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Sebastian Hau

If there is one book that should be in every photography book collector's library, this might be the one:

Robert Frank. Les Américains. Paris: Robert Delpire, 1958. First edition, first printing.

The original French edition of one of the most influential photography books of the twentieth century — published a year before the American Grove Press edition. Featuring 83 black-and-white photographs taken during Frank’s cross-country journey through the United States between 1955 and 1957, accompanied by texts selected by Alain Bosquet.

This landmark work redefined documentary photography, capturing the complexities, alienation, and poetry of postwar America with a raw and unprecedented honesty. The French edition presents Frank’s sequence as originally conceived, with its striking Delpire layout and Bosquet’s accompanying sociological texts, offering a profoundly different reading from the later U.S. version.

Oblong quarto. Original photo-illustrated wrappers. 179 pages. Photographs printed in rich gravure. Text in French. Designed by Robert Delpire.

A cornerstone of 20th-century photographic literature — cited in every major reference, including The Photobook: A History (Parr & Badger, Vol. I, pp. 247–251) and The Open Book (pp. 176–177).

BOOK CONDITION:
The book is in good condition considering its age, but presents the following:
- some yellowing.
- stain on one page (see photos)
- two loose pages (see photos)
- other pages are holding well, no fading or any other issues with the text and images that are in great conditions.

Please bid with this in mind.

The package will be sent carefully wrapped.

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Robert Frank - Les Américains - 1958

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