Book of the Day > Oscar G. Rejlander: Artist Photographer. Published by Yale University Press in conjunction with the National Gallery of Canada. “A fascinating survey of the varied career of an inventive and influential 19th-century photographer, from allegorical montage to Darwin’s catalogue of emotions. Oscar G. Rejlander (1813–1875) was a Swedish-born photographer who pioneered the genre of art photography. He is best known for combining negatives to form elaborate allegorical compositions and for his ability to communicate expression through his photographic studies and portraits. His influence shines in the works of other important photographers of the day. This catalogue accompanies the first major retrospective on this vital yet understudied figure and considers the whole range of his activities, including his work as a painter and printmaker. Lori Pauli introduces Rejlander with a comprehensive survey of his life and career. Three essays follow, from leading scholars in the field of 19th-century photography, with topics ranging from Rejlander’s engagement with Victorian painting, to his studio and working methods, to his artistic circle and work with Charles Darwin. Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this publication fills a void in scholarship on Rejlander; it also sheds light more broadly on the intersection of art and science and the uses of photography in Victorian culture, as well as the history of photography and its impact on Victorian culture.”

Book of the Day > Supersonic: The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde. Published by Prestel. BOOK SIGNING SATURDAY, 11/17/18 4PM-6PM!

When the first commercial Concordes zoomed off the runways in Paris and London in the late 1960s, crossing the Atlantic in just under three hours, they established a new standard for luxury flight. Powered by 38,000 pounds of thrust and easily recognizable with its delta wing and drooping nose, the Concorde jet embodied the pinnacle of aviation technology and industrial design. It quickly became the preferred mode of transatlantic flight for superstars and business moguls alike. Opening with a lively history of the jet and how it changed travel, the book focuses on the look and feel of the Concorde. Photos of the jet’s evolving interiors show how the original, starkly designed cabin gave way to luxury seats and interiors designed by the likes of Sir Terence Conran and Andrée Putman. Filled with fascinating historical and technical background, and drawn from the author’s personal collection of more than one thousand Concorde-related objects, this elegant book offers rarely seen historical photography and firsthand contributions from the people who helped create the Concorde experience from take-off to landing and beyond.

Book of the Day > Ryan McGinley: Mirror Mirror. Published by Rizzoli Publications. “Ryan McGinley, since the earliest days of his unparalleled career, has chronicled his friends and cohorts. Whether on the now legendary annual road trips he has organized with a large coterie of twentysomethings documenting summertime exploits or documenting the early gritty years in downtown New York, McGinley is known as the consummate storyteller about freedom and abandon of youth. A few years ago, however, he wanted to challenge his creative habits and asked more than one hundred of his friends and colleagues--guided by detailed instructions and a camera given to them by the artist--to take nude self-portraits using mirrors and other props. Though related to the ubiquitous selfie, the participants didn't have the benefit of seeing the image before they clicked the shutter. Furthermore, McGinley would make the selection of the final image to represent the photo session. The experiment yielded scores of intimate and psychologically revealing photos that--even though not done by his own hand--bear some signature McGinley flourishes in their emotional depth and resonance.”

Book of the Day > R. Crumb’s Dream Diary. Published by Elara Press. “For more than 40 years, legendary American artist Robert Crumb has documented his nightly dreams in a meticulously kept private journal. This material has stood as a guarded secret in a career defined by an impish compulsion to publically self-disclose. All of the artist's well-documented preoccupations are present and accounted for—rampant egomania, insatiable lust, profound self-disgust, the sad beauty of old America, the moral bankruptcy of new America and the fool's errand quest for spiritual enlightenment—but here they are entirely untamed, springing forth from forces beyond even his control. Published for the first time, the complete Dream Diaries offer readers a deep, dark look under the hood of one of America's most aggressively dynamic comedic voices.”

Book of the Day > Archigram: The Book. Published by Circa Press. “Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Archigram envisioned the future of architecture in ways that enthralled a generation. In an era defined by the space race, they developed a high-tech, lightweight, infrastructural approach that stretched far beyond known technologies or contemporary realities. They devised autonomous dwellings and focused on survival technology; they experimented with megastructures and modular construction systems; they explored mobility through the environment and the use of portable living capsules: all through the medium of an incredible series of drawings and models. This book catalogues Archigram’s activities over fourteen years, including 165 pages from all ten Archigram magazines. Warren Chalk (1927-88), Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, Ron Herron (1930-94), David Greene and Michael Webb are the founder members of Archigram. Their theoretical work began in the 1960s as a cry against ‘the crap then going up in London’. Although they never built a building together, their influence over a generation of architects continues to be felt today. The group was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2002. Along with commentaries by the architects, there are contributions from critics Reyner Banham, Martin Pawley, Michael Sorkin and others, writing then and now. Designed and edited by Archigram member Dennis Crompton, Archigram: The Book has been 40 years in the making.”

