Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Three Tenant Families

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1941. First edition of "one of the great photography books of the 20th century - but one that languished on the trash heap for almost a quarter of a century before being recognized by the public. . . . The book juxtaposes Walker Evans's straightforward black-and-white documents, most of them portraits, with Agee's heated, often stream-of-consciousness text. Together these two viewpoints provide a glimpse into the 'cruel radiance' of life in the Deep South during the Depression, a complex vision of the poverty, the dignity, the love, and pain of the sharecroppers' existence." Roth, The Book of 101 Books, p. 17; Parr and Badger, The Photobook Volume 1, p.144. No figures are available as to the size of this edition, but one can safely assume not more than 1500 were probably printed. Published at the beginning of World War II, the book was received with indifference and sold only about 600 copies the first year, after which it was remaindered for nineteen cents. Dust jacket price clipped and very slightly rubbed, otherwise an exceptionally fine copy, with none of the fading that invariably mars the dust jacket on this book; preserved in a custom-made half-morocco slipcase. Extremely rare in this condition. 8vo, illustrated with photographs by Walker Evans, original black cloth, dust jacket. Dust jacket price clipped and very slightly rubbed, otherwise an exceptionally fine copy, with none of the fading that invariably mars the dust jacket on this book; preserved in a custom-made half-morocco slipcase. Extremely rare in this condition.