California and the West
New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940. 96 photographs with accompanying text by Charis Weston. First edition, first printing. Black starched cloth, in dust jacket. 11.5" x 10.5" A very good copy with some surface soiling and rubbing to boards, toning to text block, and faint wear to extremities. The dust jacket is very good only, with tape-repaired seams and tears, and front flap detached with some loss and chips overall. Item #225071
Weston was awarded a Guggenheim in 1937, the first ever awarded to a photographer. The story goes that Charis followed up Weston's original two sentence submission with a more successful four page proposal that was finally accepted. Charis's engaging behind-the-scenes travelogue style of writing moves in perfect tandem with Weston's photographs capturing an "on the road" feel, making this their most popular book collaboration and one of Weston's more celebrated works. Their adventure covered 16,000 miles in 187 days in a newly purchased automobile. The following year Weston received another Guggenheim guaranteeing him another year of financial support, which he spent working on negatives and prints.
Inscribed and dated the year of publication by Charis, and also signed by Edward added on the end of the inscription.
Price: $1,000.00