Book of the Day > Map: Exploring The World. Phaidon. “Map: Exploring the World brings together more than 300 fascinating maps from the birth of cartography to cutting-edge digital maps of the twenty-first century. The book's unique arrangement, with the maps organized in complimentary or contrasting pairs, reveals how the history of our attempts to make flat representations of the world has been full of beauty, ingenuity and innovation.

Selected by an international panel of curators, academics and collectors, the maps reflect the many reasons people make maps, such as to find their way, to assert ownership, to record human activity, to establish control, to encourage settlement, to plan military campaigns or to show political power. The selection includes the greatest names in cartography, such as James Cook, Gerard Mercator, Matthew Fontaine Maury and Phyllis Pearsall, as well as maps from indigenous cultures around the world, rarely seen maps from lesser-known cartographers, and maps of outstanding beauty and surprising individuality from the current generation of map makers.”

The 'throwback’ book of the day is a tribute to MAN RAY whose birthday it is today! > Man Ray: Alphabet For Adults – Signed by Man Ray. Copley Galleries, 1948. "Alphabet for Adults" is Man Ray's charming 1948 illustrated abecedaire published during the artist's residence in Hollywood by his gallerist William Copley. It presents thirty-nine whimsical drawings with captions ranging from anchor to zinc that were printed by Lynton R. Kistler, who was Merle Armitage's collaborator of choice in the same period. An internally bright, most handsome example of this uncommon item limited to five hundred unnumbered copies in the printer's original clear plastic overlay additionally BOLDLY SIGNED "Man Ray" in pencil on the title page showing a bit of typical mild age-toning to its covers and pastedowns along with some light soiling and traces of contact with moisture to the boards. It was acquired by us directly from the library of Man Ray's friend, the late, great Los Angeles artist, collector and educator Emerson Woelffer, and bears his embossed gold foil ownership label on the front pastedown.”

Want it?! You can have it.

Book of the day > Grafted: Plants by Kohei Oda | Pots by Adam Silverman. August Editions.

"Grafted documents, through stunning photography, the groundbreaking collaboration between Adam Silverman, a renowned LA-based ceramicist, and Kohei Oda, an award-winning Japanese plant sculptor. Through two exhibitions, Silverman and Oda worked together to produce one hundred unique works combining Oda's grafted cacti with Silverman's textural ceramic pots to produce one-of-a-kind, out of this world artworks that cross boundaries.

Beautifully photographed by Shuji Yoshida and Joshua White and edited and designed by Tamotsu Yagi, Grafted is a testament to the power of merging two powerful visions. As Glenn Adamson writes in his introduction: Their collaboration is not just about a hundred plants in a hundred pots; it is further evidence that art at its best can move effortlessly across cultures, across media, and against expectation."

Book of the day and BOOK SIGNING TOMORROW! Please join us! 4-6! > Ryan Schude: Schude. Roads Publishing. “Schude celebrates a decade of work with nearly two hundred cinematic images by Los Angeles-based photographer Ryan Schude. His vast tableaux and vivid portraits combine humor - both light and vivacious and black as night - with extreme skill and an auteur's eye that encapsulate Pop Americana in a way that has resonated with audiences worldwide. Schude, his first monograph, features a foreword by Zac Pennington, an introduction by Davy Rothbart, and a text by the photographer himself illuminating the intricacies and personal stories behind his process in creating this engaging body of work.”

If you can't make it tomorrow but want a signed book, order it here.

That's Rachel Portenstien (at the Museum of Juraissic Technology). She used to be the Arcana shipping manger!

“Throwback” book of the day > Fashion Academy. Oozing charm, this is the 1938 hardbound brochure for “ Fashion Academy” – a ritzy study program based out of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Syllabus includes requisite “Study Trip to Paris.” A gold-embossed gem.

Book of the day > Taiyo Onorato / Nico Krebs: The Great Unreal. Edition Patrick Frey. "During a period of three years, Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs traveled several months through the United States, working “on the road” on the photo series The Great Unreal. The photographic work deals with reality and the fabrication of reality.The geography of America serves as both setting and fertile ground for the examination. Mysticism and demystification are important aspects in this process, as is working with a rich inventory of visual icons that can be continually deconstructed and manipulated.The working method of both photographers is based on interventions prescribed mostly by happenstance and change. Through repetition and associative placement, the sometimes crude, sometimes subtle interventions begin to link to one another, establishing an exciting transformation of reality that only hesitatingly reveals itself to the viewer.

