nenkan Kessaku-shū 1938 [World Photo Almanac Masterpiece Collection], Vol 1 世界写真年鑑傑作集
アルス (Arusu-sha アルス社), publisher
Showa 12 昭和12年 1937

26x18.5cm volume with light blue-gray dust jacket bound and opens Western style. Title with letter shading in white and the date ‘1938’ in red with ‘Vol 1’ across it in black text. Rear has “Camera”’ and Japanese text in white across the top, a center design of a ship with ‘1938’ in red and a price of ¥1.50. Inner rear flap mentions Kiku film 菊フィルム, Japan’s first domestically produced camera film. Paper wrappers are plain beige and inside wrappers advertise cameras and film with illustrations and text in blue. 6pp Table of Contents, 128pp of black and white photo illustrations and 43 pp of explanatory Japanese text. Photos have photographer names, with Western names in English, and some with the topic in Japanese. Additional pages of advertising in the front and back.

The Table of Contents breaks down the photo illustrations into sections with the subject/title of the work and the names of the photographers in katakana and English next to page numbers. The [8] sections are: Photofreund Jahrbuch 1938, Modern Photography 1937-8, The Year’s Photography 1937-8, Deutscher Kamera-Almanach 1938, The Annual of Photography, This is Japan by Fritz Henle, Arbeit! von Dr. Paul Wolff, U.S. Camera 1938.

Full-page, half and ¾ page reproduced photos by established photographers, such as Remie Lohse (1893-1947), Fritz Henle (1909-1993), Paul Wolff (1887–1951), fashion photographer Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) and Lala Aufsberg (1907 - 1976).

Notable photo illustrations: well-known aviator Ruth Nichols, Olympic gold medal fencer Helene Mayar (1910-1953), Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio (1904-1983), an aerial photo of a US city, action shots of sports games, a parachuter and dancers, still lifes, landscapes and portraits of children.

A color sheet advertising the company Arsen folds open to 26 x 37.7cm and is tipped into the binding before the Table of Contents. A 10.6 x 14.5 sheet with a gray scale of 12 examples is tipped in on p 23.

Small chips and tears to edges of dust jacket. Toning throughout with thumbing. A remarkable guide to early photographers and photography with Japanese and Western appeal.

Price: $150.00