Just like Let Us Now Praise Famous Men with James Agee ( Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook, Vol.1 p.144), this very rare book is a collaboration between Walker Evans and the writer Karl A. Bickel documenting the state of Florida. Commissioned in 1941 by Bickel, Walker Evans traveled to Florida to take the photographs that were published a year later in this book. These photographs constitute a little-known chapter in Evans’s long career and also shows how his difficult personality caused problems for those he worked with. Pelicans, trailer homes, dancing circus elephants from the Ringling Bros. Winter quarters in Sarasota – the imagery Evans found in Florida was far removed from the Depression-era America with which this master photographer is so often associated. "Far from stereotypical postcard pictures of sandy beaches and palm trees, Evans captured a region of contradictions. Here in the nation's seaside vacationland, Evans focused his lens on decaying architecture, crowded street scenes, retirees, and numerous images of animals, railroad cars, and circus wagons from Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, whose winter home was Sarasota." “Bickel had been president of what was then called United Press Associations (now UPI) from 1923 to 1935... and, in 1932, had confidentially advised Charles Lindbergh on how to deal with the media during the ordeal of his son’s kidnapping. In the quiet resort town of Sarasota (population 8000), Bickel quickly became a community leader working toward economic as well as cultural improvements.” Bickel undertook a systematic survey of the West Coast of Florida which was published as The Mangrove Coast and commissioned Walker Evans to take the photographs for it. ... Evans was happy to accept the job of illustrating Bickel’s book, which involved a six-week trip to Florida in 1941 and paid him a much-needed fee.” Along with Evans’s New York subway series made at the same time “they exhibit the photographer’s eye in an equally exceptional and, with more exposure, should be accepted as a significant phase in the development of Evans’s mature documentary style, comprable to his 1933 work in Cuba and his Depression-era pictures ‘from the field’ for the Resettlement Administration.” “The Mangrove Coast appeared in 1942 in a first edition that consisted of Bickel’s text (with an epilogue written that January reflecting the recent events of wartime on Florida’ west coast), followed by a portfolio of thirty-two photographs by Evans, introduced with his captions. This group of pictures is possibly the least known of Evans’s pre-1945 works and survives in very few 1940s prints, most of them located at the Getty Museum.” The Mangrove Coast went down well with the public and "was a big hit – except for the pictures. They just didn’t mesh with the text... The photographs supplied by Evans were about something else entirely. The two sat there in uneasy proximity as the first edition ran its course, but for the second and subsequent editions the photographs were dropped entirely." All quotes from: Walker Evans Florida by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. A must for Walker Evans collectors, as well as the very rare first edition showcasing Evans photographs, this comes with a very good copy of the second edition (without photographs) after his fight with Bickel when the photos were removed. These books provide a fascinating insight into a little-known period of Walker Evans photographic career. Condition: Very rare first edition, first impression of this scarce title. Ink stain on rear cover - does not affect interior pages. Previous owner's inscription on front blank page. Photographs all present. Also included; a very good copy of the second edition in dust jacket (but without photographs by Evans). Please examine all listing photos carefully.