Customer Reviews

Atget: Photographe de Paris (Book on Books)

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When I first heard about this series of books, I thought it was a great idea. I collect photography books, but this particular book is out of my price range. I have many Atget books and thought it would great to have a reprint of his first book. Atget is one of my favorites, and the photos in this volume are some of his classics.

My problem with this book is how the publisher has elected to reproduce the original. The publisher's own description of the book in the pre-publication advertising states "Each volume in the series presents the entire content, page for page, of an original master bookwork .." What the don't say is that the majority of this reprint has four pages reproduced on each page, and two of those pages are blank. If you can imagine photocopying a book that has a photo on one page and a blank page opposite, then reducing that to fit two of these two-page spreads on a single page in this book, you will have an idea of what they've done.

This new reprint is a small volume to begin, measuring only 7 inches wide by 9 1/2 inches tall. A full page reproduction of an original page measures 6 1/2 x 8, but that includes the border, so the actual full-page image is only 5 x 6 1/2 inches. And remember, the facing page is blank. If the entire volume was done this way, I would be perfectly pleased, but there are only 19 full-page reproductions.

The rest of the book consists of 76 very small (2 3/8 x 3 inch) reproductions, all but three printed two per page, complete with the same size reproduction of the original page's blank facing page. The photos are still great, but my old eyes would have been much happier if the reproductions were all full page.

Technically, the publisher's statement I quoted at the start is true, but I did not expect "the entire content, page for page" to be reduced and printed four original pages on one of the new volume. As the publisher goes on to say, this series ".. allows further study into the creation and meanings of these great works of art." This would be true had the reproductions been full-page.

Someone familiar with the work of Atget may very well know many of the photos in this volume, and have larger reproductions in other books, and therefore may enjoy this book as an historical record of a long out-of-print edition (and I appreciate that aspect myself), but I wouldn't recommend this book for someone new to Atget , or one looking for larger prints to study.

The Errata Edition's volume on the great photography book Phtographe De Paris is a book that I strongly recommend to lovers of photography. It is not a large, expensive volume which simply reproduces the original, and I suspect was not intended at all to be this, but it is an affordable reference work which I think others will get as much pleasure from as I do. The first part of the book reproduces the book of photographs, in a small size but very clearly, and this is followed by an original essay, which is full of information about Atget, the book itself, photography, these photographs, their content and their place in photography. This is a book that you can enjoy and learn from, at a price that will not set you book. It is a book that you will want to keep and return to. I am grateful that people who obviously love photography have made a lot of effort to share this with us. This and the other three books presently in the series are keepers in my opinion

The errata books on books series, as I understand it, are re-productions of important, out-of-print, rare - and therefore expensive - photobooks. I've spent some time with the first four, and they are done with intelligence, care, and seemingly with love for the work. Of course there's no substitute for the original editions, but that's sort of the point. The idea is to take each first edition seriously as a work of art, treat it with deference, make the work available to a wider audience, and add something to the mix in the form of a new essay and background information. Taking this first batch as indicative, there will be no fluff in this series -- the first four choices are powerful and interesting, both individually and in combination. Don't misunderstand: if you're considering selling your car and using the money to buy first editions of In Flagrante, Fait, etc. and a bicycle, well, that just might be a wise move and I admire you. Probably I should do exactly that. Until then, we're fortunate to have these books, and I look forward to more.
For what it's worth, you don't have to take my word: Parr & Badger each mentioned errata books on their `best of 2008' lists.

What a wonderful idea. I've never seen Atget's "Photographe de Paris" but have heard it talked about for years, seen a page here or there or the cover reproduced in catalogs but I've never been able to get a full sense of the book, the flow of imagery, never been able to grasp why it was held in such high regard. So it's nice to finally have a reference tool to give me an idea of what the fuss is all about.

Needless to say, this is not a facsimile--it is not a "Second Edition"--it reproduces the entire book, cover to cover, and so the images of the spreads of the book are not at the original size. But it gives me a good enough taste that I can at least talk about it intelligently.

Beyond that, the essays are excellent at putting the book in context and the bibliographic info is fascinating. Given the price of photography books these days I was suspicious that the price for the Errata Editions books meant a low production job. So I was pleasantly surprised at how well printed it was and at how much care went into the scans and reproductions.

All around, I'm impressed and happy with this book and the other three in the series.

The initial reprints of Errata Editions: Atget: Photograph de Paris, as well as Walker Evans: American Photographs, Sophie Ristelhueber: Fait, & Chris Killip: In Flagrante are wonderful study guides to both historical photo books (Atget & Evans) as well as more contemporary titles which are near impossible to find (Ristelhueber & Killip). The photo book is only now coming to attention as an important form of photography itself, for its sequencing, printing, and any text, rather than isolating the images from their published contexts. As a teaching aid these are excellent as reference for important books that are little seen. I am also struck by the smaller size of the printing, which enhances the intimacy of studying these hitherto near-unseen books. Along with reprints of the texts, as well as images of other publications by the photographers, these are both informative & aesthetic. There is great erudition in the selection & I am looking forward to more.

It's unfortunate that this classic book is given such poor treatment in this reissue. It is literally a photocopy of an original book. Many pages contain four pages of the original, two of which are blank, which makes the images very small. I just don't see the point in reissuing these classic photo books in this manner.

These are really remarkable books! They are conceptual and intelligent in a way that is all too rare nowadays. People in the world of photography are talking about them everywhere I go. As a librarian and bibliophile, I appreciate the care and attention to the printing and binding of them. While not the kind of "picture books" for buyers who prefer the splashy items close to the cash register at a chain bookstore, they re-evaluate and pay homage to books that the average photography fan would not ever have an opportunity to handle or own. I applaud this, treasure my first set and eagerly anticipate the new titles in the future of this series!