Together with book designers Megi Zumstein and Claudio Barandun, what emerged is an unmitigated picture book that makes a visual journey possible without any instructions. It comprises narrative image sequences that approximate the curiosity and restlessness of being on the move and, at the same time, depict associative connections with the American landscape."

Book of the day – and Book Signing TOMORROW, 4:00-6:00! > Outside The Studio: Greg Gorman. Damiani. “Outside the Studio is photographer Greg Gorman's tenth monograph. This book takes Gorman outside the reaches of his studio portrait and figure-study work, for which he is best known, and onto the streets of Southeast Asia—uncharted territory for the artist. Traveling initially on behalf of Epson, giving symposiums on fine art digital printing throughout Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, Gorman got a firsthand look at these very different cultures at the very beginning of the digital revolution.The transition from analogue to digital cameras was another new experience for Gorman, who had shot film for more than 30 years.For Gorman, being in the studio with the likes of Marlon Brando or Robert De Niro was second nature, but being thrust in front of strangers in China, Kuala Lampur, India, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam was a new adventure.”

If you can't make it in for the book signing (in air-conditioned splendor with cold drinks a-plenty), you can order a signed copy here.

Happy Birthday, Herb Ritts! For the second of our Thursday ‘throwbacks’ (featuring out-of-print or overlooked books in the shop), the book of the day is > Herb Ritts: Pictures. Signed! Twelvetrees Press, 1988. Designed by Jack Woody. "Pictures" is the exquisite first collection from 1988 of the highly stylized black and white celebrity portraits and nudes of the late, great Herb Ritts. A most handsome copy of the first printing of this influential book limited to six thousand copies additionally BOLDLY SIGNED AND DATED "Herb Ritts 11/88" in the year of its publication in black ink across the title page. Also available from us in the Deluxe, Limited, Slipcased Edition, Signed & Numbered by Herb Ritts.

Book of the day > Out Of Ark - Yumiko Utsu. Artbeat Publishers. “Interest in Yumiko Utsu is high. Born in Tokyo in 1978, her saturated, fecund photographs are inspired, at turns, by the natural world, food, sex and Manga. This career-spanning exhibition monograph is much awaited. In Utsu’s world, the sumptuousness of glossy food photography collides with unsettling and erotic anthropomorphic deviations. Kittens with octopus eyes, priapic carrots, decomposing tomatoes, and parasite-infested dolls walk the line between desire and disgust. Exhibited in Tokyo and London, ‘Out Of Ark’ is an essential introduction to Utsu’s work that will disturb, amuse, revolt and delight, in equal – or not so equal – measure.”

Book of the day > Metamorpolis by Tim Franco. Pendant Ce Temps. The city of Chongqing, one of the biggest in central China, went through one of the fastest development process in the country. Tim Franco, a French photographer based in Shanghai, followed this crazy development from 2009. Now, he has published a book, resulting from 5 years of photographic work about the city.

As a result of migrating population, Chongqing China suddenly became one of the largest cities in the world with up to 30 million inhabitants. When photographer Tim Franco first visited the city in 2009, Tim Franco said he was totally lost : "Old houses were being destroyed and over passed by new giant bridges and oversized housing complex. It took me a while to start to understand what was going on".

In 2009, as the new leader was going on war with organized crime, Tim was sent on assignments by different international papers. About a year later, as he was witnessing some of the oldest district of the city being destroyed, he decided to document the change of the city from his own point of view : "My goal was to document how the people adapt to such a radical change".

For the past 5 years, Tim traveled extensively to Chongqing exploring its different districts, witnessing the changes and trying to understand how the massive rural population was adapting to its new urban lifestyle. Working with an analog medium format camera, he chose to take a step back from classical portrait and documentary approach, showing the people in their incongruous environment.

As year passed Tim realized that he was also documenting the growing life of a Chinese city : "Chongqing is maybe an extreme with its unique landscapes and tumultuous history but it’s also quite representative of what china is going through as a country. This process is not over, either for Chongqing as a city , or for my ongoing documentary work. But I feel like what I gathered is enough to allow a large audience to discover what maybe the most widely unknown megacity in the world."

As year passed Tim realized that he was also documenting the growing life of a Chinese city : "Chongqing is maybe an extreme with its unique landscapes and tumultuous history but it’s also quite representative of what china is going through as a country. This process is not over, either for Chongqing as a city , or for my ongoing documentary work. But I feel like what I gathered is enough to allow a large audience to discover what maybe the most widely unknown megacity in the world."