signed first edition Cloth
1945 · New York
by Weegee (Arthur Fellig).
New York: Essential Books, 1945. First edition (smooth cloth issue), boldly signed in ink by Weegee under the printed dedication, "To You, the People of New York." . Cloth. Very Good. 24 cm; 246 pages. Smooth tan cloth, no dust jacket.. Effectively an unblemished copy, with some very light spotting in the joints. Corners clean, square and unworn. Spine ends not worn. Reference: Parr and Badger, 145.
The groundbreaking photographer's first book, with its lurid tabloid-style images of Manhattan crime, crowds, and boisterous nightlife, marked the marriage of art and low life that rang through the second half of the 20th century. Weegee loved murder scenes and the paddy wagons, the cross-dressed and the distressed, partygoers and skid-rowers. His work with the New York Photo League (later censured during the McCarthy years) led him to carry his camera into the streets and exploit its photojournalistic possibilities. Examples of "Naked City" exist bound in "textured" cloth and in smooth cloth, although priority has not been definitively established. (Inventory #: 5379)
The groundbreaking photographer's first book, with its lurid tabloid-style images of Manhattan crime, crowds, and boisterous nightlife, marked the marriage of art and low life that rang through the second half of the 20th century. Weegee loved murder scenes and the paddy wagons, the cross-dressed and the distressed, partygoers and skid-rowers. His work with the New York Photo League (later censured during the McCarthy years) led him to carry his camera into the streets and exploit its photojournalistic possibilities. Examples of "Naked City" exist bound in "textured" cloth and in smooth cloth, although priority has not been definitively established. (Inventory #: 5379)