Book of the Day > Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes: The Sweet Flypaper of Life. Published by First Print Press. “The Sweet Flypaper of Life is a ‘poem’ about ordinary people, about teenagers around a jukebox, about children at an open fire hydrant, about riding the subway alone at night, about picket lines and artist work spaces. This renowned, life-affirming collaboration between artist Roy DeCarava and writer Langston Hughes honors in words and pictures what the authors saw, knew and felt deeply about life in their city.Hughes’ heart-warming description of Harlem in the late 1940s and early 1950s is seen through the eyes of one grandmother, Sister Mary Bradley. We experience the sights and sounds of Harlem through her learned and worldly eyes, expressed here through Hughes’ poetic prose. As she states, "I done got my feet caught in the sweet flypaper of life and I’ll be dogged if I want to get loose." DeCarava’s photographs lay open a world of sense and feeling that begins with his perception and vision. His ruminations go beyond the limit of simple observation and contend with deeper meanings to reveal these individuals as subjects worthy of art. As Hughes keenly observes, ‘We’ve had so many books about how bad life is, maybe it’s time to have one showing how good it is.’ First published in 1955, the book, widely considered a classic of photographic visual literature, was reprinted by public demand several times. This fourth printing, the Heritage Edition, is the first authorized English-language edition since 1983 and includes an afterword by Sherry Turner DeCarava tracing the history and ongoing importance of this book.”

Book of the Day > The Moon: From Inner Worlds to Outer Space. Published in accordance with the exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. “The moon has long furnished humankind with an artistic icon, an image of longing and object of scientific inquiry. Encompassing art, film, literature, architecture, design, natural history and historical objects, and published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing (July 20, 1969), The Moonsurveys the iconography of the moon, from Romantic landscape paintings to space-age art. It takes the 1969 landing as a thematic fulcrum and a culmination of the deep-rooted cultural conceptions invested in the space race in the 1960s, from David Bowie to Disney.

The book also accounts for the science of the moon throughout the ages, from Galileo to NASA, addressing the many lunar myths that have existed throughout time. Also explored here is moonlight, an important theme in the Romantic nocturnal landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, J.C. Dahl and Carl Julius von Leypold. Another powerful artistic genealogy is associated with science fiction, a genre that has on occasion influenced space programs: Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (1865), for instance, famously inspired NASA's Apollo programs. Film pioneers such as Georges Méliès and Fritz Lang created cinematic lunar voyages, and in the 1930s, surrealist artists such as Joseph Cornell, Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst explored the moonlit landscape as psychological allegory. Later, during the Cold War, superpowers on both sides of the Iron Curtain worked closely with artists to orchestrate and interpret the space race: Robert Rauschenberg, for example, was one of eight artists invited by NASA to witness Apollo 11, while artists in the Soviet Union played a central role in building the cult of the cosmonaut. The Moon looks at all these lunar themes and myths, in a thrilling and inspirational gathering for anyone who has felt the moon's pull on their imagination.”

Book of the day & book signing today! (4-6 - please join us!) > Dewey Nicks: Polaroids of Women. Published by T. Adler Books. “American photographer Dewey Nicks roared into the 1990s magazine world by filling his shoots with fascinating people and a vibe of boundless energy and nonstop fun. Publications such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W and Vanity Fair kept Nicks moving seamlessly between celebrity, fashion and advertising assignments, his portfolio amassing a who's who of iconic women, including Cindy Crawford, Natalie Portman, Sofia Coppola, Patricia Arquette, Shalom Harlow and Cher, to name only a few.

Nicks recently found a forgotten box buried deep in his archive with thousands of Polaroids from his 1990s photo sessions. These one-of-a-kind favorites saved from hundreds of shoots, both private and assigned, offer an intimate portrait into Nicks' life, friends and work. The immediacy of Polaroids combined with the natural fading of the physical print after decades in a shoebox makes each of these images singularly unique and tangibly genuine. Nicks was so smitten with this time capsule of images that he immediately shared them with his frequent collaborator, book designer and publisher Tom Adler, and this beautifully produced book was born.” Thanks to Margerum Wine.

Book of the Day >  A Final Companion To Books From The Simpsons. Published by Yellow Pages / Rollo. “French graphic designer Olivier Lebrun follows on his previous publications documenting the books that appear in the popular cartoon television series with this anthology of more than 330 images and titles. All have been captured with a black-and-white animation screenshot and catalogued in alphabetical order. Ostensibly the final instalment of this highly personal project by Lebrun, this new, updated edition reflects countless painstaking hours spent scanning episodes, plus the contributions of a large community of fans and readers who provided tips over the years.”

Book of the Day > Pittori di Cinema. Published by Lazy Dog Press. "In the wake of the Second World War, and above all, from the Sixties on, the Italian film industry began to commission artists to illustrate and promote its films. They were to sum up the entire movie plot in a single image, communicating at a glance all the emotion of a narrative. They were “cinema artists”. This 432-page volume addresses the work of twenty-nine artists, spanning the years between the Forties and the Nineties, with over 500 colour illustrations, including sketches, drafts and previously unpublished works from private collections, as well as works that were rejected or used in other ways. Maurizio Baroni, a passionate expert, author and collector, draws on his own large personal archive – now housed at Bologna Cineteca – to examine forty years of Italian cinema through playbills and posters. The works, divided by artist, are annotated by Andrea Mi and Luca Barcelona, whose critical essay skillfully analyses all aspects linked to illustration and lettering respectively, in relation to their message. The artists are introduced by Alessandra Cesselon, giving an overview of their work from the artistic point of view. The book is aimed at film-lovers and collectors, but also graphic designers and illustrators as well as students and professionals, as a historical record and an inspiration for future generations of communicators."